Why small cabinentmakers don't make any money

It's no secret in the handcrafted furniture industry that small workshops don't make much money at their craft, your auto mechanic makes a far better salary. But they love what they do and put their heart and soul into their craft. One of the reasons is they are really bad time managers and don't keep at eye on costs well, either. I laughed so hard today when the trucker from R&L Trucker brought this table up to the store from John Buchanan. I just shook my head at the shipping container and even the driver said he's never seen anything like this. John built this crate to go to the moon - and back. About 10x what was needed for a ship from Ohio to Virginia! And it had to have taken him all day to build it and suck up $ 100 + in materials. A suitable box is really $ 25 and can be packed in 15 minutes!

Had to share...of course it arrived undamaged.

Inside was a custom kitchen pedestal table built to customer's specs in tiger maple. $ 1,980.00.

I called John up and told him he was a 'wild man' for building this, he said he worries too much that the things will get damaged and admits going overboard on the packing a bit. :D I hated to toss this crate in the dumpster actually......

I can't imagine John Buchanan taking shortcuts in any stage of production but that really is a bit overkill. He does take great pride in his work though & that table certainly is beautiful!

I'm sure customers of John Buchanan that needs to have his furniture shipped to them will really appreciate the work he puts into the packaging. It sure looks like it can take a beating. It might even survive handling by UPS (United Parcel Smashers):D

is there a link to John Buchanan's web site?

There is no John Buchanan Web Site! He doesn't own a fax machine, or even have broadband internet (I gave him an old Pentium 2 computer I had so we could email back and forth on his dialup). John doesn't even own a digital camera. He does have a cell phone, however <laughing> so he's not totally stone age. I posted a few photos here in the Photo Resources section. That's about all you will get!

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Originally Posted by nhpinnacles

is there a link to John Buchanan's web site?

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I can personally attest to John Buchanan's quality. He created a custom sideboard for us and it is a stunner! It is by far the favorite piece of furniture in my home.
I posted some pictures of it here: http://myfurnitureforum.com/showthre...ight=sideboard