Greg and I installed the restaurant booths Saturday morning. Charlie, the bartender, asked me if I was Amish. I think it was a combination of the long beard and old school craftsmanship. We went out for some dinner and a couple drinks there too that evening. They were doing an Octoberfest special - I ordered the German bratwurst with sauerkraut. It came with a specialty beer too but I stuck with my Labatt's. If you're ever in Newfane, N.Y., come to Calhoon's Pub and Grove!
No picture of you guys holding your stacks of $ for making those bad boys? Great work Mr. beard! Looks like the customers liked them too!
Wow. Those table look awesome! Would be even better if we got to sit in them and have a beer with you! You going to throw in the mini booth to display on the bar with your contact info?!? Curry Custom Wood Art
Oh yeah - it was kinda bittersweet delivering them to their new home - I can't just walk out to my garage to admire them anymore. But on the other hand, for the last month and a half it's been a 2nd full time job, so I'm ecstatic to finally have it done and gone. Ha! Yeah those stacks wouldn't look very big... Greg and his brother Matt were the ones who actually landed the job, which they had already bid before they came to me for help. They were planning to build them out of box store dimensional lumber. My plans were a little different. I wanted to use my lumber instead, but I didn't want to price them out of the job, so I agreed to do it for the same price. It wasn't about the money for me though, at least right now. You're looking at my payment in those pics - the advertising. I mostly just wanted a showcase for my lumber and craftsmanship. Hmm - that is an interesting idea.... I was planning on keeping the miniature as a souvenir. They said if I get them some business cards they'd be happy to hand them out to anyone who asked.
Shawn, they look at great as we pictured they would look. Too bad you couldn't get a picture of you and the others who helped on this project all sitting in a booth and as an added touch, your girlfriend there too. This part: "It wasn't about the money for me though, at least right now. You're looking at my payment in those pics - the advertising. I mostly just wanted a showcase for my lumber and craftsmanship." Indeed you have the right idea here and the advertising you will get from this project will be top notch! I also agree with Tim's idea with the mini booth. Carve your name on the mini table or the back of the mini booth along with a contact number and you can not get better advertising. Best of luck with this and the workmanship on these is nothing short of fantastic! See you soon!
Excellent work. Thanks for taking us along the journey. There comes a point in a project when you think you want to fix a few more small things, but you realize enough has been done. It is a hard decision, but a great feeling knowing you are finishing it up. "Craftsmanship", earned by skill and hard work, not given.
Those puppies will stand the test of time. My brother built some booster seats for the trestle table we built, Seats were benches with no backs, I,ll get a picture for you when I think about it. Booster seats hook over the benches with padding on bottom to prevent marring the benches .
Excellent job Shawn Curry! I'll tell ya, if you could just start building stuff in any free time, and just start storing it until a fair or festival came to town, where you could show and sell stuff. Even have the parts ready to go and start putting things together as people watched! Leave a carving hanging up with your name and number, even really small " wooden, branded" business cards, you'd make a fortune and love doing it!
The project looks awesome installed. What a great job you all did. I liked Well Seasoned ideas for future projects and marketing. fishingpol probably has a few ideas as well. It is a big step from having an outside job to being dependent on what you make with your hands. You also don't want to be so consumed by your hobby that everything else gets ignored.
Sorry - "proud papa" moment... This is Morgan and Tom, the owners, and their family. You're absolutely right about that, and this project really became a lesson in that regard. I'm still playing catch-up on my household chores. I think I'll be sticking mostly to smaller projects for a while. My regular job really wants me to stay. I went to school for it and paid it all off already. If that wasnt the case I'd think about investing more time, but giving that up - its a lot to risk. I do like the idea of maybe taking them to a fair or something. That way I can keep it a hobby and stick to making pieces for myself. Then once or twice a year, pack up the living room and see if someone wants to buy any of it.
Reminds me of a little story. Guy walks into Man's Shop says I like that chair how much, man says 75 bucks, guy says OK, I would like you to build 4 more, man says, ok they will be 200 a piece, guy said why so much more for the others, man said, because the first one was fun
