THE Random Chat Thread - AKA "The RCT" - No shirt or shoes required - Open 24 / 7

The wood part of my treasure hunting has been the most lucrative for me !! I've sold these exotic slabs across the U.S. even as far out as Washington state.....I sold an entire cut and stacked "boule", or the entire log !! Tried to establish a working deal with some of the biggest guitar company's but can't seem to lock a co tract. So now we are going the art gallery route, for hand crafted furniture built from endangered native keys wood. We have a very successful artist here in the keys who is determined to help us succeed in the upper end of the art world....he has literally grabbed us by the seat of the pants and thrown us on center stage ..... I have a debut on AUG.12 at Sotheby's art gallery in islamorada !! I had prices on my work that were 10X less than what they will list for !! I said something like how about 2000 for this piece, and I got the look like I must be insane!! Gallery director looked at me and said we will put 20,000 on it !! He said no one wants to pay 2000 in this gallery......they are shopping for art in the 10-50 thousand dollar range !! You need to go to the flea market if your going to put that type of price on it !!
 

Blak bart said:
The wood part of my treasure hunting has been the most lucrative for me !! I've sold these exotic slabs across the U.S. even as far out as Washington state.....I sold an entire cut and stacked "boule", or the entire log !! Tried to establish a working deal with some of the biggest guitar company's but can't seem to lock a co tract. So now we are going the art gallery route, for hand crafted furniture built from endangered native keys wood. We have a very successful artist here in the keys who is determined to help us succeed in the upper end of the art world....he has literally grabbed us by the seat of the pants and thrown us on center stage ..... I have a debut on AUG.12 at Sotheby's art gallery in islamorada !! I had prices on my work that were 10X less than what they will list for !! I said something like how about 2000 for this piece, and I got the look like I must be insane!! Gallery director looked at me and said we will put 20,000 on it !! He said no one wants to pay 2000 in this gallery......they are shopping for art in the 10-50 thousand dollar range !! You need to go to the flea market if your going to put that type of price on it !!
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Start a separate thread and post pictures of your wood work. We would love to see them.
 

Blak bart said:
The wood part of my treasure hunting has been the most lucrative for me !! I've sold these exotic slabs across the U.S. even as far out as Washington state.....I sold an entire cut and stacked "boule", or the entire log !! Tried to establish a working deal with some of the biggest guitar company's but can't seem to lock a co tract. So now we are going the art gallery route, for hand crafted furniture built from endangered native keys wood. We have a very successful artist here in the keys who is determined to help us succeed in the upper end of the art world....he has literally grabbed us by the seat of the pants and thrown us on center stage ..... I have a debut on AUG.12 at Sotheby's art gallery in islamorada !! I had prices on my work that were 10X less than what they will list for !! I said something like how about 2000 for this piece, and I got the look like I must be insane!! Gallery director looked at me and said we will put 20,000 on it !! He said no one wants to pay 2000 in this gallery......they are shopping for art in the 10-50 thousand dollar range !! You need to go to the flea market if your going to put that type of price on it !!
Click to expand...
I found out later, that my friends prints go for 1500-2000 each !! And commission originals generally get 10-20 thousand !! Now I knew my buddy was finally doing good wit his art after struggling for years, but I had no idea !! I've helped him through his lean years and he would work for me painting boats. I should've known, when you can afford to buy a home and move back to the keys !! Anyway he is now gonna help my partner and I skip all the struggling, and put our work straight up at the top with the best selling artist.

We have a different gig than most, and our pieces are both art, and functional furniture....think about a gallery ?? If you paint, your work is usally hung on the wall. If you sculpt, your work is placed on a stand or table. So for us it's win win ...... other artists work can be displayed on our art work/furniture !!
 

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How bout a 12 foot long flame grain cuban mahogany live edge bar top thats 3 inches thick, and 24 inch wide !!
I tried to find one like this, and they don't exist!! There was one or two.....they were nowhere near this quality and figure in the slabs, and 1 was 21,000, and the other was 16,000. If some one has a truck it's outta my shop for 5000 !! I have 3 more pieces and the log was free !!
 

My only art work is the ketchup this morning 😋
Look at the swirl grain running through the batch.
The deeper swirled colors are the best tasting in the batch.🤣
(Trying to compete with the wood)

Just finishing up the batch, getting ready to bottle it.

Hate the store bought no matter what kind.
This should get through another year.
Well depending on visitors, parties, and French fries from the crop of potatoes.
20230709_100925.jpg
 

Blak bart said:
I found out later, that my friends prints go for 1500-2000 each !! And commission originals generally get 10-20 thousand !! Now I knew my buddy was finally doing good wit his art after struggling for years, but I had no idea !! I've helped him through his lean years and he would work for me painting boats. I should've known, when you can afford to buy a home and move back to the keys !! Anyway he is now gonna help my partner and I skip all the struggling, and put our work straight up at the top with the best selling artist.

We have a different gig than most, and our pieces are both art, and functional furniture....think about a gallery ?? If you paint, your work is usally hung on the wall. If you sculpt, your work is placed on a stand or table. So for us it's win win ...... other artists work can be displayed on our art work/furniture !!
Click to expand...
Unique. Limited. Finite. Rare. Both the wood and individual craft-folk involved.
Equals $$$$.
Heck , you can't legally fell one of these without two acts of congress , a trio of nuns and a priest as signed witnesses it wasn't poached. After last rites.

I'm not serious about buying in the keys.
I do run through online on Zillow looking at cheap places. (I do that many places.)
It's 1.5 Million for a danged cottage North of you a couple weeks ago Bart!
Making stuff ten times what it is here.

Friend finished his log home anther guy started. (Sold it since.)
He liked (likes) woodwork. Far removed from his plastics enterprise and fortune but he was balanced that way.

Intricate and patient scalloping of trim edges.
Just the right round here.
Live edge here.
Another trip North for more , just the right cedar "Bacon" type slabs.
Another wood worker with just the right rounds with burls to remain intact. And while he's in reach , how bout some heavy slab stairs?

Exclusive shops and products , more so when the resources behind them are limited followed by custom work , are pricy.

Your material alone you recognize the value of. You are taking it from raw to finished too.

Listen close , your time is worth X amount.
A danged boat there suitable for utility work is more than my house.
Your home and groceries and utilities and set asides for hopefully old age there?/Over the moon.
But I'm not paying you for that...

Skills. Now we're talking.
Knowledge. Yes.
Tools. Understood. And when they are one offs or not used elsewhere , it's going to cost me more to do myself. IF I have the material and knowledge.

Here's the real deal though.
Anyone just about can buy a plank and hand finish it.
Anyone with time and patience can observe wood crafting.

There comes a point when understanding a piece is almost inherent. But it is experience.
When a moisture gauge really isn't needed it's knowledge meets skill meets , familiarity.
Same with wood type and a host of other items.

Ikea sells a lot of furniture. Congrats!
Studying furniture beginning with materials and following them forward always (not sometimes) demonstrates that when you acquire a piece of quality craftsmanship derived from quality material the best costs far more than the cheapest for fair reason.

An exclusive one off? Might as well add a v couple zeros to the price and if it doesn't move in a reasonable time (and what is reasonable?) lower the price.

Then there is the craftsman that cares and fusses and can't stand imperfection in thier work regardless of the woods character.

I can show you Chinese Catalpa gun stocks hogged out and finish slapped on them....
I appreciate the folks who sweated on them. Poor creatures...
Thier work is fully functional still. And they produced in volume at personal cost to thier well beings. How willingly I don't know..

And I can present a nice (nice for my budget) piece of walnut. Carefully selected and worked into a fairly fancy stock. With a glob of dirt or something where the action bolt rests.
Yes I could fix it. I leave it .
And each time I see it it reminds me of the friend who had just finished painting a car and thought he's speed up the dry time in his garage so he turned on the cieling fan.
Which had not been used or cleaned in quite a while and dumped it's load onto the wet paint of the roof.....


Quit selling yourself so cheaply Bart.
People refuse your cost you can lower it. Just don't ever present desperation in the process.

Your woodwork is like chartering in the manner off if it's selling too fast , you're overbooked .
When overbooked constantly on charters raising the price can reduce that pressure/demand. Or it may not!! Raise it again and see.
But so and so only charges...No. Firstly , is so and so over booked too?
So and so isn't doing what you are. And isn't you. This is why Bart = X to buy his time.
See his time under that slabs topcoat? On that boats teak finish? Smell it in it's exhaust?

One off exclusive ,rare , one of a kind! But enough about Bart. We have all kinds of unique members right here on this thread.
You have exclusive product on your hands.

People used to (probably still do) come from multiple countries to bid on a saw log of old birdseye maple.
Talk about skills and knowledge , I'd be stressed tasked with submitting bids on suck and having to know when it isn't slabbed yet what I'm looking at.
I've mentioned old growth sunken logs from the Midwest's logging era before too being auctioned.
Tight growth ring patterns and longtime soaking and , Was it Stratovarius favored similar material?

Your woodwork is durable when such is required.
And certainly tangible regardless of cost.
And functional!
You need to appreciate it as an investment. Both to you and your clients/customers.
I own a 3 million dollar house or yacht , Ikea (no offence) is not going to shine like rare tropical pieces sourced from areas we cruise that have witnessed history here. And created pieces by local crafts folk.

I've suggested overpricing something unique. You're dragging a one of a kind prototype teaser for a one of a kind offer to follow.
No rush. No rush. No rush.
It is one special piece. Until entertained the teaser stays in play.

An old man rummaged for a block of wood kind of. He knew right where it was hidden but breathing just right.
Same gent that couldn't stand the light colored little spot by the tang on a handcrafted curly tiger maple gunstock of mine. He'd handed me a little jar of stain to get rid of it but if you know me you'll understand why I didn't use it.
I'd inspected a gun he'd built using sassafras. First of it's type I'd seen. But he'd had to ; because he hadn't.

Anyways. He wrestled that block out and brushed some of the dust off under better lighting to show the birdseye.
I'd buy a saw of his when he was selling out to move.
I didn't ask about how much of his equipment was going with him.
Old style coffin shaped "lades" he'd made to attach to a circular blade to create barrel channels in stock blanks he had made from block of wood or logs.
Sweat box for "aging" gun barrels to a period finish and correctness.

He didn't sell for what he had into much of his work.
Another builder had by his estimate a 200 plus hours into a piece. Great work. But.....
So there's another balance to consider.
Old age is coming. Tools are getting heavier and hand rubbing finishes don't come as easy.
That former 200 pound grip dropped the rag , again.
One wrong shark bite and Barts production rate can plummet.

You ever feel guilty about a buyer paying more than you think a piece of wood is worth there are charities all over to consider.
You gank someone in need of food or shelter when providing them such , that's very different.
We know that's not Bart.
But don't doubt being told your woodwork can be sold for more.'Old Bart won't cuss having made a few more bucks on his labor on rare resources that felt the same sun he did as a youth..
Some of that wood you crafted and finished and transformed into a preserved state reverently is going to far outlive you. And you're worth how much? That means adding another zero sometimes Bart.



.
 

Blak bart said:
View attachment 2092777View attachment 2092779
How bout a 12 foot long flame grain cuban mahogany live edge bar top thats 3 inches thick, and 24 inch wide !!
I tried to find one like this, and they don't exist!! There was one or two.....they were nowhere near this quality and figure in the slabs, and 1 was 21,000, and the other was 16,000. If some one has a truck it's outta my shop for 5000 !! I have 3 more pieces and the log was free !!
Click to expand...

Eww. It's crooked. It has voids and defects.
And bark on it still for crying out loud!

That sure would make a sweet bar top.
Not sure who's work it was the other day you could see through holes in when finished that someone commented it was nice to see holes not filled on a piece.

To each thier own I guess. If a customer wanted holes filled or I was doing multiple pieces I might mix things up.

Ants using former insect holes in a piece in my hunting blind I inspected yesterday.
Suppose I ought to do something about that. Not really woodwork. But related maybe.
 

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