Oncommission
I draw the piece for your room and build it in my own shop, and while yours is on the bench it is the only commission there.
What I build
What I decline
If the piece you have in mind needs one of the things I decline, I will say so in my first reply and, where I can, point you to someone who does it well.
How it goes
Nothing is cut until you have seen a drawing and a price and agreed to both.
- 01
Inquiry
Tell me the piece, the room it will live in, who will use it and when you need it, and anything it must hold or fit through, such as a narrow doorway. If there is a piece you grew up with, send a photograph of it.
- 02
The room
We talk by phone first. I ask for the room’s measurements and photographs of it in daylight, and we settle the design the piece starts from, then its proportions and its wood.
- 03
Drawing and price
You receive a dimensioned drawing and a fixed price for the piece as drawn. The gaps are dimensioned like the parts, so you can check them yourself. Ask for any change before you approve it; after that, the drawing is what I build.
- 04
Deposit and build
Half holds your place, and the finish date, 12 weeks out, goes into the agreement. While the piece is on the bench you get photographs of the work, including every joint fitted dry before it is glued.
The terms
- Price
- A range in my first reply; fixed with the drawing
- Deposit
- Half on approval of the drawing; the balance when the piece is finished
- Lead time
- 12 weeks from the deposit, written into the agreement
- Filming
- Yours goes on the channel only if you agree; we settle it before the deposit
Care
The finish is an oil that soaks into the wood, so you touch the wood itself. The color changes over the years, and the top moves a little as the humidity changes. A light scratch comes out with a rag and a little oil. My mark and the year are underneath.
Tell me about the room
[email protected]I answer every inquiry myself.