A little over a week ago I had a customer come by needing a file cabinet pronto. I have done a great deal of work for this lady in the past so I told her I would squeeze it in evenings and weekends. She was delighted. She dropped by last Saturday morning as I was gluing up her drawer fronts to see how things were going. She was pleased with the progress. It was at this point she ask for a price for this project. I told her I had not figured it but I had around $450 in materials. She gave me a shocked look and said "Good Grief! I could have bought a file cabinet at the office supply for less than that and had it already!"
Now this cabinet isn't a work of art but it isn't a piece of junk either. I wanted quarter-sawn white oak for the project but because of the time and cost factor I purchased plain-sawn red oak locally instead. It has five piece fronts and multiple panel finished ends. The back and dust panels are mortise and tenon frame and panel, not plywood. The drawers are 5/8" maple dovetail with walnut accent tops. I am using Accuride over travel slides and the top is a solid wood glue-up.
I guess I will have to give her the labor to keep the peace. I should know by now that the customer is always right. Especially when you have been married to her for 15 years.
Kerry
Last edited by Kerry Fullington on Mon, Aug 16 2010, 8:27PM, edited 1 time in total.
I am not sure either of us are going to be able to afford this cabinet. I decided it needed some base moldings and top trim so I had to set the molder up three times to cut the 24 feet of molding, about three hours worth of work. (not in the original estimate that I didn't figure anyway)
The drawers are 10 1/4" deep and I had to glue up stock to make them. After the glue up and surfacing to 5/8, while cutting the dovetails, I realized that my stupid helper cut the fronts and backs of the drawer boxes too short. He told me he didn't need to look at the drawing, the dimensions were memorized. His paycheck is going to be a little slim this week.
Anybody need a $2500 file cabinet?
Kerry Fullington wrote:...my stupid helper cut the fronts and backs of the drawer boxes too short. He told me he didn't need to look at the drawing, the dimensions were memorized...
Sounds like you have the same helper I do, Kerry--ME!!!
Sorta reminds me of one Christmas when my son was little. We got him some toy that needed "some assembly." After a while of trying to put it together (of course without reading the instructions) and grumbling about how non-intuitive it was, my son (about 3 years old at the time) asked "daddy gonna read the destructions now?" Gotta love it when they figure out how to use exactly the right word when they're 3 years old.