Kev

Yea, the only places I under bid this job was on my hourly and the finish.. I Made up for the finish by making up some time along the way.. I never mark up for material other than the increase for defects. Normally I get paid a very fair hourly wage so don't see a need to also add additional material cost.

My hourly was too low on this one because she was in a tough place in life.. I shouldn't have lowered my hourly to help her though since she went on to buy 3 more projects from me.. As for material, I don't mark it up. I do add 20% to the amount of material that I purchase to account for defects. I do this so that if a client wants to go with me to the lumber yard to pick out their own material, there's no sticker shock.

All good Coop.. I'm sure you did many quotes in your day, how'd I do?

If you look close, that was -$79.56 and -$15.00 - Lumber and labor both came in under the estimate.

Just tallying up the final to see where it landed... I allowed myself an hour in the morning to buff and apply the maintenance coat as well as a couple hours to shoot the base and help her move the table. Total actual hours: 43.75 Actual Lumber Cost: -$79.56 Actual Labor Cost: -$15.00 Which means that I came in $89.56 under budget which means a little savings to the client. I'd say the quote was well within reason!

Thanks! The piece below it is the shop Lazy Susan for finishing small parts. Just makes it easy to spin them. The circle was cut at the bandsaw using a circle jig. I know I have a video on making it and possibly some plans too.. Just makes it super quick and easy to cut these circles at the band saw.. Rubio is on.. I had began to really like the glossy look so, this is quite a bit different! I'll probably buff it in the morning and consider a maintenance coat on it to see if I can bring a little sheen back.

Well, she finally made a decision and I'll be sanding back slightly and adding Rubio. I kind of thought that's where she was going to go but, I wanted to be sure.. I'll do that after dinner.. In the mean time, I got her other orders filled today! Starting with the Table Lazy Susan.. She also requested a cutting board and I was fortunate to have a spare for the farmer's market here that she liked so, one less thing I actually had to build today! And, my wife's cousin hit me up for a loom of some sort today so, I knocked that out as well.. She's into horses and wants to make some of her own stuff for them.. Don't ask me, I got no clue..lol I'll post some pics of the table as I get the Rubio on it..

I was finally able to get the client back to the shop today to have a look at the table before applying any final top coat. With the current layer of Shellac on it, I can pretty much apply any finish at this point. I left her with some options that she's mulling over and will then make a decision.. Here's the easy options that I gave her and what the consequences or results would be from those options.. 1. Rubio - The original plan - The table would have the silky feel of the Rubio she wanted but, she would loose a lot of the gloss that's currently on the table that she also likes. 2. GF High Performance - Wouldn't feel as silky as Rubio but, would maintain most of the gloss that's currently on the table. So, as she's mulling that over, I've switched gears to getting the cutting board and table Lazy Susan made that she also ordered.. Labor on those is included in the price..

I had so much fun yesterday that I decided to make another... I wanted to feel more comfortable with the process as well practice the size and shaping a bit.. No finish yet, it's on order. I really liked the finish that @Dick brought yesterday so, I ordered some to have in the shop.

They're pretty simple to make really but, just like most things in woodworking, it's another rabbet hole of money to do stuff like this.

Actually, I don't think it does anything for the durability in this case. This top already has 3 quarts of Shellac sprayed on it so, I'm sure it's plenty durable. What it will do is knock down down the gloss sheen from the shellac and change the way the top feels to the touch. Hard wax oils produce a much "silkier" feel to them that a film forming finish. In my opinion, they both feel great and I'm not sure you would actually notice a difference unless testing them side by side. Only then would that even be a consideration.

Thanks @Dick for stopping by today and sharing your wisdom with me! I'm such a novice turner that it's always a pleasure to watch a pro in action.. Dick did most of the work on this Peppermill but it turned out great and my wife loved it!

Set it on the base this morning for the first time! I'm going to let the finish cure for a week or so before applying Rubio. Unless the client just wants it as is...lol.

Hmmm... 🤫

Here it is surface dry.. Still needs to cure over night though.. Maybe some Rubio tomorrow????

Thanks for the confirmation.. I know it's the best available where I live.. Apparently, we were the first ones to connect to it.

That one is still a little wet.. I'll snag one in a few minutes dry..

Got the table flipped over this morning and got going on the finish.. I'm not sure why or how but, I ended up with a couple light spots towards the middle of the table.. After turning handles at the lathe all day with @Ray Martin, I sanded the table most of the way back and tried to darken those spots up.. Then I reapplied the shellac. The spots are still there but, I did make some progress to hiding them.. No change in the client time today.. Even though I had extra work to do on the top, that's on me..

We have always had internet service, it just wasn't up to snuff for what I do.. When I needed to upload a video, I would usually get it going and then head to bed.. Sometimes it would still be uploading in the morning when I got up.. The speeds were just horrible. This is also something I was fighting with the server which is why my sites are currently being hosted on another server. I'm hoping to be able to pull things back here soon, we'll see. Not dealing with the headaches is also appealing!

She loved the color.. I decided to let the Shellac cure for the night and I'll go after the top tomorrow.. She also brought some color samples to see them next to the top as she decides how she wants to do the base.. She didn't really like what she had so, I gave here a glazing lesson and offered a couple suggestions to try.. More samples coming...

As you know, I had limited shop time today as I was having my internet installed.. I still managed to get the finish completed on the bottom except for the Rubio.. I won't do that until both sides are ready to go.. I started off by shooting a layer of Amber Shellac over the Potassium Dichromate.. I followed this up with a burnt umber glaze. Then, I shot another coat of shellac. Here's a wet picture followed by a dry picture.. Client should be arriving shortly and approving the final color and then I'll flip it over and do the top.. Here's where we're at.. Since I have to repeat the process on the other side, I already added that to today's estimate.. Total: 38.25. About 4 hours left on the budget to apply the Rubio, install the top, and do the final finish on the base.. Looking like the estimate is pretty close!

Back up and running.. I'm certainly no expert when it comes to internet speeds and stuff but, I'm told these numbers are pretty good especially considering where we live..

Just waiting for them to show up and get the new fancy internet going.. Fingers crossed! Oh, I may be off line for a bit today.. 🤣

@Ray Martin I have some more of those drop cloths if you need them.. Should have thought about that yesterday when you were here.. Looking great! Will be moving in before you know it.

Yes.. So many times we end up with changing grain directions and end up with tear out in those areas. Although this bit doesn't completely solve that issue, it does go a long way to helping.. Think of it like a planer with straight knives vs a planer with a helical head..