Anatomy of a Reception Desk

[bleeth]

In addition to basic cabinet parts we also use the bot regularly for Reception desks, Admin and Nurse desks, Bar walls, etc. I have attched a few shots of a current project in which we are building a fairly large (but not huge) Reception desk that will end up with Maple veneer and solid surface (Corian) work surfaces and transaction tops.
We cut all desk wall frames on the bot as they always have at least a toekick notch and penetration slots for electrical and data wiring and, of course, the bot is a lot more efficient at this then doing them by hand. On curved desks we also will cut the plates and countertops and sub-tops.
On a larger curved desk we will also to a floor template with all the principle construction lines for accurate layout and assembly so later parts, like the countertops, will fit with minimal adjustment.
In the attached shots you see the template laid out, a close up of some lines on it, frames being cut, and the frame assembly.
We start with a dwg of our shop drawing and bring the lines into Artcam where some things may be added and others deleted so we get all the info we need on the template for the builder to layout the entire project.
As we get further into the project I'll take some more pics. Basically, at this point, I spent about 4-6hours on the computer tweaking and generating cut files, a couple hours cutting, and one day getting this much assembly done. In the old days when I would do them by hand this would be close to a weeks work.

[kevin]

Thanks for the post
I don't do any comerical .But I like learning new tecniques .What scare me in comerical is collecting after

[chiloquinruss]

"after " - 50% down, balance COD. If it's a major, set milestones on the whole job upfront, both sign, and get PAID for each milestone reached, including FULL payment upon completion. No where on your business card does it say 'Bank of ShopBot'! Russ

[Brady Watson]

Nice Dave! Can't wait to see it all together.

Hey...wipe your greazy face juice off your phone's camera...

-B

[bleeth]

As far as payment goes, it could be worse. We could be operating a retail goods store or distributors warehouse and need to buy all the inventory, merchandise it, open the doors, and then have customers buying it a bit at a time. My terms actually vary depending on the type of client and job. For larger commercial jobs the terms are the same for all sub-contractors. If you don't like them, you don't bid the jobs to start with. Over the last year or so I've lowered the percentage of institutional jobs I do as they have been getting harder to get change orders approved and slower on payments. Most of my clients now issue payments within a few weeks of invoice and I bill deposits on contract. I also don't have to spend umpteen weeks with Mrs. Jones on her kitchen layout revised 6 times before I can actually give her a final price and then listen to how it's cheaper at Home Depot!!

[kevin]

There only 5 changes. The problem in my area with commercial work is where booming all these new construction companies are popping up all over the place they don’t have skilled superintends or general contractors .Where the last one in and we find all the problem and they are learning on the job at are expense. Plus I only have 2 employees we get spread pretty thin
What I like about private client is I design and decided all material .I’m general contractor the buck stops here .I love the freedom to try new thing
Their spending 14 billion about an hour away we fell the finical windfall housing is popping up everywhere .Newfoundland is turning in to the Costo of resources to the world .In Labdour there finishing up the biggest iron ore mine in the world .So the skilled labor hasn’t caught up with the work
http://news.exxonmobil.com/press-release/exxonmobil-announces-hebron-oil-project-proceed-canadas-east-coast
I know a lot of my friends on the mainland say how are you making it here? Most people don’t realize the boom here
When I living in Montreal commercial job where corrupt with kickbacks .It was scary I worked on a restaurant where they were changing equipment with cheaper equipment and keeping the money needless to say the cabinets didn’t fit .There quote was the people that financed this don’t care and this it’s your problem don’t settle things in court I’ll leave at that.
I have a canned letter for commercial work I send when they ask me to bid that’s how they do it here. I find there lazy and want you to do the drawing for free
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Thank you for your recent interest in our company. Our policy on commercial jobs is as following:
1. All clients asking us to bid on jobs will bring all drawings to the above address for our review; if drawings are not correct, and we have to do modifications, charges will be applied. First hour will be free and all subsequent hours will be billed at $67.00 an hour.
2. All jobs, if accepted, will have a strict payment policy. 40% will be paid upon acceptance of the contract; the next 40% will be paid upon review of cabinets by client, being ND Dobbin, in my shop. All cabinetry will not leave my shop until the remaining 20% is paid.
3. Installation will be a separate contract. And will be graded on experience of superintendent, general contractors, and the general organization of the project. All installation work is based on $69.00 an hour.

We are a high-end cabinet company. We are easily capable of doing commercial work. I have been a cabinetmaker for over 20 years. I suggest you visit the shop as opposed to sending out faxes. We do not finance projects. And we expect the general contractor and architect and/or owners to take responsibility for their projects in a professional manner.
Dave I don’t say no to commercial just careful