OK, thanks Milt!

very zen...very nice. Well done.

Milt, You're always grousing about something or other and look........you're an artist! Very, very nice work.

Maybe you're just a frustrated artist...or is that "Ar-Teest!"

Anyway, you do nice work whether its tea houses or cars.

Wax on. Wax off. :)

Very cool, Milt.

For the worksite
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172271661.jpg

Very nice Milt,

I curious why you went with a shingle roof and not tile?

Tile is more of the Chinese persuation, from my research. The Japanese historic architechture would resemble "A Little House on the Prarie," moreso than the tile with the upturned hips. Originally, someone in the project wanted a thatched roof. We looked into that and it was 10K for what amounted to a little over a square.

John, what is that machine? It looks like a punch press, but I just left the lumber yard where I got all the material for the tea house and they have an old sticker. That could be a sticker from what I can see.

The lumber yard actaully used a flat leather belt driven sticker until about 15 years ago. The drive pulleys are still in the rafters.

I don't know, just a random google-grab and bad 'shop. http://www.fsindustries.com//more_info/stor_guard/stor_guard.shtml
Excellent work Milt, and to think they could have had a nice big patch of grass in back of the house instead.

Well, since you admit ;) that it doesn't have anytning to do with woodworking that you know of, I'd say with that gear ratio, it's a punch.

I do nice work if I'm washing dishes. I grouse because so many people are such slackers. I have neighbors that have 400 sq ft of lawn and have a gardener! That's ridiculous.

I grouse because people are so stupid. Take the example of the ********* that walked through the construction and on to the virgin, raw deck. That was almost 10 years ago. It just gets worse every day.

I'm on a job right now where I did most of the finish carpentry including new 5" base, all new doors and casings, plus a few other tidbits. Now, I used to be a painter, so I expect a least a try at it. I like to say that if you can drag a lady's panty hose over the surface and not snag, that's nice and clean. All this new work and you couldn't get 5 feet on the mouldings before those hose would be messed up.

I don't get it. People spend lots of money getting things done to the house, but they don't want to pay the proper rate for proper work. It's not that much more and the work is so much better (if you can find a craftsman). But, what's more, this client will accept the job. That's really the only kind of work left anymore is ***** work. You'd be perpetually pissed too if your 37 year career ended up like this.

Man, threads can take on a new direction in a heartbeat. Sorry for the rant. I really did enjoy seeing this old job, but to tell you the truth, there were a lot of problems on that job because of lack of coordination and supervision.

I just did my shtick and my part got the notice. No big deal, I've pounded 10,000 nails since, mostly just rote work. I don't look for the limelight unless I do something worthy. Few and far between.

Funny, I just saw that you had added to this thread after responding to one of your old Zeke threads. In it I make a few of the same points as you make here.

People don't want to pay the money for craftsman-level work because to a great degree they don't care, and that's sad. A lot of the rest of them don't know craftsman-level work when they see it; wood is wood and paint is paint to them, etc. Also too bad.

I work in the Quality Assurance side of the construction business - and no one knows what that is. But I can tell you for certain after over 30 years in this business that there are people that fundamentally care about work done right and those that don't. I've worked for both. The ones that do (you and me) can eventually be worn down by the rest and say, "I don't give a damn anymore" - but we do. The ones that DON'T care about quality will never be made to. They will give lip service to it, but they fundamentally are not quality minded and don't care. I can write all the procedures, give all the training, I can make them follow checklists, etc. but there's no making people care if they just don't.

So, uh, Milt....?

Got any plans for a pergola?

That's this springs project, having a bit of a time trying to find anything I like.

Id be happy to pay craftsman-level price for someone to NOT botch a job worse than I would. How many skilled craft people are really out there anymore? How many people are really good at any kind of a trade in this country anymore? I cant even get my dry cleaning done or get a good pair of shoes resoled without going through a someone that outsources their core business to an unskilled sweatshop.

Shu, I hear ya. Ice, a pergola to me is a short version of what we call a patio cover in CA. That's where I found my tea house, in a patios and decks book. There are lots of cool plans out there, but I'm getting tired of the shaped end cuts. It's become too common and it's only 2-dimensional. I'm looking to build one with some carved ends in a Tuscan style this Spring is I can get the lady to spring for it (bad ). It will sit on round columns, so the ends need to be rounded, AFAIC. Sorta like a really stretched Doric capital.

Beautiful work, Milt, thanks for showing it to us.

Stunning. As mentioned by bevenator, wonderful place for a fattie, a deep sigh and a few quiet moments........

That's exactly the problem I'm seeing. Everything has become generic, a-la Home Depot or Sears pattern book from a bunch of years ago. There's no depth, spirit or life in what I've seen out there. Cripes I'm not looking for carved gargoyles, but sheesh, where's the originality and craftsmanship gone?

All I'm trying to find is something that complements the gardens (exactly like your tea house does...) and tudor style house. Driving myself half crazy trying to sketch out something that I like and doesnt stick out lke a wart on Cindy Crawford.

You gonna put the columns together yourself? That sounds pretty damn sweet.

Wow. Just wow.

Beautiful.