That little voice

I recently finished a project and, as usual, stood back to give it a final once over. I noticed something that could stand a bit of tweaking. One of the…

I recently finished a project and, as usual, stood back to give it a final once over. I noticed something that could stand a bit of tweaking.

One of the voices in my head was screaming at me, ‘No! No! It's done. Move on.’ But the other voice – the small, quiet one that cannot be silenced, kept at me. I caved to that voice because I knew it was right. That small adjustment would vastly improve the end result.

The required several hours of extra work as one thing led to another. The extra labor wasn’t in the budget. There was no way to pass it on to the customer. It had to come out my pocket.

I always try to allow for some contingency factor when I price jobs and, sometimes, this works out. But when you are trying to cut the cost down to where it is affordable for the customer and still make a decent profit, the contingency may not be sufficient to cover even the most common issues much less last minute reworking.

Sometimes I wish I could silence that little voice but, in my heart, I know it is almost always right.

D.D.

David DeCristoforo possesses an extensive resume as designer/maker of fine furniture, high-end cabinetry and architectural woodwork. His experience in professional woodworking spans a period of 35 years. For the past 20 years David DeCristoforo Design has been located in Woodland, California. During this time David's shop has ranged in scope from a "full on" cabinet production shop with as many as 15 employees to a small fine furniture and custom millwork shop, working with his son, David RBJ, a highly skilled maker in his own right.