Furniture kits

"RonB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:gnVed.13787$EZ.1937@okepread07...
> Jack - You have probably figured out that most of the guys who frequent
> this group tend to build their own stuff.
>
> I agree with Charlie. If you think you have the inclination to put a
> piece together and finish it, start with Bartley or one of the clock
> companies.

I can't speak for the quality of Barley, but buying unfinished furniture is
what got me started building my own. I figured I could do better and I did.

There is some quality stuff out there but it is not a savings over finished
goods, IMO. The lower priced stuff is, well, not what I really want to
furnish my house with. But, keep in mind it is something you do because you
want to, not to save money. The investment I have in tools would buy a lot
of nice furniture. I'll never get ahead $$ wise.
Ed
[email protected]
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

jack asks:

>Dare I ask.... What companies are you all currently recommending for high
>quality furniture kits? I was looking online at The Bartley Collection.

OK. disregard the smart-assed opinions. It's understandable that a total
beginner won't have tools or skills to build furniture. Bartley's is a good
place to start: their kits have excellent reputations.

You'll still need some skill and equipment, mostly in dealing with clamps and
gluing and finishing, but you do not need such items as a table saw, jointer,
planer and router, so the coss are much lower. I would strongly suggest you
pick up a top quality measuring tape or other such device, the required clamps,
and a block plane just in case changes are needed (Lee Valley's Veritas apron
plane is excellent for this, as is the E.C. Emmerich block plane [especially as
tuned by Tom Watson]).

I also suggest you start small and as cheap as possible. Bartley's grouping of
kits includes some that are mighty expensive, which means they're also mighty
complex. Go with the easy stuff at first.

You might also want to consider a small clock kit from--who else--Klockit.
They've got an estimable selection of wall clock kits, as does Emperor Clock.
EC is more expensive.

Good luck.

Charlie Self
"When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not
hereditary." Thomas Paine

In article <[email protected]>,
jack <[email protected]> wrote:

> What companies are you all currently recommending for high
> quality furniture kits?

Your local hardwood supplier.

"jack" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello. Beginner question.
> Dare I ask.... What companies are you all currently recommending for high
> quality furniture kits? I was looking online at The Bartley Collection.
>

Just buy some wood. Cut away anything that does not look like furniture.

Pretty expensive kits, those Bartley units. I recommend the local
lumberyard and some tools. Do what I did - start small with a few
basic tools, after a few years you'll be making the stuff in that
catalog.

On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 16:34:45 GMT, "jack" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hello. Beginner question.
>Dare I ask.... What companies are you all currently recommending for high
>quality furniture kits? I was looking online at The Bartley Collection.
>
>I did a google group search, but with the way things work these days, the
>responses might be out of date.
>Thank you.
>

Hi Jack,
As an alternative, why not decide upon some piece that you would like such
as a baby rocker, cedar chest or whatever. Then come back to this group,
giving your location and see if one of the members is interested in supplying
you with the machined parts. You quite likely will end up with good
workmanship at a reasonable price. Cheers, JG

jack wrote:

> Hello. Beginner question.
> Dare I ask.... What companies are you all currently recommending for high
> quality furniture kits? I was looking online at The Bartley Collection.
>
> I did a google group search, but with the way things work these days, the
> responses might be out of date.
> Thank you.

Try http://www.vandykes.com/subcategory/111/

I have never tried their kits. I have hopes of selling kits someday so
I've looked around a bit. Not much out there; maybe not much market
:-(

I cannot speak to their quality. Some of the stuff looks pretty nice.
The Mission Oak (which is one area I'll concentrate) is not so nice.
Very clunky looking, but some of their case work looks pretty good.

BW


"jack" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hello. Beginner question.
> Dare I ask.... What companies are you all currently recommending for high
> quality furniture kits? I was looking online at The Bartley Collection.
>
> I did a google group search, but with the way things work these days, the
> responses might be out of date.
> Thank you.

On 25 Oct 2004 11:03:15 -0700, [email protected] (Bill Wallace) wrote:

>The Mission Oak (which is one area I'll concentrate) is not so nice.
>Very clunky looking,

That's putting it mildly ! How about downright plug ugly ?

This stuff is only _copying_, for goodness sake. How hard is that to
get right ?

On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 16:44:49 -0500, "RonB" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Frankly, you would have
>to have some pretty nice shop equipment and experience to build some of the
>pieces, mouldings and other details used in these kits

Sounds like you've seen this Bartleby stuff close-up ?

Just what do they include ? What's done for you, and what's still left
to do ?



BTW - If you're after a nice project but don't want to do the
machining, take a look at Gerstner machinist's toolboxes. They have a
few of their designs available as near-completed kits, for around half
the finished price. www.gerstnerusa.com

--
Smert' spamionam

Jack - You have probably figured out that most of the guys who frequent this
group tend to build their own stuff.

I agree with Charlie. If you think you have the inclination to put a piece
together and finish it, start with Bartley or one of the clock companies.
In fact, Klockit offerors some non-clock music box, weather station and
other kits that are good starter projects. Some of the Bartley stuff is
pretty sophisticated but they have some shelves, tables, etc. that will
challenge you and let you produce some nice items. Frankly, you would have
to have some pretty nice shop equipment and experience to build some of the
pieces, mouldings and other details used in these kits.

The clock companies also offer plans for some of their products. One of my
first serious projects was a schoolhouse regulator built around a 1901
movement my grandfather had. It was a very rewarding project that has been
hanging in our houses for 25 years. If you get started with a kit or plan
and feel like this is something you would enjoy, hang around this and other
wood newsgroups, subscribe to wood-related magazines and check out your
library. This is usually enough to get a hidden tool-fetish out of the
closet.

References:

alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking
rec.crafts.woodturning
alt.binaries.pictures.furniture (lightly used but some pretty neat stuff
shows up from time to time)
https://www.bartleycollectioncatalog.com/index.cfm
http://www.klockit.com/
http://emperorclock.com/catalog/index.php

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
>> "jack" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> Hello. Beginner question.
>>> Dare I ask.... What companies are you all currently recommending
>>> for high quality furniture kits? I was looking online at The
>>> Bartley Collection.
>>>
>>
>> Just buy some wood. Cut away anything that does not look like
>> furniture.

Looks great. Might save a lot of time finding wood, etc. why not try a
small project and give us your evaluation.

Josie

On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 16:34:45 GMT, "jack" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Dare I ask.... What companies are you all currently recommending for high
>quality furniture kits?

To be honest, we're not.

What sort of piece are you thinking of ?

> I was looking online at The Bartley Collection.

Looks like nice enough stuff. I'd want better pictures before I spend
over $1000 though.

I'm not sure what a kit is really gaining you though. It provides all
the parts (I know some people just can't find decent timber locally).
It also does the big-machine machining for you. There's still an
awful lot of work left to do though, including the finishing. These
are expensive kits, and they're a long way from "screw on the handles
and you're done".

So what is this kit giving you that a good project book doesn't ? If
you have the space to work on a large piece, and the money to buy this
kit, then you can afford a decent table saw and work from plain
timber. If it's a small clock and you're really short on space, then
it might work, but I just can't see the proposition of building
something on the scale of a highboy where someone is skilled enough to
finish the kit, yet not skilled, equipped and experienced enough to do
it from scratch.

I think building one of these kits would work, and deliver some good
furniture - but so would something simpler, from scratch, with
guidance.

>
> Sounds like you've seen this Bartleby stuff close-up ?

Yes with Barley and a clockit.

I haven't actually assembled a Bartley. I had a neighbor who what a shop
teacher and a very gifted craftsman in his own right. Like most teachers he
held more than one job to make ends meet and used his shop for income. When
mama wanted a clock he turned to Bartley to save himself time. He put
together one of their grandfather clocks. The kit contained pretty much
what you would expect from a Revell model car kit, but much more precise.
All parts are cut out, milled to final shape and sanded. Tricky jointery is
done (doors and some case-frames are assembled and sanded, etc.) However,
they by no means, do all of the work. He still had to pre-assemble all of
the case parts, align everything, and disassemble and tweak prior to final
assembly, just like a shop-built project. They did an excellent job of
matching wood for assembly but he still had to use hand tools to get things
to fit to his liking. Counting wood, movement and components, hinges, etc.
the kit probably contained around 100 parts and he spent several weeks
getting it assembled and finished. His final product was beautiful. He
ended up building a few more furniture kits, most of which he sold. After
watching that happen I kept myself in touch with their catalogues and web
site.

I did build a Clockit short-case regulator in the same general time frame.
It too came in the form of milled and sanded parts. The door and crown were
preassembled and sanded leaving 15 or so parts or subassemblies to be put
together. This one was easy requiring about a week including finish.
Quality of the kit was quite good and it is ticking away right next to me.
This inspired me to modify a Klockit plan and build a schoolhouse regulator
around the antique movement mentioned in my first post.

Make no mistake. These are quality kits, especially the Bartley stuff. As
I recall Ed payed more than $500 for kit, with movement, 20-some years ago.
My regulator was probably in the $50 range for a much simpler kit (I just
hit their site and a similar kit is $89 or $32 for plans and parts
(quartz)).

I think they are a great motivational project and assembly will challenge
any starter. Final finish will challenge any of us.

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
[snip]

>> There is some quality stuff out there but it is not a savings over
>> finished goods, IMO. The lower priced stuff is, well, not what I
>> really want to furnish my house with. But, keep in mind it is
>> something you do because you want to, not to save money. The
>> investment I have in tools would buy a lot of nice furniture. I'll
>> never get ahead $$ wise.
>> Ed
>> [email protected]
>> http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

Maybe you will never get ahead $$ wise, but the items our dad's dad made in
his basement shop are priceless to me and my siblings and almost every tool
he purchased is still in use by one or another of us. His work is also the
standard by which we measure our own progress.

Josie