Have pencil, will draw. Sometimes it’s something cool for y’all.
People often ask - Where did you find this pattern? or Where did you first see this? Often times the answer is - In my crazy head!
Waaaaayyyy back when, in the days of learning to make cabinets, we used old school technology. A “story stick” as we called them, was simply a stick of wood with a bunch of lines on it. To the average person, it was a piece of scrap. But when building a cabinet, it really was the measuring stick. Laying out every cabinet from the same story stick maintained consistency, and saved time because you didn’t have to pull out the tape measure or ruler for every single cut. As funny as that may be, I literally made a story stick yesterday for a custom corner cabinet we are getting ready to build. We utilize CNC and laser in our shop, but nothing can replace a ruler and pencil.
In our line of business, so many people have saturated the market, because everyone thinks they can do it. A lot of people can, and a lot of people can’t. And unfortunately, those that can’t but think they can, lower the bar and put out inferior quality products. That’s where we have to set ourselves apart. We do this in several ways - every product is of the highest quality. Before we put our name/logo on it, it must meet our standards and that’s pretty high. Second, we like to be unique and so many of our products are one-of-a-kind in the wood, pattern and layout of the piece. And lastly, we’re always looking to try to be different. While many will copy, we try to be the originator.
We’ve seen individuals take a rectangle cutting or charcuterie board and take a “bite” out of the corner. That “bite” represents where a shark bit the corner off and then they call it a Shark-coochie board. Say what????? Ok, in my best West Virginian accent - That ain’t happin’ in our shop. That’s plumb dumb. To each their own, I guess. Now, I liked the concept as I thought it was a bit different and I thought I should take a bite at it, pun intended. So while on vacation a year ago, I started sketching out what our “Shark-cuterie” board should look like. I made a drawing, and then made a prototype. It was ok. So I sent a picture to a friend. She said, the tail isn’t quite right, and maybe a change here or there. It was good feedback, so back to the drawing board I went. A change here, and adjustment there, and then we were on to something. Then I spent the next few days turning the drawing into a file that would allow me to create Shark-cuterie board after Shark-cuterie board, all matching.
Sadly, one of my biggest problems is I think everything we do is going to sell. Kristen, the realist, always cautions not to make too many till we know. So we started out with 2. One sold the first day we took it to market. That meant I got to make more! Another sold shortly thereafter. So I made more. When we loaded up for the show in Myrtle Beach, we had 4. We were down to our last one and a couple said they wanted to think about it and set it down. Then another couple that was just a few feet away jumped when they put it down and bought the last one. Sometimes you’re the bait, and sometimes you’re the trophy fish. You just never know, but it’s one of the coolest things to picture something in your mind, be able to make it, and people are willing to buy it. Oh, and be on the lookout for the next version, baby Shark-cuterie. Yep, I went there. And yep, they’re really coming. It’s just part of this Design and Refine Woodworks dream, and I hope I don’t wake up anytime soon.
