How to do a custom piece

[juliepooch]

Good job. Gorgeous door!

[aaron]

Update to this thread....my customer ordered this piece today based on the concept drawing posted here. Should be ready this May or June. I'll post photos as available.

Out of curiosity...

Would this be assembled as one piece? a top hutch and bottom cabinet unit?

I've seen a similar "huge bookcase" (almost 12 feet wide) that was composed of five separate shelving units that fit into a common base. You couldn't tell that when it was assembled. It would certainly make shipping and moving the piece easier. On the other hand, there are some real advantages to the other approach - a single, solid unit - particularly if people aren't intending to, say, move or take it up a flight of stairs.

[drcollie]

We will definitely make this as (6) pieces minimum, and possibly (9). We haven't decided if the top are above the glass doors will be split of into a separate piece to make (9). Most likely John B and myself will discuss that when the time comes to start production.

You are absolutely correct that these things can be real beasts to handle! This one is so large that I am going to send my store truck to go get it as its too large to fit in John's shop van.

[cuse69]

Duane,

How will the pieces be fit together mechanically to achieve a quality fit/finish look and retain structure integrity? I have a 6 piece wall unit that is difficult to get a tight and even fit, especially with the crown moldings, due to imperfect floor level and the need to level and plumb each bottom section perfectly.

[drcollie]

On a piece like this we normally through bolt them together, and have adjustable screw down pad feet on the bases. The hard part is the crown mold. Sometimes we build one huge crown piece and then carry it apart from the piece, then cap it when its all square and level. Other times they are incorporated into the pieces themselves and we just have to fuss on it on-site to accommodate uneven floors until we get it perfect.

[drcollie]

Just for fun, this is a photo of a monster piece I designed for a Texas oilman several years ago, when a 35" CRT Tube TV was the highest home TV a person could buy, before Flat Plasmas came on the market. He wanted the best of everything in this piece, including no board glue-ups. It took us three months to find the lumber for the center door panels as they were 24" in width and had to be 1-board, and finely figured. These are no veneers on this piece, its 100 % solids. We paid nearly $ 1,200 for the boards on the doors from an instrument grade specialty wood-dryer This lumber was originally destined to be used in String Base, normal furniture wood mills don't have lumber like this. We almost couldn't make this piece because of the difficulty in locating the door lumber. It was make it or break it, and the customer didn't want to commission the piece if those would be glue-ups.

The hinges are fake, the piece has pocket doors top and bottom. But my customer wanted the look of hinges so we had Horton Brass custom make them for us, but they are entirely decorative.

This was built in three pieces (looks like two, but the very top of the piece was separate), and was so heavy that it took four of us to lift the center section onto the base. It has the distinction of being the only piece in 25 years that required four men to lift. It was spectacular when it was done. Shipped to him in Texas, I almost drove it there myself because I was worried about it being handled properly and I knew we could not replace the center doors easily if they were damaged. In the end however, my blanket wrap shipper did the job perfectly under threat of losing my account if they put a mark on the piece <g>. He told me it exceeded his expectations when it arrived.

[surfmom]

You wonder why people don't do more custom made stuff ? Because of examples like the person who did his own sidelights.

We are looking for 2 tables (dining room, large kitchen). I don't know exactly what I want, so I can't commission it (or don't know where to ), but I haven't stumbled across that perfect piece yet. I find one I like, but the size is wrong, or the size is right and the legs wrong. So I still have my 10 yr. old one that is the wrong size with kids paint on it and horrid chairs.

So where do I go ? (I refuse to buy PB or RH or CB or EA even though they have something that I could 'make work')

I am looking at getting built-in cabinets in our familiy room. I would like a distressed painted black wood... so the type of wood is somewhat immaterial. I don't want my regular contractor to do it, because I want some cool looking distressed wood. When I talked to the cabinet guy, who will get the finish right, he took over a month to email me a quote. I guess I question how much he really wants the business right now for him to take that long.

Honestly, I'd rather give the business to a small cabinet-maker, but they don't exist around me. Or I don't know of any. So... if anyone knows of any in the SE PA region or Duane, you want to come for a day trip and do:
1) built in tv cabinet
2) built in shelves
3) built in computer cabinet
4) morning room table and chairs (large room!)
5) dining room table and chairs

email me. please.

[drcollie]

Here's another example of a customer's custom table we did (he's turned into a custom furniture junkie, and having a ball designing his own furniture - and we make it). I don't have his original sketch handy, but here's my line drawing for the customer and cabinetmaker, and the finished project which arrived today from John Buchanan's workshop. Less than 30 days from drawing to completion. Price was $ 985, built to order. Done properly!

[drcollie]

Here's one more custom that came in today, for a customer that wanted a custom table to use at his sofa for a new Apple iPad, which he's getting tomorrow as well. This was $ 420, built to order in solid tiger maple.

[drcollie]

It all has to start with a concept. Basically an idea of what you want, or photo of something you've seen that you like. You have to initiate the starting point, and then once we have an idea, we begin tweaking it, using a combination of your wants and our experience. A rough sketch is done, enough to get a price estimate. After that, if you're still in the game, we often do a detailed drawing like you see here, or just work from a good picture to make if from. Finalize all the details, and get a firm price quote, then we're into production of the custom piece. A few weeks or months later, its done.

There are LOTS of custom cabinentmakers in SE PA...tons. A lot of them are very pricey, so you have to sort them out from the hungry - and capable ones. Most custom work really isn't all that expensive relative to production variants of the same size and material. You may pay a little more, but you're getting better wood, better construction, and built the way you want it.

I can't come out of the store to look at your place, sorry! But we can do things via email and digital photos/room planners easily enough.