Kitchen job as ADVANCED Woodworking? WTF?

[joe mendel]

Many of the really good woodworkers I have known over the past 50 years, have been forced to do kitchen cabinet work in which to garner an income to keep the lights on in the shop so they can someday do the projects they dream of doing.  This is the thirteenth and FINAL kitchen job in my career (2002).  Not all kitchen jobs are the same. Some cabinet jobs are straight forward, then there are some more involved then others; I submit this as the latter.

The stainless steel pantry door was a special order to match the upper cabinet. The curved pulls were custom curved from purchased straight stainless pulls. Using my vacuum press I was able to match the curved profile of the drawers.

The upper cabinet has strips of stainless steel, cut by me, and adhered to the cabinet. The walnut desk is veneered over a substrate of mdf. The drawer pulls installed in such a manor so all the drawers could open without impeding each other. It took a bit of designing on my part to pull it off properly.

The kitchen was not designed by me, but by an architectural firm in Washington, DC. They commissioned me to build the project. The head of the firm came to my workshop after seeing the results in the clients home, just to shake my hand and tell me how impressed he was on how I followed his vision of the project.

The cabinets have the grain running in a continuous horizontal direction. I used a flitch of eight 4' by 8' sheets. I spent three days marking, numbering and cutting with a razor knife to catalog which piece went where to insure the flow of the grain to match.  The grain follows around the door edges and matching perfectly on the inside of the doors as well.

All the curved surfaces were done on my vacuum bag(s). The puck lights on the overhead valance were installed by me. The rest were done by a local electrician.

The counter tops were poured concrete made by another firm, but installed by me.

[BonPacific]

That's one hell of a job Joe. Did I read that right that you used a vacuum press to curve the stainless drawer pulls?

[joe mendel]

On 6/18/2022 at 5:20 PM, BonPacific said:

That's one hell of a job Joe. Did I read that right that you used a vacuum press to curve the stainless drawer pulls?

Yes, that is correct.  I made multiple plywood molds and sandwiched the bars between the two pieces and used vacuum pressure to bend the metal.  I over-bent the bars, and there was a degree of spring-back which I had to contend, and compensate for in the mold profile. 

[Tom King]

Very impressive.  Next time you can charge double.

[joe mendel]

On 6/18/2022 at 5:49 PM, Tom King said:

Very impressive.  Next time you can charge double.

No, no, NO.   I have kitchen cabinets far behind me in the rear-view mirror.  I only did this particular job because the client and the architect specifically wanted me to do the job.  I only agreed to do the work because they "made me an offer which I could not refuse."  No horse head in my bed, but they did put ample Benjamins in my bank account. 

[Tom King]

I understand.   I'd like building Federal furniture better too.  My fear would be that it would be put in a house with 8' ceilings, wall to wall carpet, and 3-1/2" baseboards.

[Coop]

That is awesome! How many days do you figure you had in this job?

[joe mendel]

On 6/18/2022 at 9:55 PM, Coop said:

That is awesome! How many days do you figure you had in this job?

Seven months of work by myself.  The finish was commissioned out of my shop.  I hired two guys who are great installers to help me put everything in place.  Install took three days.

[Coop]

Wow! I can see where the benefits reaped would keep the lights burning for a good while! 

[drzaius]

That's a kitchen that is of the quality in both design and construction that will never go out of style and in 50 years still be interesting and beautiful.

[joe mendel]

On 6/20/2022 at 9:36 AM, drzaius said:

That's a kitchen that is of the quality in both design and construction that will never go out of style and in 50 years still be interesting and beautiful.

...Until a new owner buys the house, and guts the kitchen because the new head of the house decides that they want their own design so they can make the kitchen "their own."   THAT is a primary reason for not liking to do kitchens, that and they are generally stupefyingly boring to build--this job being an anomaly.  I like building more heirloom pieces, even if they end up in a thrift store, they won't usually be dismantled.

I do appreciate your sentiments on the gig.

[Tpt life]

I see curves a lot, however, matching the curves to countertops etc. is epic. 

[drzaius]

On 6/20/2022 at 8:07 AM, joe mendel said:

...Until a new owner buys the house, and guts the kitchen because the new head of the house decides that they want their own design so they can make the kitchen "their own."   THAT is a primary reason for not liking to do kitchens, that and they are generally stupefyingly boring to build--this job being an anomaly.  I like building more heirloom pieces, even if they end up in a thrift store, they won't usually be dismantled.

I do appreciate your sentiments on the gig.

Maybe with some luck it will survive. I was involved in reconnecting a large bungalow built in 1956 (the year I was born) that had been cut in 2 for relocation. The was a beauty, a mid century modern through and through. the kitchen was still completely original right down to the linoleum countertops trimmed with aluminum edging. The house could have been a museum piece. That new owners loved it that way and maintained the originality as much as possible. the kitchen was really cool, but nowhere near the same league as the one above.