Leon's Cabinets - Plus

[Sonny]

Beautifully done, as usual.

> Gonna have to invent some new adjectives to

describe your sterling work, Bubba.

Leonized. Leonated. Leonism. Leonogical (Leonogically).

Bubbalated: When applicable, a reference to steam bending wood, via bubble d water.

I finished the face frames for my walnut bathroom corner cabinets. They ar e ready to install. I was on a roll, had the walnut already pulled out (fr om the bath cabinet project), so I decided to cut the face frames for the e ntertainment center and did the fluting work. Spent 4 hours doing that, wh en I realize the entertainment center is made of cherry. Arrgh!

What's the adjective(s) for that mental lapse?

Great job, Leon. Sonny

[Leon]

Hummmm

Cherry and walnut go very very very well together. Swingman can show an example of a Hope Chest that he built for his daughter. Great piece!

Thank you

[Lee Michaels]

Ahhhh..., yes, hmmmmm..., Ok, how about a historical reference? Leonardo de Bubba!!

Walnutted, noun, wallnutting, adverb, Applying walnut to EVERYTHING! Whether it moves or not.

But as Leon pointed out, walnut can go well with cherry. Remember the old craftsman maxim, it ain't a defect, it is a FEATURE! Also, you always have a good back story for the feature. Something like this;

Well, I just happened to have some real pretty walnut in the garage and thought it would look nice on the entertainment center. And it does! It contrasts nicely with the cherry. Enjoy it while you can because the cherry will darken with age and they will become much more similar after awhile. Such is the nature of wood and craftsmanship.

Remember the necessary qualities to be a craftsman. Tools, skills, quality materials, lots of jigs and good story telling ability. (I am being incredibly diplomatic on that last item.)

[Leon]

Iiiiiiiiii LIKE IT!

[Swingman]

Righteous!

[Bill]

Can't we just settle for "Leonardo", informally. I'm not sure I can make myself type out the rest.. : )

[Leon]

Nope! It has to be the full name.

Or you might become Billy Bob d'Bubba! ;~)

[Bill]

Please, not that. It would take too long to sign my furniture. Did you sign your new cabinets? Leonardo de Cabinetman & Bubba? : )

[Leon]

I only sign the check that the client gives me. ;~)

[none]

On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 22:50:49 -0500, Leon

I don't know. Bill may have hit on a good idea. Perhaps you should consider a custom made branding iron with the name in question? It wouldn't take you too long to sign your name either.

LV even has free shipping over $40 right now March 19 - 31.

[Puckdropper]

[e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

*snip*

I didn't realize it was time for my wallet to go on a diet.

Puckdropper

[Leon]

I have considered the branding iron but see no advantage. My customers know who I am. I seriously doubt than any one has sold any of my pieces to some one that would want more. I simple leave them several business cards. I think for the type work that I do the branding iron would be more of an ego accessory. OTOH furniture with no signature mark screams custom made.

[none]

On Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:45:38 -0500, Leon

Well, for many woodworkers, ego is involved or at least pride in one's work. While many don't like to brag about their work, we all get a sense of accomplishment when presenting what we've done. I do see your point though. Besides, you don't need customers to compliment your work, you've got us to do that for you. :)

[Leon]

Actually my customers stroke my ego pretty good as it is. ;~) And what I hear here is appreciated in a different way. The customer likes what he is getting. Most here appreciate what actually goes into the production of a piece. The branded logo is, IMHO, simply a mental game you play with yourself or a way to let a future owner of the piece know where the piece came from. This would be great if I was in a production factory situation and expected my business to exist after I am long gone. I suspect that in my lifetime my brand would only be seen by myself and or the owner of the piece. I would only want to brand a piece if I thought it might bring more business my way. Given the previous statement I don't think it itself would being me more business so much as the owner of the piece giving me a referral, which is how I get a majority of my work.

I don't look down on some one that would use a brand, it is just not something I think I would like to use.

[Lee Michaels]

Back in the day when I used to make custom furniture, I had a customer who wanted some branding done. I pointed out the huge expense for what she had in mind. She wanedt some words and a number of patterns burnt into the wood. I was actively trying to discourage her.

I told her the only way to achieve what she wanted was to use a blacksmith approach. Heat up some iron bars that had a few basic shapes ground into one end. Heat them up in some charcoal or with a flame of some kind and apply to the wood. Slow and labor intensive. So I quoted her a hefty price to make her shut up and go away.

It did not work. She agreed to it and paid me half right then and there. I had no idea how much it would cost to do this or how much labor it would take. She called my bluff. Now I had to perform. So I went to a few folks I knew and managed to get most of what I needed for free and worked hard for an afternoon to grind some profiles in the end of the steel bars.

I dug a hole in the back yard and lined it with some firebrick my room mate had lying around. Poured some charcoal in there and went to work. It was hot and smoky, but I got the job done. I got the patterns and words burned in, wire brushed it all smooth and sanded everything. When I got it all done it looked really nice. And it was a hit. I ended up making several more pieces with the "branded" designs.

It wasn't my favorite thing to do, but it paid a lot better per hour than the furniture itself. The thing that is interesting about most of the designs was that you often see those designs these days as tattoos. These were some kind of "wood tattoos".

Now there is an idea Leon. Maybe you should just get a Leonardo de Bubba tattoo! And your wife is an artsy type. She could design it for you. ;-)

[Leon]

There you go! LOL

[Markem]

Stick a business card to the bottom of a drawer and shellac over it would work.