Introduction:
It's been nearly 20 years since I first started working at
woodworking. In the beginning, I worked alone out of a one-car
garage outfitted with a minimal number of tools. Today I am the sole
proprietor of a one-man cabinet shop, working out of a two-car
garage outfitted with a minimal number of tools.
"That boy's gone far," I can hear you saying, "now he's got room
for a second car." There is, however, an even greater difference:
This boy can now afford a second car. In my first 10 years of
working wood for a living, I could barely provide for myself, let
alone a second car, or the family of four I now support (another
difference 20 years can make). It was not the woodworking itself,
but rather the way in which I was working the wood that forestalled
my financial success.
During those first 10 years, I could often be found building
highly refined pieces of casework that required much hand joinery
and tedious fine detailing. I called the results of these efforts
kitchen cabinets. With each delivery, I bathed in my clientele's
enthusiastic approval of my work. Little did I realize how much of
the celebration was due to their joy at obtaining such a piece at
such a price -- at least not until the day I looked up from my work
and realized that this was not cabinetmaking. I was going broke like
every custom furniture maker I had ever met. It had come time to
unplug myself from the shop for a while and try to figure out what I
was doing wrong.
It didn't take very long before I had three likely answers.
First, I did not have the faintest idea about how to go about
building cabinets -- in fact, I didn't really know what a kitchen
cabinet was. Second, my methods and tooling, such as they were, were
primitive and counterproductive. And third, I was an abysmally poor
businessman. To continue to practice woodworking as a livelihood, I
would have to understand the market's perspective of a quality piece
of cabinetry and learn how to build it as efficiently as possible. I
would also have to learn how to present myself and my products to
the public in a successful way.
I began my education by taking a long, hard look at
top-of-the-line cabinetwork on display at several local showrooms. I
quickly found that the products imported from Europe had a great
deal to teach me. With childlike awe, I examined the incredibly
sophisticated hardware system that allowed these cabinets to achieve
fitting tolerances generally unheard of in kitchen cabinetry.
Looking closer, I learned that the casework was manufactured so that
any variety of hardware elements could be installed: the same
cabinet module could thus hold numerous configurations of doors,
drawers and shelving without further processing. My mind boggled at
the implications this would have on my primitive approach to
cabinetmaking.
Imbued with a new vision of the cabinetwork I would strive to
produce, I turned my attention back to my shop. It would be
necessary to revamp the layout of the workspace completely and
upgrade the tooling. Out went dust-collecting workbenches and an
ancient, massive surface planer. In their place I substituted mobile
caddies for tools and materials, and a multipurpose knockdown work
platform. A new, lightweight planer was hung from the ceiling,
instantly ready for use with a heave on a rope. I regrouped the
major stationary tools into symbiotic relationships, creating
compact work stations; I also upgraded the table saw, radial-arm saw
and drill press with new fence systems, which practically eliminated
the need for a tape measure during sizing and milling operations.
With the physical plant in shape, I then focused my attention on
the production process itself. I analyzed the way in which materials
flowed through the shop and how processes could be grouped and
sequenced. I was mapping out a plan that would make the most of my
time and my modest floor space. The result was the creation of a
production flow chart that carried me smoothly from the initial
stages of developing the layout and cut lists, through the
production process, to the final installation of the product on
site.
At this point, with a firm grasp of the products I intended to
offer the market and a revitalized shop and workstyle, I needed to
jump just one remaining hurdle: into the world of business. But the
creation of a viable business enterprise struck me as something
intangible and daunting. I soon realized, however, that I need only
apply the same frame of mind that had wrought such miraculous
changes in my shop.
I began by talking with people who were successfully operating
small businesses like mine, and quickly learned what I needed to do.
I explored the paper trail that must be followed to lend a
bureaucrat's vision of credibility to a small business. I researched
the legal ramifications of the various forms a business might take.
I became acutely aware of the art of image-making. In dealing with
clients, I learned not only how to clean up my act, I made one up.
Finally, I designed a paperwork system specifically for small-shop
cabinetmaking that simplified the day-to-day documentation of
production data and business transactions.
This book is divided into the three major areas in which I worked
to fix what was going wrong with my career: the shop, the process
and the business. Together they comprise the story of how I now go
about working at woodworking. It's the story of working hard and
working well, and of producing a product whose market value amply
rewards its maker. I am thankful to have been able to write this
book; who knows, if I hadn't looked up from my work that fateful
day, things might have turned out very differently. Not having
learned what it has taken to get me to this point, I probably would
have ended up going back to college for an advanced degree and would
now be stuck with a real job. I shudder to think ....
Contents:
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 DESIGNING
YOUR CUSTOM KITCHEN
A Gallery of Kitchen
Design
Chapter 2 CABINET
DESIGN AND
CONSTRUCTION
Chapter 3 MATERIALS
Chapter 4 BILLS OF
MATERIALS AND
CUTLISTS
Chapter 5 CUTTING
STOCK TO SIZE
Chapter 6 FACE
FRAMES
Chapter 7 DOOR
CONSTRUCTION
Chapter 8 DRAWER
CONSTRUCTION
Chapter 9 CASE
CONSTRUCTION
Chapter 10 FINISHING
Chapter 11
INSTALLING DOORS,
DRAWERS AND OTHER
COMPONENTS
Chapter 12 CABINET
INSTALLATION
Chapter 13 BUILDING
AND INSTALLING
LAMINATE COUNTERS
SOURCES OF SUPPLY
INDEX
Soft-cover, 8-1/2 x 10-7/8 in., 224 pages, with color
photos and drawings
Published 2006
ISBN: 978-1-56158-797-1
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