Client needs new drawers

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Location
Houston, Texas
As woodworkers we will always have clients, someone who wants us to build something. Sometimes we ourselves are that client. Sometimes our children, our spouses, in-laws, out-laws and sometime a client that is willing to pay is the focus of this wonderful mix of planning and building. Such a person called me the other day.
I am writing this, this way for those of you who do not do this for principle income, but rather for fun, having other jobs that produce income weekly, without the economic hills and valleys of the self employed woodworker. Also without the freedom.
My nickname is Shaz. "Shaz" she says, " I need some new drawers and was wondering if you could stop by and see me so that we could talk about it?"
"Sure enough", I said. I like her and have done work for her in the past.
She is high energy and very stimulating with her thoughts, ideas and stories.
We set a time and I went in to meet her at her office, not knowing what she had in mind.
This is the part where we get to the juicy stuff like what she really wants and her real needs.
Stay tuned in.
Shaz
 
Shaz,

"Shaz" she says, " I need some new drawers and was wondering if you could stop by and see me so that we could talk about it?"

An opening line that like can take this thread in all sorts of directions...:peek:

I'm staying tuned...

- Marty -
 
ears wide open---------------------just used 20 Q-tips ;)
 
Why am I reading this? Nothing about drawers or woodworking. What is it about? I thought this whole new forum was about woodworking. Stu help!!!
 
John, maybe we'll get to see some attractive customer pics and you can have some competition for your website. :D

By the way, you have to tell us your recruiting secrets. I thought the general guideline (Amy Devers exception) was you could have "good looking" "knows how to use power tools" but not both! Yet somehow you seem to keep finding good looking competent people for your web site.

Of course if I had helpers like that showing up in my garage/shop my wife might start wondering what was going on!

Jay
 
Well okay, I got in the truck and set out over to her office. She offices out of about a 10 story on Bering , in Houston. I went in then up to her office and let the receptionist know who I was and asked if Connie was there( let us use the name Connie for anonymity). She said yes, just as Connie rounded a corner. She seemed pleased to see me.:)
"Shaz" she said, "i've been thinking of this for about a year".
I said " Well Connie what do you need from me?" :rolleyes: Then comes the line we really like to hear, " Shaz, I need a lot of new drawers".:thumb:
I said "okay, what do you need them for"?
I may be naive but some times I ask the right questions. After all I am a man looking at a women who has just told me she needs a lot of new drawers.
She says to me, "We need them for our teeth." :eek:
For you, either the dust has cleared or the plot has thickened.
More later
Shaz
 
Oh, by the way, I would never do anything to knowingly offend anyone, their spouse or the children. My intent is to share the joy I have found working with wood and some of the experiences I have had as a professional woodworker and artist throughout the years. Sometimes my presentation is different than normal but my intent is sharing and respect.
Shaz
 
Knowing Connie and her Husband's business what she just said came as no surprise. She is the office manager for her husband who is a restorative dentist. He does some major reconstructive work and often the first step in that process is to make a plaster cast of a person's teeth in the present condition. They do the uppers and lowers and sometimes a specialty casting which they store in zip lock bags. They have about 2000 sets of teeth now that they must save, for 10 years, insurance issues I think.
1 Now the facts, she wants drawers. Lots of them.
2 The space available is 128" wide.
3 She wants them in seperate cabinets so they can be moved later if necessary.
4 The height is up to here, pointing to a place on the wall, which was 60" when measured.
5 From the casing on the door to the back wall, which is our front to back maximum dimension, it was 26". The door covering was done with swinging cafe doors.
6 She said she would like to have, under the bottom drawer, space to put a plastic container about 5" high.
7 Weight is a factor for each drawer as plaster castings in weight add up.
8 Looks are not important, it does not have to be furniture quality.
9 The edges must be smooth as "we need not snag hosiery or sweaters on the drawers".
10 Each drawer needs to be easy to open by ladies.
11 The zip lock bags are about 6"x6" when flat.
I am throwing out this information so you can consider how you would do it within these guidelines. All projects have limits, and it is within these limits that some of our greatest work can surface.
I had a client who sold his business for a reported $42 million and in his new house his greatest problem was making choices. Carpet from India? Mongolia? New Zealand?Drapes from Russia? France? China? Wood from the rain forest? Teak, Rosewood, Sandlewood, Snakewood?
Limitations can be our friend.
Shaz
 
Considering the limits put upon me, 128" wall to wall, 26" depth max, 60" tall, build one first and see how it works, as many drawers as possible to hold zip lock bags that seemed to shrink up about 1 1/2" when stuffed with other peoples teeth to about 4 1/2", and room for a storage space under the bottom shelf..... this is how I began.
Divide the back wall dimension of 128" into "manageable increments" that can be built with the best use of material considered. Choice=25" wide. No need to crowd the existing wall.
Determine best front to back dimension given the 26" depth from casing to wall. Choice=24" full extension drawer guides, 24 1/2" cabinet, inside dimension. Front to back.......... plywood ripped to 23 3/4" plus 3/4" x 3/4" poplar facing = 24 1/2" (Actually this banding is made to fit the plywood which varies in thickness. It is planned to cover the plywood edges that would be otherwise visible on the front edge of the top, bottom, and two sides.
Height is predetermined at 60".

Method..Rip, Rip means to cut with the grain, 4' x 8' plywood in half at 23 15/16"
Put the newly cut edges to the rip fence and rip both pieces again to 23 3/4"x 8'.
I measure 60 1/8" (height) on the 8' side of the plywood and make a tick mark. I then set my table saw fence to the measurement I have determined from the other end of the plywood( since my saw won't cut off a 60 1/8" piece I have to cut it off the other end) to the tick mark. Crosscut both pieces of 8' plywood. My sides are now cut at 23 3/4" x 60" (we lose 1/8" with the saw blade thickness..'kerf'..) with 2 leftover pieces (drops ) of about 35 7/8" x 23 3/4". With me so far or am I boring you?
Shaz
 
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Thanks Stu,
First things first, pictures forthcoming, we still need to determine our material take off. We need a top, a bottom floor, a spreader about mid way,and a back plus we need to figure out how many drawers we can make work in the confines of 60" x23 3/4x 25". Since the box is 25" wide, the top and bottom and the spreader will be 23 1/2" (25" total outside dimension less the thickness of the two sides). Also at the top and bottom in the back, from side to side we want a 23 1/2" cleat we can screw through to attach it to the wall if needed. These boards, just 3/4" plywood, help to square and stabilize the piece.
In this photo which isn't the best, hopefully you can see that one 4' x 8' sheet of plywood makes the sides, the top and bottom, and the spreader, the piece on top of the others. The other two pieces are going under the bottom shelf and against the walls. The edges have been covered with poplar and a couple coats of lacquer were shot on the pieces where I thought it would be needed.
Oh, by the way, the first one is built and installed. I have no pictures of that yet, but it turned out real well and functional. I thought I would share the building of the other four.
 

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Figuring out the drawer spacing was important as they were to serve a specific purpose, data basing thousands of plaster "teeth". When you do a job, start with figuring out the need it is to serve and then set about to do the best you can efficiently , aesthetically and purposefully.
I use a story pole that I make for the specific job. Sometimes one for the height, one for the depth, and one for the width, sometimes when there is a lot of detail I will make it as wide as 10" to get my information on it. That is a thought provoking endeavor, just as drawing the plans on the computer, except 1" =1" on the story pole.
Shown is a photo of the layout for the sides using a story pole for this specific job. More later, Lord willing.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all
Shaz
 

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Shaz,

Thanks for sharing this design and layout process with us. I for one like seeing how people 'think through' a project, and you're doing a good job explaining...even though you had us wondering at first...:rolleyes:

By the way, have you ever tried your hand at Sketchup, or any other design software? It can be your friend during the design phase, since you can mock up the piece and make changes, large and small, without lifting a tool or wasting any material. Just a thought...

Keep going...
- Marty -
 
Shaz,

Thanks for sharing this design and layout process with us. I for one like seeing how people 'think through' a project, and you're doing a good job explaining...even though you had us wondering at first...:rolleyes:

By the way, have you ever tried your hand at Sketchup, or any other design software? It can be your friend during the design phase, since you can mock up the piece and make changes, large and small, without lifting a tool or wasting any material. Just a thought...

Keep going...
- Marty -

Marty,, Thanks for your input, as with the others, appreciated.
We all do things differently, I start my project with a woman in need of new drawers and end up talking story pole. :dunno:
Thanks to you from your posts in SMC I downloaded the free sketchup. That coupled with all of your posts and responses and I already owe you more than you can imagine, Why do you think I offer to send screws? "I ain't talkin no more Buster,and you can't make me either"!
" SU", I have played with it only a little. It is a facinating program and when I build my new shop, hope to use it extensively.
My hopes are to practice the program with the tutoials here on the Fam. WW. with the help of thowe more versed. In the mean time I'll keep
"Tryin to make a livin in doin the best I can"
Shaz
 
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