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A little comic relief

8/28/20       
DJS

Something to lighten the mood and let me vent a little at the same time.

Behind is the live edge wood countertop we're providing a customer. In front is our stain sample for their approval. The little 1" x 1" taped off section of the sample is the color they've chosen they want us to match.


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8/28/20       #2: A little comic relief ...
pat gilbert

Wow, must be some fun customers

I almost think that this is similiar to a rorschach test

8/28/20       #3: A little comic relief ...
DJS

I am rarely surprised anymore in this business, but this one has got me shaking my head and talking to myself.

"so, you wanted to add some character to your contemporary cabinets by integrating a live edge wood top. Ok, good idea. And you picked a really nice piece of Spalted Maple with lots of color variations and a variety of grain. Nice again. But then you decided to stain it. That's too bad, but ok. Then during the course of the stain approval process, you darkened the stain several times until basically all the character was gone. What a shame, but I just do what I'm told. And then finally, when presented with a stain sample applied to a piece from the actual log that has effectively killed all of the grain and color variation that you wanted in the 1st place, you've chosen a 1" x 1" section that is quite literally the same exact color as the rest of the sample and decided that tiny little section is the color you want for the entire top. Not the rest of the sample that looks identical and is equally devoid of any character, but this teensy weensy little section."

I can't even comprehend what's going on inside that mind. That's like going to the carpet store and picking out your carpet, and then selecting a thread and saying this is the color I want the whole carpet to be.

So you want to be a cabinetmaker...

8/28/20       #4: A little comic relief ...
MarkB Member

Seems like #1 you need to realize that without a doubt, if today your customers uses the term "live edge" you'd better run.

Beyond that, I guess you should have qualified that the customer was looking for a $1200 slab as opposed to a nearly all sap slab lol...

Yeek.. I feel for you

8/28/20       #5: A little comic relief ...
TimG

I'm retired now, but I learned many years ago the value of a contract. Thanks woodweb for sharing many versions of what people put in their contracts. Mine typical contract was in two parts, the contract itself describing the actual product, and a terms of agreement explaining in detail what to expect in terms of how work is performed, ect. Anyway, here is my section on how I handled finishes.
C Inc. finishes are among the most consistent available. Our multiple step technique combined with the careful selection of color matched woods and veneers ensure that the finished project will be as consistent as possible. However, since the properties of wood are not consistent themselves, we cannot ensure that each part of the project will look exactly alike, nor can we guarantee that the project will match exactly the initial sample. Therefore, D/C Inc. does allow for a range of color on its finished projects. This acceptable color range may sometimes span several shades above or below the average shade for a stain/specie combination. Variations may also occur in hand applied finishes such as pickled, ragged, glazed, crackle, ect., these variations are normal. Each project is entitled to three (3) custom-made finish boards, additional boards will be created on a time plus basis with a $100.00 minimum charge. All finish samples must be signed, dated and returned before D/C Inc will proceed with the finishing stage of any project.

8/28/20       #6: A little comic relief ...
TonyF

DJS:

Are you sure that they don't want it the color of the tape? That is a nice shade of blue......

After a couple of clients like this one, I got into the habit of creating a few different shades of the agreed upon color as pairs of samples, asked clients to pick one, have them sign the back of one of the pair for me and they kept the other one. The back of the samples they signed had a disclaimer about natural materials and their variations in grain, color, etc., and therefore a slight variation to what was selected as a sample was possible.

Even with paint, I have had a client take weeks to decide if their wall system was to be painted "alabaster" or "mushroom". I would have though them to be interchangeable, and have even had a Benjamin - Moore store mix a color to match one that looked like the other. If you don't constantly stir your paint, or box your paint if using more than one container, the best you could hope for was to be close.

Sometimes I think Henry Ford had the right idea with the Model T color option availability.

Good Luck.
TonyF

8/28/20       #7: A little comic relief ...
Alan F.

I met her sister at a commercial job a few years ago.
We had a project that needed about 11,000 square feet of veneer so the veneer house pulls out the logs that are in color range and length we need and we start going through them and she (the architect) finds a place in the middle of one bundle that matches her 2" sample.

Her comment was she didn't understand how the cabinetmaker that did her house easily matched her sample and she had about a 3' x 3' piece of wainscot that the control sample came from, he literally cut a piece off one sheet as the sample and of course it matched but if you looked you could see lots of variation.

I told her the piece in you house isn't from the log you specified and the first log you didn't like is the log you specified. at some point she accepted that that much veneer wouldn't match a 2" piece but I about fell over when she is walking up and donw the log and holding this little piece next to a whole tree and not getting the concept.

A-

8/28/20       #8: A little comic relief ...
Jim Kolar

Just finished drilling my holes in my hickory slab about the size of yours in the picture. I feel very lucky that it is a natural finish!

Good Luck

8/29/20       #9: A little comic relief ...
james e mcgrew  Member

Website: mcgrewwoodwork.com

Looks like a job i turned down in SC last Spring ! LOL

9/10/20       #10: A little comic relief ...
Bruce H

I tell them up front that they are responsible for furnishing the stain. I'll put it on but have no responsibility as to the outcome.


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