Local artisan... furniture builder, always looking for work.

[jwatriss.livejournal.com]

Hi to all.

Graduated Tufts in '03, and started following the woodworking bug. Since then I graduated the cabinet and furniture making program at the North Bennet Street School in the north end, and I set up shop close to Tufts.

I'm currently running a studio furniture shop, and I'm always looking for work. I'm looking to build the unique and interesting, for whoever wants to pay.

Here's my deal. I've been to school, and learned the ins and outs of working wood, and what makes for a quality piece of furniture. part of the basis for my shop is the assumption that there are people out there who have ideas for things that they want built, but don't have the means or the know-how to make it happen. My ideal client is someone who brings their ideas to the table, and is willing to work with me to figure out how to make it happen. The ideal client also understands that custom made furniture is not inexpensive. I'd love to do this work for free, but floating a shop takes work, and it takes money.

So, please, spread the word, and drop me a line if you have a project you'd like to discuss.

Comments

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i have an old kitchen (in north reading) with some bad, bad cabinet doors, but which contain some gorgeous stained glass made by a previous resident. are you at all interested in restoration-type work, or do you prefer to work from the ground up?

also do you have pics of what you like to make available anyplace?

[jwatriss.livejournal.com]

Well, this is the ongoing conundrum. I prefer ground up stuff, particularly with freestanding work.

On the other hand, I have a fully functional shop, and work is work.

I'd love to talk more, but unfortunately I'm getting ready to skip town for a long weekend. But feel free to email me more details if you have them and we can talk next week sometime?

[library-sexy.livejournal.com]

Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band & the Madcap Rumpus Society is having a Benefit Auction & Fundraiser April 3rd. I know they are actively looking for donations in return for advertising of the local businesses at the event. (http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1177396.html) If you think you might have something to donate I would contact them as they will be pulling in a lot of the local folks.

What is the name of your business?

[jwatriss.livejournal.com]

I'll have to ponder this one. The nature of custom work is such that there's not a lot of excess product to sell off, btu I might be able to throw something together.

furniture!

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

Do you have a website with picture of your work, and some rough idea of rates for common things? (like bookshelves?)

Re: furniture!

[jwatriss.livejournal.com]

Pictures and website are still in progress, but I'm also in the process of trying to put together some decent core stuff, like bookshelves, since half of my friends are grad students, and there's clearly a market for good bookshelves around here.

I'm also working the kinks out of a good computer desk that will break down and move easily, as opposed to just breaking. It's my own reaction to the laptop lifestyle. If I manage to get a booth at ArtBeat this summer, there should be one there, as well as some bookcases. But that's months away, and books make for static clutter now, sooo...

I'll ask the following questions, but stipulate that I'm actually going away for a long weekend, so you might not get answers back until Monday or Tuesday...

Anyone else tuning in with bookcase ideas can comment, too. One of the interesting elements of manufacturing is that setup takes the lion's share of the effort and time. Making the actual cuts is very quick. So making 10 bookcases at once is a lot easier and faster than making 10 different bookcases, one at a time. If I get a group of people who all want something similar, that makes life easier for me, and I'll be able to bring the cost down a little bit. That's one of the reasons I'm trying to work on core products.. if I can run regular batches, they'll cost less.

Bookshelves: Are you looking for:
-Tall or short?

-Wide or skinny?

-The joy of a custom shop... do you want a general size, or would you like shelves built to fit a specific spot in the house?

-Built-in or freestanding?

-"Good" wood like Cherry, Oak, Walnut, etc, or something more economical like Ash or even Pine?

I've been steering away from Plywood lately because a) the prices for good plywood have been climbing, (thank you dropping dollar) and are expected to continue to climb, b) it takes less time and effort to make wooden shelves look good, translating into less cost for labor, and c) Plywood is really not very strong, and will sag over time, making for a pretty ugly bookshelf.

-Fixed or adjustable shelf height? I generally lean towards a combination of the two. Fixed shelves make for a more durable, stable bookcase, but adjustable shelves have obvious advantages.

-If you're looking for freestanding shelves, how frequently do you move? Maybe a silly sounding question, but as I said, I've been working on a small core group of regular products, and one of the elements I've been trying to focus on is that modern furniture should be portable. I'm starting to think that the era of big fancy furniture went out with the era of Permanent Big Houses where people lived their entire life, or raised generations of children. It's just not practical to buy enormous expensive furniture if you're planning on shlepping it around every few years, or every year.

The non-sustainable alternative is to buy particle board stuff that you can rely on to be disposable, and we see that on our sidewalks every June and September when the apartment buildings exhale their last batch of students, and breathe in new ones. And it's no wonder that there aren't too many smaller bookcases available, that would move more easily, when the long ones break so easily and need to be replaced...

Frequent moves can add a new source of wear and tear that I'd want to take into account. If I build something for someone, I'd like to build them something that's suited to their needs.

Re: furniture!

[winterhill.livejournal.com]

I've been on a bookshelf quest for EVER. Here's what I would like ....

Tall (6 ft), wide (at least 36 inches) and made out of good wood. Something that doesn't look like a student bookshelf -- maybe with a crown molding detail or something. I don't move often, and have long since passed the U-haul days so any moves would be with Gentle Giants or some such, so portability isn't crucial. For me.

I think there's a good market for this around here because you either have the unfinished wood crap, or the Pottery Barn shelves for $1000 plus, or IKEA shelves which tend towards too modern designs.

Re: furniture!

[winterhill.livejournal.com]

oh and adjustable shelves, free-standing, sturdy.

Re: furniture!

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

While I'm not immediately in the market, I know I would be sooner than later:

Bookshelves: Are you looking for:
-Tall or short?

Both - kind that fit under standard windows, as well as wall bookcases.

-Wide or skinny?

Both.

-The joy of a custom shop... do you want a general size, or would you like shelves built to fit a specific spot in the house?

I think a few standard sizes (one foot wide, two foot wide, three foot wide) might do it. Building some nice corner bookshelves might be a nice niche.

-Built-in or freestanding?

Until I own, free-standing. Once I own? Built-in.

-"Good" wood like Cherry, Oak, Walnut, etc, or something more economical like Ash or even Pine?

Good wood. Ash and pine you can buy from any of the shops around here.

-Fixed or adjustable shelf height? I generally lean towards a combination of the two. Fixed shelves make for a more durable, stable bookcase, but adjustable shelves have obvious advantages.

Combination.

-If you're looking for freestanding shelves, how frequently do you move?

Every 4-5 years.

I also think there'd be a market for shelves built out of decent wood that are nicely stained, and perhaps with a little bit of fine detail work to make them stand out.

[genevra-mcneil.livejournal.com]

If you're still working, I'd love to talk to you about a small project. I don't know if it's even in my price range, but I'd love to bounce the idea off of you. I'm still a noob at flipping LJ (I only use it for this and only occasionally) and can't figure out how to send a message so could you email me at amanda [DOT] ferry [AT] gmail [DOT] com