How others see our work...

[Swingman]

The point is/was, that shoddy work is ubiquitous these days in the carpenter realm, mainly due to an unskilled and poorly supervised labor force. Depending upon locale, if the house you live in was built in the last 20 years, chances are the carpentry is "adequate" at best.

An example: A trim carpenter should be able to cope a joint ... I'll give you a dollar for every one you can find that can, or even knows what/why, if you'll give me a dime for those that can't/won't ... I'd get rich down here on the Third Coast.

[Doug Miller]

I won't take that bet. BTDT. I'm on jobsite, coping an inside corner. Crew boss comes by... "What are you doing?" I tell him. He says "just miter it - faster and it fits better". Wellllll... his miter saw probably *is* faster... but my corners fit together a lot better than his.

[B A R R Y]

Right.

We all have those.

But why do so many feel the need to SHOW it to everyone?

[Toller]

I did a beautiful cabinet, but when I oiled it the cherry plywood panel in the door it showed a weird pattern. I lived with it for a year and then routed the back out and replaced the plywood. Now it is gorgeous. Okay, the fact that the inside of the door is imperfect bugs me, but I did a good job and anyone (but me of course) would think that it was just how I built it.

[Frank Boettcher]

I set up my miter saw station to trim out a Habitat house last year, got out my coping saw, and the HH lead carpenter said "we don't usually go to that kind of trouble", I replied, "you're in luck. Won't cost one dime more for me to do it right, but it will make me feel much better".

But I will say most of the finish carpenters working for the better homebuilders in this area do cope inside corners.

Frank

[Brian Henderson]

No clue, I never pointed it out to my wife, she has no idea and wouldn't care anyhow. I know, but I'm not going to be showing it to anyone else, especially since it's completely invisible without ripping it off the wall.

[Mike O.]

I think I got your point Swingman, but having been a finish carpenter for well over 25 years (and still doing it daily) I may have taken it a little personally that I (as a trim carpenter) might count on a painter to "take care of it". Your generalities may be your experience but the exceptions do exist. BTW my home was built in the last 10 years and I'll put the quality of the trim work up against any anywhere.

Please send my dollar.....make that two because my partner knows how to cope too.:) He's been doing this longer than I have and we both were taught by his Dad and Uncle (both gone now) who had been doing it for 30 years before that. I think that qualifies us for the "old school" of finish carpentry.

I'd suggest that the quality of a trim job has more to do with the builder and what he's willing to pay for. A lot of builders don't know what a good trim job looks like until they actually get one. If a builder demands quality (and will pay for it) he can find it quite easily. I'll give you a dollar for every builder you find that wants to pay to have his base coped. It costs more to do it right and many builders just look at the price points. It might be cheaper and easier to find an "adequate" trim crew but if you demand better than that, we're out there. We have always been busy through the good times and the slow times. I believe that to be a testament to the quality of our product. We're not the cheapest in this area, but we don't try to be. I've seen the poor trim jobs (they are quite common) and those carpenters last about as long as the builders they work for. I've seen a lot of both come and go over the years and we're still here making sawdust.

Mike O.

[r payne]

I'm trying really hard to stay away from showing my flaws. Maybe 1 in 50 notices something and asks, if you assume some are too polite to say anything then maybe 1 in 10 or 20 notices.

And I haven't yet met a god who is perfect (not even "God").

ron

[FoggyTown]

I think the answer is simple: those who are reasonably proficient at something hold themselves to higher standards. The higher standards are the way you WANT to be able to do whatever it is. Those with no aptitude or ability have lower standards and they think that even your "flaw-ridden" effort is better than anything they could ever do so they don't even register what you think are imperfections.

FoggyTown

[Toller]

Last night we were shopping for a couch. I stopped by the chairs to see how they were made. They all had the arms attached to the backs with screws, with a big button filling the hole. For some reason some of the finish had chipped off the buttons, and they looked like crap. This was on all the chairs, and they weren't cheap.

I showed it to my wife who replied, "yeah?"

I wonder why they all had finish chipped off the buttons. I wonder why people buy chairs that look like crap.

[Robatoy]

Most customers won't pay for obsessional behaviour. The trick is to find a balance between speed and accuracy. I constantly remind myself that I am not making a watch or a piano. I also believe that what goes out there with my name on it, should be able to be put on display anywhere. If that piece includes an expert repair, so be it. Chances are nobody, but the most anal, will see that repair. And the anal are never satisfied. Do not waste your time trying to please those tofu-sucking granola crunching asshats with the magnifying glasses. I'm not for them. I could be, but those types won't pay.

The equalizer for me, is that I always ask myself: "would I pay $ xxxx.xx for 'this piece?" If it doesn't pass that bar, it ain't leaving the shop.

You can tell a craftsman by the way he covers his mistakes...just ask Eric Clapton. (*and 100 guys like him*)

r

[CW]

Look around. It's not only chairs. Crap sells. There is lots of stuff on the market now, that sells just fine, that would have never made it fifty years ago. Introduce crappier and crappier products slowly over a long period of time and Joe average consumer never notices. It's called social conditioning.