Menu
What's new

First impressions!

larry merlau

larry merlau

Member
Messages
18,741
Location
Delton, Michigan
well we have all heard the discussions about proper joinery for drawers and such, be it Dove tails or drawer lock or any of the others. but today the dove tails made the top of the list.. i had a couple ladies that were here to get quilt from randi and she brought them out to the shop. yup i finally got some me time in the shop, and i was in the lazy mode as for dress:) kinda like lounging in the pj's but in a male sense of the word.. any way this lady said she had met me before and heard that i did some woodworking.. had friend of hers along that was acquainted with a couple i knew. well they walked over to some drawers i had ready for a project i am way behind on and she was delighted to see dovetails on them,, and it soon turned into a couple small projects for her.. so today the dovetails that took longer than a drawer lock made me two jobs ..so they are number one in my book today.. maybe i should just keep a couple around for looks to get more someday.. once again first impressions won out,,
 
larry merlau said:
.... maybe i should just keep a couple around for looks to get more someday.. once again first impressions won out,,
Click to expand...
Absolutely right Larry. Several samples of different kinds of drawer joints would showcase your capabilities and the range of quality a customer can choose from....why not??
 
I always build my drawers with dovetails if its a paying customer!

Now if its drawers for shop cabinets I do whatever is the quickest!

Glad to hear that some people still appreciate quality construction.
 
Way to go, friend. Quality always rise to the top. Keeping your shop spiffy helps too when the customer comes in. Your shop is impressive right down to the office space. I know it was cleaner than usual when we were there, but keep what I just said in mind. They notice more than the dovetails. Samples to fondle always improve sales as well. Jim Tolpin in one of his cabinet books, shows a sample cabinet on wheels that he used as his 'briefcase' when meeting with a client. They could see joinery, finish samples, different hardware, drawers, doors, and sliding trays all in one small tow-able cabinet. A three ring binder with pictures, order forms, business cards, sketch pads, pencils, etc, where in the drawer. Think medium suitcase size. Once again. Quality always rises to the top and you do quality! Congrats on the sales. :congrats:
 
Larry,

Members keep mentioning that you do "top quality" work. It seems strange to me because I cannot imagine you doing anything except top quality.

Carol is right about the cleanliness. I'm not sure a shop needs to be really clean. However, to quote the Presbyterians, "decently and in order" sounds like a good thing to practice. (1)

(1) Disclaimer: It is like when I taught Myrna how to drive---"Don't do what I do; do what I say." She has always been an EXCELLENT driver.

Every time Glenn comes down I get this guilt trip and get better at "decently and in order" in my shop.
It used to be that I would want a tool (or part or whatever) and I would spend an hour looking for it.
A couple years ago Glenn pounded on me to put a tool back in its place, even if I thought I was going to use it again in 30 or 40 minutes.
That sort of improved things. If I needed a tool I used a while ago and couldn't find it, I would look for an hour and then find it where it belonged.
Then I got better...look for the tool for 5 minutes---then think, "Oh yeah! Look where it is supposed to be."
Now, if I don't find it in 15 seconds, I look where it is supposed to be. Yeah!!! There it is.

However, this process seems to be degrading. Because now I look for 15 seconds and then it takes me an hour to remember what I was looking for in the first place.

Enjoy,
JimB
 
Last edited:
Congrats! I don't worry about selling and I don't build anything good enough to sell, but the past two months I've made a real asserted effort to keep tools in place, shop clean. Amazing how much more enjoyable it makes it to work in and boy is it nice to know where my tools are. Well, all except the tape measure, it just refuses to be where I think it should be. Moves on it's own!
 
Congrats, see good things happen to good people.:thumbup:

Hope you will heed the advice of making samples, i will only add and use them in show and tell on educating the propect and turning them into a client. :)

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2
 
maybe they just liked the way you looked in pajamas..

personally, I think they hired the man that they felt was honest, dependable, and does quality work. They enjoyed the dovetails, but they hired the man they trust to do their work at a fair price.
 
larry merlau said:
but today the dove tails made the top of the list.
Click to expand...

Dovetails have been hailed as the indicator of quality so I say, leave a couple samples lying around and let them work for you :thumb:

Jim C Bradley said:
Every time Glenn comes down I get this guilt trip and get better at "decently and in order" in my shop.
Click to expand...

Now hold on a minute. Let's qualify this situation :D . . .

Whenever I visit, Dad has something he wants me to do. Despite having a week's notice that I am coming there is never anywhere to do anything once I get there. That's what I give him grief about :rofl:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top