Work seems to be rolling in a pace, which is great, although most of this week has been spent at the drawing board and working out quotes. The drawing I like, the quotes I don't. Even though I been doing this for over twenty five years now I still find working out a quote hard work. How do you know how long a pice of furniture will take you to make when you have never made it before! OK looking back on past work you can get an idea of how much time a set of dovetails will take, or machining up 5 cube of timber, but the very nature of bespoke work means that each new project is a one off. At some point I will commit to this blog my own secret formula for working a quote, it's not perfect but it's a good place to start. 
However after a week spent slaving over a hot calculator the thought of setting out more equation's here holds no interest. Instead I'll tell you about a trip to my local and favourite timber yard to pick out some boards of European Oak and American Popular. The yard is W.L. West & sons in Petworth East Sussex. It's a hour and a half drive from the workshop, and as I set off, the sun was busy burning off a dawn mist that hung the dips of the South Downs. I probably spent a little longer than nesasery catching up with the guy's at the yard and finding the right wood for the job. Back at the workshop I turned my chosen planks of Oak into a pair of ledge and brace doors. I'm glad I'm a woodworker and not an accountant.
