Production and Process Day Two

Day Two.

Shifting out of Product prototyping to focus on Production.

Up early, sipping coffee and looking over what I’ve got from Day One… three new jigs. All dialed in. Prototypes, themselves.

And I’m excited: Two big steps forward, one in Product and one in Production.

The Product improvement: I’m adding reinforcing corners that strengthen the entire unit - and they’ll be notched in and echo the design of the corner joint detail that I have planned for the floating frame. Beautiful. And those tabs have to be thicker again. Done.

For Production: I’m adding corner pieces to solve a huge problem with strength and look great while doing it – but there’s another huge benefit: assembly of that frame just got way easier, no jig required for those frame connections anymore. There goes hours of work developing that jig but that’s the process that got it here from there. 
The 80/20 rule: ‘You don’t know which 20% of your efforts will yield the best returns, but you have to do all 100% to find out.’

And that’s why I’m not taking orders yet. Not rushing this process. Quality needs to improve. I’m not going to put anything in inventory that I wouldn’t want to buy myself.

There’s another good reason not to rush it: Shop Safety.

The lesson I learned the hard way yesterday is that pin nails can shoot straight into the wood - or they can pop out unexpectedly at a right angle on the way. Never had that happen on the mahogany or cherry I’ve been prototyping with. Only pine. Anyway… safety first.

The most dangerous times in a shop are probably when you first get a new tool and again after you’ve gotten a little too comfortable with it. I’ve gotten a little too comfortable with my new favorite tool: the pin nailer, which feels a lot like a toy, right until a pin nail jabs you.

That tiny hole in my fingernail will serve as a daily reminder for awhile: Shop Safety First and Always.

The units get better and easier to make with each iteration. When I start to stock inventory, it’ll be with products worth having - and they’ll only get better, lot by lot.

Learning a lot, too, as I am sourcing wood. I found some new (unused) Oak hardwood flooring pieces that I need to plane and see what I can work with. Might be more trouble than it’s worth but…I’ll know soon enough and so will you - if you follow along. 

In Stoicism: ‘The path is the way. Meet obstacles as showing the path.’

Thanks for taking some time from your day to follow along.

I hope to convert you to a customer - when I get product in Inventory.

Not yet. Soon, though.

Gratefully,

-Keith