Post your woodwork here

[Hairy]

Heard a lovely story recently:

 

A Cape Town gunsmith, who is well known for the fantastic work that he does, especially his skill in inletting and making gunstocks, built a rifle for someone. A few months afterwards, he got a phone call from the new gun owner, who asked him to please come and talk to him at his home, as he needed advice in solving a problem. He assumed it was something to do with the rifle, or at least a firearm, but when he arrived there, he was in for a surprise. He was met by the owner as well as the cabinet maker / kitchen guy. The owner brought out his new rifle, showed the cabinet maker the magnificent and amazing fit of metal and wood, the finish and so on. Then he asked the gunsmith to explain to the cabinetmaker how he can achieve that sort of accuracy, because that was his aim for the whole kitchen.........I always wonder what happened after that, because I never heard the rest of the story.

take that m2 rate and time/m2 rate spent on the rifle stock and apply this to the kitchen m2 rate and time/m2 rate 

 

so to build the kitchen to the above principles, the owner would have to have very deep and very full pockets of cash diamonds

[porqui]

by the way...i have done a lot of kitchen remodels ( the electrical part) i am yet to see a kitchen "cabinet maker" there is a difference between a cabinet maker and a chipboard installer.

 

chipboard installers  fall in the same category as skilled labour/technicians ...only difference is no 1-2 week course is required. 

 

cabinet makers build solid wood units...not chip board solid wood "looking" units....mdf is not a solid wood.

 

So what are you sparky - an electrician - re-wirer - or a draadtrekker?

Edited July 20, 2017 by porqui

[eccc whippet]

So what are you sparky - an electrician - re-wirer - or a draadtrekker?

All of the above...a certified alarm installer...cctv installer...and gate installer...certified installation electrician...master electrician...10 years experience in thermography...10 years experience in power quality analyzing using a fluke 435....many years experience in water treatment and waste water automation and instrumentation...overhead reticulation and special lighting contracts to Durban electricity department for many years...experience in air conditioning and refrigeration panel building and installations...been a consultant to a few big companies for specialized fault finding issues...and to sit in meetings as an advisor to make sure the contractor is not trying baffle with bull****....to mention a few of the things I have done while running my business for the past 27 years

[porqui]

All of the above...a certified alarm installer...cctv installer...and gate installer...certified installation electrician...master electrician...10 years experience in thermography...10 years experience in power quality analyzing using a fluke 435....many years experience in water treatment and waste water automation and instrumentation...overhead reticulation and special lighting contracts to Durban electricity department for many years...experience in air conditioning and refrigeration panel building and installations...been a consultant to a few big companies for specialized fault finding issues...and to sit in meetings as an advisor to make sure the contractor is not trying baffle with bull****....to mention a few of the things I have done while running my business for the past 27 years

 

So does that give you license to run down someone else's bread and butter?

[eccc whippet]

At those rates you are either pricing yourself out of the market or you have a government tender contract....

 

I would like to meet the artisan/crafstman that is earning R800-R1200 an hour and have a chat to him as now might be the time to pack away the text books and the end goal of GCC, step away from the desk job, dust off the toolbox again and bring out the Olifants red seal trade papers because they are earning almost 4 times what I am currently on.... At those hourly wages you are knocking on the door of consulting engineers.

 

I have been on both sides of the fence (For being charged out as a service as well as paying for a service and on both occasions I have walked away with a bad taste in my mouth for being underpaid for the service I delivered and being over charged for the service I received)

 

My point being that I don't mind paying for a service at a reasonable price but what I do not appreciate is being over charged for a service at a specific rate and receiving an under qualified individual with limited skills. Which seems to be the norm in certain industries as you have already pointed out.

 

The price to have a hair cut has dropped ...from R120 down to R50 ...last week I took R50 to pay the fella...he said it was R 30 ...I paid him the R50 I took with to pay for the cut.

 

The reality is unless you have a specialized job...which nobody else can do...or customers who pay your worth....to get work you need to drop your price and do what it takes to get work...even if it means working products which might not be up to your standard.

[eccc whippet]

So does that give you license to run down someone else's bread and butter?

no it doesnt...i have edited the post.

[JanJan]

Do you guys actually use sawdust for anything beneficial?

[Pants Boy]

Do you guys actually use sawdust for anything beneficial?

I've made compost with mine - I make a metric pantsload of pine dust every week, which I mix with quite a bit of ash (from braaiing) and turn over for a couple of weeks. Makes semi-decent compost, but if you don't add the ash it makes the soil very acidic and nothing will grow in it.

 

Mate tried making briquetes with it and gave up as too labour intensive. Also heard that you can mix with candle wax to make a decent firestarter, but never tried it myself.

[Flippa]

I've made compost with mine - I make a metric pantsload of pine dust every week, which I mix with quite a bit of ash (from braaiing) and turn over for a couple of weeks. Makes semi-decent compost, but if you don't add the ash it makes the soil very acidic and nothing will grow in it.

 

Mate tried making briquetes with it and gave up as too labour intensive. Also heard that you can mix with candle wax to make a decent firestarter, but never tried it myself.

 

I'm interested to see how your mate tried this. I found some information online about using a hand press to churn out around 60 briquettes an hour and I have access to around 1.5 cubes of sawdust a week, so quite keen to give it a bash. Coupled with the free weekly newspaper in our town as a binder, should work quite well.

[Pants Boy]

No fancy tech - he built a press that had decent mechanical leverage, compressed the wet sawdust/newspaper shreddings into brick-sized blocks. IIRC he took 5 minutes a piece, it took weeks to dry fully, and was only half decent to go into the fireplace.

 

Will chat to him over the weekend and see if he still has it/photos.

[Tothehills]

I'm interested to see how your mate tried this. I found some information online about using a hand press to churn out around 60 briquettes an hour and I have access to around 1.5 cubes of sawdust a week, so quite keen to give it a bash. Coupled with the free weekly newspaper in our town as a binder, should work quite well.

To make any half decent briquette, you require at least 650kg/cm².

When going over to MDF or paper dust, a pressure of 900kg/cm² is recommended

Aluminium swarf we go up to 1500kg/cm²

 

Have done some industrial plants, it is a very expensive exercise.

 

The smallest one in the range at approx 30-40kg/hour with an average density of 650kg/m³

 

[Stretched@Birth]

Do you guys actually use sawdust for anything beneficial?

Sell it to a consortium of Pig farmers, who use it for bedding for the pigs, between our 2 factories we do about 800 bags a day.

Edited July 21, 2017 by Stretched@Birth

[eccc whippet]

 

 

I would like to meet the artisan/crafstman that is earning R800-R1200 an hour and have a chat to him 

 

i take you have never been to VW to have your car serviced?

 

I have to replace my key...R890 per hour for the artisan to reprogram my key...R4400 to replace the key.

[Grebel]

i take you have never been to VW to have your car serviced?

 

I have to replace my key...R890 per hour for the artisan to reprogram my key...R4400 to replace the key.

Back to my point at the end of that post you quoted. I have a problem being over charged.

 

However, in order to maintain my warranty, the dealer has me over a barrel. I have to go to the dealer (happens to be Audi FWIW) who is happy to charge me R970 an hour to service/work on my car.

 

Next time you are at VW, go ask the mechanic what his hourly rate is on his salary slip.....

 

Edit: if you are replacing your key as a result of loss, check with your broker first before you fork out the cash. Your insurance policy should have a section that covers lost or stolen keys [emoji106]

Edited July 23, 2017 by Grebel

[Stretched@Birth]

Drilled some holes in this piece of wood, still don't know what it is (best guess is Walnut), it was a dunnage block that was between 2 bundles of Meranti. It drills beautifully, smooth as butter, you can hear the difference when the bit reaches the Pine underneath.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Drilled some holes in this piece of wood, still don't know what it is (best guess is Walnut), it was a dunnage block that was between 2 bundles of Meranti. It drills beautifully, smooth as butter, you can hear the difference when the bit reaches the Pine underneath.

It does look like walnut...