I've been looking at different plans for TV trays for a few months and haven't
gotten around to making them.. material lists, cutting layouts, etc..

We were in the States last week and Wal-Mart had wood TV trays for less than $9
each.. The wife loved them and I liked the idea of buying them for less than I
could buy the wood and hardware, so we bought 4 and I'm back on the lathe today,
figuring that I dodged a bullet..

Pretty bad when I can buy something cheaper than I can make it, though..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On Feb 7, 3:20*pm, mac davis wrote:
I've been looking at different plans for TV trays for a few months and haven't
gotten around to making them.. material lists, cutting layouts, etc..

We were in the States last week and Wal-Mart had wood TV trays for less than $9
each.. The wife loved them and I liked the idea of buying them for less than I
could buy the wood and hardware, so we bought 4 and I'm back on the lathe today,
figuring that I dodged a bullet..

Pretty bad when I can buy something cheaper than I can make it, though..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

At least $300.00 worth of glass alone....
http://tinyurl.com/y94nquc

On 2/7/2010 2:36 PM, Robatoy wrote:
On Feb 7, 3:20 pm, mac wrote:
I've been looking at different plans for TV trays for a few months and haven't
gotten around to making them.. material lists, cutting layouts, etc..

We were in the States last week and Wal-Mart had wood TV trays for less than $9
each.. The wife loved them and I liked the idea of buying them for less than I
could buy the wood and hardware, so we bought 4 and I'm back on the lathe today,
figuring that I dodged a bullet..

Pretty bad when I can buy something cheaper than I can make it, though..

At least $300.00 worth of glass alone....
http://tinyurl.com/y94nquc

.... or those $119 teak porch rockers at Sam's ... the one's that are
indeed teak, (I've three of them, and I wished I'd bought a fourth
before they discontinued them hereabouts).

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

On Feb 7, 3:52*pm, Swingman wrote:
On 2/7/2010 2:36 PM, Robatoy wrote:

On Feb 7, 3:20 pm, mac *wrote:
I've been looking at different plans for TV trays for a few months and haven't
gotten around to making them.. material lists, cutting layouts, etc..

We were in the States last week and Wal-Mart had wood TV trays for less than $9
each.. The wife loved them and I liked the idea of buying them for less than I
could buy the wood and hardware, so we bought 4 and I'm back on the lathe today,
figuring that I dodged a bullet..

Pretty bad when I can buy something cheaper than I can make it, though...
At least $300.00 worth of glass alone....
http://tinyurl.com/y94nquc

... or those $119 teak porch rockers at Sam's ... the one's that are
indeed teak, (I've three of them, and I wished I'd bought a fourth
before they discontinued them hereabouts).

--www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Speaking of teak. There is a 1000 km railroad, in Scandinavia
someplace, entirely done with teak ties.

On Feb 7, 3:20 pm, mac wrote:
I've been looking at different plans for TV trays for a few months and haven't
gotten around to making them.. material lists, cutting layouts, etc..

We were in the States last week and Wal-Mart had wood TV trays for less than $9
each.. The wife loved them and I liked the idea of buying them for less than I
could buy the wood and hardware, so we bought 4 and I'm back on the lathe today,
figuring that I dodged a bullet..

Pretty bad when I can buy something cheaper than I can make it, though..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

That is what happened to the Computer desk that I spent a year
designing. I wanted something to take the computer, printer, and all of
the associated items. I had got to the point where I had I arranged
exactly as I wanted it.

We went down to the local Lowes and there it was for about half of the
cost of wood that I needed to build mine.

On 2/7/10 4:20 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
That is what happened to the Computer desk that I spent a year
designing. I wanted something to take the computer, printer, and all of
the associated items. I had got to the point where I had I arranged
exactly as I wanted it.

We went down to the local Lowes and there it was for about half of the
cost of wood that I needed to build mine.


Like walking through an Ikea, the fastfood hamburger of woodworking.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On Feb 7, 4:20*pm, Keith Nuttle wrote:
On Feb 7, 3:20 pm, mac *wrote:

I've been looking at different plans for TV trays for a few months and haven't
gotten around to making them.. material lists, cutting layouts, etc..

We were in the States last week and Wal-Mart had wood TV trays for less than $9
each.. The wife loved them and I liked the idea of buying them for less than I
could buy the wood and hardware, so we bought 4 and I'm back on the lathe today,
figuring that I dodged a bullet..

Pretty bad when I can buy something cheaper than I can make it, though...

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

That is what happened to the Computer desk that I spent a year
designing. *I wanted something to take the computer, printer, and all of
the associated items. *I had got to the point where I had I arranged
exactly as I wanted it.

We went down to the local Lowes and there it was for about half of the
cost of wood that I needed to build mine.

Try haunting your local thrift stores for six months...the quanity and
quality of furniture that comes through makes you wonder if one should
just sell all your tools.

We waste a lot in the United States.

TMT

On Sun, 7 Feb 2010 16:24:40 -0800 (PST), Too_Many_Tools
wrote:


Try haunting your local thrift stores for six months...the quanity and
quality of furniture that comes through makes you wonder if one should
just sell all your tools.

We waste a lot in the United States.

TMT

I get a lot of my wood for turning and small flat work projects at 2nd hand
places... Great source!

last year I paid $10 for a rolling cutting board that was solid oak with four 3"
locking castors on it..

I have all of my friends looking for old rolling pins.. They make excellent tool
handles..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:29:26 -0600, the infamous -MIKE-
scrawled the following:

On 2/7/10 4:20 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
That is what happened to the Computer desk that I spent a year
designing. I wanted something to take the computer, printer, and all of
the associated items. I had got to the point where I had I arranged
exactly as I wanted it.

We went down to the local Lowes and there it was for about half of the
cost of wood that I needed to build mine.


Like walking through an Ikea, the fastfood hamburger of woodworking.

Yabbut, no self-respecting wooddorker would EVER purchase anything
made of McWood from Ikea, Sauder, or the others.

Having taken a critical eye into the local Etherized Allen store, I
see that they're not any better than Sauder. That $3,500 Queen Anne
piece with the sticky drawers, one of which made so much noise, the
entire storeful of shoppers turned to look at me (as I exclaimed
"$3,500?" in disbelief), was a real treat. I can't imagine how any
store manager could leave the thing that way. A bit of beeswax or
paraffin would have made it feel worth more than a Sauder QD piece.
shrug


--
We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
-- Marcel Proust

Larry Jaques wrote:

On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:29:26 -0600, the infamous -MIKE-
scrawled the following:

On 2/7/10 4:20 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
That is what happened to the Computer desk that I spent a year
designing. I wanted something to take the computer, printer, and all
of
the associated items. I had got to the point where I had I arranged
exactly as I wanted it.

We went down to the local Lowes and there it was for about half of the
cost of wood that I needed to build mine.


Like walking through an Ikea, the fastfood hamburger of woodworking.

Yabbut, no self-respecting wooddorker would EVER purchase anything
made of McWood from Ikea, Sauder, or the others.

Having taken a critical eye into the local Etherized Allen store, I
see that they're not any better than Sauder. That $3,500 Queen Anne
piece with the sticky drawers, one of which made so much noise, the
entire storeful of shoppers turned to look at me (as I exclaimed
"$3,500?" in disbelief), was a real treat. I can't imagine how any
store manager could leave the thing that way. A bit of beeswax or
paraffin would have made it feel worth more than a Sauder QD piece.
shrug


--
We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
-- Marcel Proust
Not to mention you CAN'T get a piece of furniture made in the US anymore
unless it's custom made or bought from a specialized shop. Everything sold
in the retail furniture stores is made in CHINA.

You can lead them to LINUX
but you can't make them THINK !
Mandriva 2010 using KDE 4.3
Website: www.rentmyhusband.biz

On Feb 9, 10:11*am, Evodawg wrote:
Larry Jaques wrote:
On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:29:26 -0600, the infamous -MIKE-
scrawled the following:

On 2/7/10 4:20 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
That is what happened to the Computer desk that I spent a year
designing. I wanted something to take the computer, printer, and all
of
the associated items. I had got to the point where I had I arranged
exactly as I wanted it.

We went down to the local Lowes and there it was for about half of the
cost of wood that I needed to build mine.

Like walking through an Ikea, the fastfood hamburger of woodworking.

Yabbut, no self-respecting wooddorker would EVER purchase anything
made of McWood from Ikea, Sauder, or the others.

Having taken a critical eye into the local Etherized Allen store, I
see that they're not any better than Sauder. That $3,500 Queen Anne
piece with the sticky drawers, one of which made so much noise, the
entire storeful of shoppers turned to look at me (as I exclaimed
"$3,500?" in disbelief), was a real treat. I can't imagine how any
store manager could leave the thing that way. A bit of beeswax or
paraffin would have made it feel worth more than a Sauder QD piece.
shrug

--
We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -- Marcel Proust

Not to mention you CAN'T get a piece of furniture made in the US anymore
unless it's custom made or bought from a specialized shop. Everything sold
in the retail furniture stores is made in CHINA.

Nonsense.

wrote:

On Feb 9, 10:11 am, Evodawg wrote:
Larry Jaques wrote:
On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:29:26 -0600, the infamous -MIKE-
scrawled the following:

On 2/7/10 4:20 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
That is what happened to the Computer desk that I spent a year
designing. I wanted something to take the computer, printer, and
all
of
the associated items. I had got to the point where I had I arranged
exactly as I wanted it.

We went down to the local Lowes and there it was for about half of
the cost of wood that I needed to build mine.

Like walking through an Ikea, the fastfood hamburger of woodworking.

Yabbut, no self-respecting wooddorker would EVER purchase anything
made of McWood from Ikea, Sauder, or the others.

Having taken a critical eye into the local Etherized Allen store, I
see that they're not any better than Sauder. That $3,500 Queen Anne
piece with the sticky drawers, one of which made so much noise, the
entire storeful of shoppers turned to look at me (as I exclaimed
"$3,500?" in disbelief), was a real treat. I can't imagine how any
store manager could leave the thing that way. A bit of beeswax or
paraffin would have made it feel worth more than a Sauder QD piece.
shrug

--
We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
-- Marcel Proust

Not to mention you CAN'T get a piece of furniture made in the US
anymore
unless it's custom made or bought from a specialized shop. Everything
sold in the retail furniture stores is made in CHINA.

Nonsense.
Ok, ask any interior decorator if she can get furniture made in the US and
she will tell you NO! If they visit the Furniture Conventions in the
Southeast all but a few pieces are made in CHINA. I have personal
experience in this subject..... Good luck finding anything not made there.
--
You can lead them to LINUX
but you can't make them THINK !
Mandriva 2010 using KDE 4.3
Website: www.rentmyhusband.biz

On Feb 9, 12:31*pm, Evodawg wrote:
wrote:
On Feb 9, 10:11 am, Evodawg wrote:
Larry Jaques wrote:
On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:29:26 -0600, the infamous -MIKE-
scrawled the following:

On 2/7/10 4:20 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
That is what happened to the Computer desk that I spent a year
designing. I wanted something to take the computer, printer, and
all
of
the associated items. I had got to the point where I had I arranged
exactly as I wanted it.

We went down to the local Lowes and there it was for about half of
the cost of wood that I needed to build mine.

Like walking through an Ikea, the fastfood hamburger of woodworking.

Yabbut, no self-respecting wooddorker would EVER purchase anything
made of McWood from Ikea, Sauder, or the others.

Having taken a critical eye into the local Etherized Allen store, I
see that they're not any better than Sauder. That $3,500 Queen Anne
piece with the sticky drawers, one of which made so much noise, the
entire storeful of shoppers turned to look at me (as I exclaimed
"$3,500?" in disbelief), was a real treat. I can't imagine how any
store manager could leave the thing that way. A bit of beeswax or
paraffin would have made it feel worth more than a Sauder QD piece.
shrug

--
We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
-- Marcel Proust

Not to mention you CAN'T get a piece of furniture made in the US
anymore
unless it's custom made or bought from a specialized shop. Everything
sold in the retail furniture stores is made in CHINA.

Nonsense.

Ok, ask any interior decorator if she can get furniture made in the US and
she will tell you NO! If they visit the Furniture Conventions in the
Southeast all but a few pieces are made in CHINA. I have personal
experience in this subject..... Good luck finding anything not made there..

1) Just a quick Google: http://www.americansworking.com/furniture.html

2) We bought our dining room and bedroom from he
The show room: http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/

Specifically
http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/c...collection=117
- and -
http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/c...collection=118
(both in Cherry)

3) We just bought a sofa, made in Michigan.
http://www.la-z-boy.com/Cares/Americ...WT.ac=sidemenu

You certainly need a better home decorator if she's that out of touch
with her industry.

wrote in message
...
On Feb 9, 10:11 am, Evodawg wrote:
-- Marcel Proust

Not to mention you CAN'T get a piece of furniture made in the
US anymore
unless it's custom made or bought from a specialized shop.
Everything sold
in the retail furniture stores is made in CHINA.

Nonsense.

Back in the spring of 2002, we needed to replace a houseful of
furniture, following a fire. Most of the stuff destroyed was
things I'd made or we had accumulated over the years, including
some very high end brand name dining and bedroom furniture. A
friend volunteered to help me find good replacement furniture,
since I was multitasking on a number of other things at the time.
He was a designer, working for one of the large, prestigious
design companies in a major CA city. I sent him photos of the
pieces and descriptions of what we hoped to replace as closely as
possible and he assigned the task of locating them to several of
his home design interns.

The email I got from him a couple weeks later essentially set out
what had happened in the country over the past few years before
our loss. I wish I'd saved it, but it said that his interns had
visited a number of upper end furniture stores and even a
Furniture Mart looking for comparable, commercially available
pieces. They couldn't find any. The domestic product had been
reduced to lines and techniques that lent themselves to rapid mass
production and the Chinese built furniture, then flooding the
market, was very much hand made, hand carved and very, very much
superior to the domestic product.

What he told me, after more investigation, was that the furniture
manufacturers in the USA could simply not compete when it came to
quality AND any handwork. It something could be designed on a CAD
system, with cuttings that could be laid out by machine and with
no real handwork, then the difference in shipping cost might still
give a slight edge to the domestic product. Unfortunately, that
product was very plain and was usually in the lower end of the
quality and design spectrum. OTOH, the manufacturers could send a
high end design over to manufacturers in China and the product
being returned in shipping containers was of incredibly good
quality, had most if not all detail hand carved and used solid
woods for most parts.

With that in hand, I personally visited several furniture stores
and came to about the same conclusion. We simply could no longer
compete when it came to making good furniture in the USA: the guy
sitting at a bench with a handful of carving tools in front of
him, turning out rosettes at $.10 an hour was out producing the
$8/hour guy in North Carolina in every way.

When it came time to buy our replacement furniture, we visited a
large chain and looked at what was available. Yup, there were two
types: Made in the USA and Designed in the USA but Made in China.
The Chinese stuff we saw was incredible from the standpoint of
material, quality and particularly craftsmanship. What we
purchased for our living room, dining room and bedroom would
probably have cost $100,000 if made in North Carolina. . . if it
could have been made there at all. Sure, the joinery was about
the same, but every edge was hand carved, molding on the headboard
and footboard were hand carved and applied, fluting was hand done,
as was piping and other decoration. As a woodworker, I realized
that with the balance of my life ahead of me, I could never come
close to the craftsmanship in the decoration in what we purchased.
The weight alone was incredible: it took 2 big guys to carry the
headboard alone up to the bedroom and 4 men to take the dresser.
The bed's never been moved since it was set in place.

In some ways, it makes me sick to think of us being overwhelmed
with this, but I'd have been a fool to say, "I refuse to buy it."
The same thing can be seen in the electronics industry, with one
major exception. There, we simply cannot compete on mass produced
items. We can design them successfully here in the USA, but to
make them economically, we have to send off to China or the
Pacific Rim, generally. The exception in electronics is in what's
called, "Big Iron." There, infrastructure sized things like
routers and switches can be made economically here because of
turn-around time, shipping and secrecy.

Sorry for going off on the tangent, but we lost the furniture war
and are just holding on by our fingernails to the electronics war.
--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

wrote in message
...
On Feb 9, 12:31 pm, Evodawg wrote:
wrote:
On Feb 9, 10:11 am, Evodawg wrote:
Larry Jaques wrote:
On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:29:26 -0600, the infamous -MIKE-
scrawled the following:

On 2/7/10 4:20 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
That is what happened to the Computer desk that I spent
a year
designing. I wanted something to take the computer,
printer, and
all
of
the associated items. I had got to the point where I had
I arranged
exactly as I wanted it.

We went down to the local Lowes and there it was for
about half of
the cost of wood that I needed to build mine.

Like walking through an Ikea, the fastfood hamburger of
woodworking.

Yabbut, no self-respecting wooddorker would EVER purchase
anything
made of McWood from Ikea, Sauder, or the others.

Having taken a critical eye into the local Etherized Allen
store, I
see that they're not any better than Sauder. That $3,500
Queen Anne
piece with the sticky drawers, one of which made so much
noise, the
entire storeful of shoppers turned to look at me (as I
exclaimed
"$3,500?" in disbelief), was a real treat. I can't imagine
how any
store manager could leave the thing that way. A bit of
beeswax or
paraffin would have made it feel worth more than a Sauder
QD piece.
shrug

--
We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
-- Marcel Proust

Not to mention you CAN'T get a piece of furniture made in
the US
anymore
unless it's custom made or bought from a specialized shop.
Everything
sold in the retail furniture stores is made in CHINA.

Nonsense.

Ok, ask any interior decorator if she can get furniture made in
the US and
she will tell you NO! If they visit the Furniture Conventions
in the
Southeast all but a few pieces are made in CHINA. I have
personal
experience in this subject..... Good luck finding anything not
made there.

1) Just a quick Google:
http://www.americansworking.com/furniture.html

2) We bought our dining room and bedroom from he
The show room: http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/

Specifically

http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/c...collection=117
- and -

http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/c...collection=118
(both in Cherry)

3) We just bought a sofa, made in Michigan.
http://www.la-z-boy.com/Cares/Americ...WT.ac=sidemenu

You certainly need a better home decorator if she's that out of
touch
with her industry.


Take a look at my comments. The furniture you cite is probably
very good and has a classic design. However, it's all machine
made and I don't see any real hand work like carving or detailing.
http://shopncfurniture.com/showfurniture.cfm?id=1

FWIW, I also am first to recognize that different folk prefer
different lines in furniture and that what impresses me doesn't
impress others, necessarily. The furniture you cite is very nice.
What a little research showed me was that the NC names in
furniture were doing the design work for the upper end things,
then shipping the work off to China.

Another thing I find sad was that when we lived in NC and the
Internet was just getting off to a big start, most of the NC
furniture makers and wholesalers boycotted it quite viciously.
Many companies told their distributors and retailers that they'd
pull their franchise if they were found to be selling over the
Internet. They insisted, as many still do today, that their
product only be sold in stores. The Highpoint and other Furniture
Marts, which meet biannually, are just for the wholesalers and
buyers: customers are not welcome. I understand this, but wonder
if that business model will be able to continue into the future.

--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

wrote:

On Feb 9, 12:31 pm, Evodawg wrote:
wrote:
On Feb 9, 10:11 am, Evodawg wrote:
Larry Jaques wrote:
On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:29:26 -0600, the infamous -MIKE-
scrawled the following:

On 2/7/10 4:20 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
That is what happened to the Computer desk that I spent a year
designing. I wanted something to take the computer, printer, and
all
of
the associated items. I had got to the point where I had I
arranged exactly as I wanted it.

We went down to the local Lowes and there it was for about half
of
the cost of wood that I needed to build mine.

Like walking through an Ikea, the fastfood hamburger of
woodworking.

Yabbut, no self-respecting wooddorker would EVER purchase anything
made of McWood from Ikea, Sauder, or the others.

Having taken a critical eye into the local Etherized Allen store,
I
see that they're not any better than Sauder. That $3,500 Queen
Anne
piece with the sticky drawers, one of which made so much noise,
the
entire storeful of shoppers turned to look at me (as I exclaimed
"$3,500?" in disbelief), was a real treat. I can't imagine how any
store manager could leave the thing that way. A bit of beeswax or
paraffin would have made it feel worth more than a Sauder QD
piece.
shrug

--
We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
-- Marcel Proust

Not to mention you CAN'T get a piece of furniture made in the US
anymore
unless it's custom made or bought from a specialized shop.
Everything
sold in the retail furniture stores is made in CHINA.

Nonsense.

Ok, ask any interior decorator if she can get furniture made in the US
and she will tell you NO! If they visit the Furniture Conventions in
the
Southeast all but a few pieces are made in CHINA. I have personal
experience in this subject..... Good luck finding anything not made
there.

1) Just a quick Google: http://www.americansworking.com/furniture.html
All specialized furniture. Web based retail. Which I qualified in prior
post


2) We bought our dining room and bedroom from he
The show room: http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/

Specifically

http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/c...collection=117
- and -

http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/c...collection=118
(both in Cherry)

Another specialized shop. Not a chain Located only in Ohio. Could you tell
me where I could find Green Acres in California? You made my point.

3) We just bought a sofa, made in Michigan.
http://www.la-z-boy.com/Cares/Americ...WT.ac=sidemenu

Wow one large manufacture of Sofa left in the US. I'm impressed.Glad to
see they still exist. Really, I hope they stay here!!!

You certainly need a better home decorator if she's that out of touch
with her industry.

If you look above I qualified my post and you confirmed it. All large
chain retail stores,(I'm not talking Walmart either).Thomasville, Ethan
Allen, Mathis Brothers, and the like do not carry any furniture made in
US. Most all Manufactures of Furniture at Conventions in the Southeast are
China born and built. Although it's getting better only because of the
internet and Web based outlets.

btw this designer has been in the business for 40 years and seen the
industry destroyed by China. She will not buy anything made there and off
it on her clients and she finds it harder and harder to get. Only now buys
pieces made custom. As far as being out of touch, she's been on the cover
of Architectural Digest 3 times. The Premier Magazine of Professional
Designers.
Home designer don't make me laugh!


--
You can lead them to LINUX
but you can't make them THINK !
Mandriva 2010 using KDE 4.3
Website: www.rentmyhusband.biz

On Feb 9, 1:56*pm, Evodawg wrote:
wrote:
On Feb 9, 12:31 pm, Evodawg wrote:
wrote:
On Feb 9, 10:11 am, Evodawg wrote:
Larry Jaques wrote:
On Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:29:26 -0600, the infamous -MIKE-
scrawled the following:

On 2/7/10 4:20 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
That is what happened to the Computer desk that I spent a year
designing. I wanted something to take the computer, printer, and
all
of
the associated items. I had got to the point where I had I
arranged exactly as I wanted it.

We went down to the local Lowes and there it was for about half
of
the cost of wood that I needed to build mine.

Like walking through an Ikea, the fastfood hamburger of
woodworking.

Yabbut, no self-respecting wooddorker would EVER purchase anything
made of McWood from Ikea, Sauder, or the others.

Having taken a critical eye into the local Etherized Allen store,
I
see that they're not any better than Sauder. That $3,500 Queen
Anne
piece with the sticky drawers, one of which made so much noise,
the
entire storeful of shoppers turned to look at me (as I exclaimed
"$3,500?" in disbelief), was a real treat. I can't imagine how any
store manager could leave the thing that way. A bit of beeswax or
paraffin would have made it feel worth more than a Sauder QD
piece.
shrug

--
We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
-- Marcel Proust

Not to mention you CAN'T get a piece of furniture made in the US
anymore
unless it's custom made or bought from a specialized shop.
Everything
sold in the retail furniture stores is made in CHINA.

Nonsense.

Ok, ask any interior decorator if she can get furniture made in the US
and she will tell you NO! If they visit the Furniture Conventions in
the
Southeast all but a few pieces are made in CHINA. I have personal
experience in this subject..... Good luck finding anything not made
there.

1) Just a quick Google:http://www.americansworking.com/furniture.html

All specialized furniture. Web based retail. Which I qualified in prior
post

*Tweet* Time out to move goal posts. Yes, I'll concede that Walmart
doesn't carry US made furniture.


2) We bought our dining room and bedroom from he
* *The show room:http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/

* *Specifically

http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/catalog/content/productcollection/... * * *- and -

http://www.greenacresfurniture.com/c...uctcollection/...

* *(both in Cherry)

Another specialized shop. Not a chain Located only in Ohio. Could you tell
me where I could find Green Acres in California? You made my point.

Among dozens of stores as large as any furniture store around here.
Ohio isn't the only place where there are such stores.

3) We just bought a sofa, made in Michigan.
* *http://www.la-z-boy.com/Cares/Americ...WT.ac=sidemenu

Wow one large manufacture of Sofa left in the US. I'm impressed.Glad to
see they still exist. Really, I hope they stay here!!!

You did say *NONE*. You admit to the lie?

You certainly need a better home decorator if she's that out of touch
with her industry.

If you look above I qualified my post and you confirmed it. All large
chain retail stores,(I'm not talking Walmart either).Thomasville, Ethan
Allen, Mathis Brothers, and the like do not carry any furniture made in
US. Most all Manufactures of Furniture at Conventions in the Southeast are
China born and built. Although it's getting better only because of the
internet and Web based outlets.

"Most all" none

btw this designer has been in the business for 40 years and seen the
industry destroyed by China. She will not buy anything made there and off
it on her clients and she finds it harder and harder to get. Only now buys
pieces made custom. As far as being out of touch, she's been on the cover
of Architectural Digest 3 times. The Premier Magazine of Professional
Designers.

No, the industry was "destroyed" by economics. People can't (or more
precisely, don't want to) afford custom made furniture.


Home designer don't make me laugh!

Well, one of you is clueless.

"Nonny" wrote in message
...


Back in the spring of 2002, we needed to replace a houseful of furniture,
following a fire. Most of the stuff destroyed was things I'd made or we
had accumulated over the years, including some very high end brand name
dining and bedroom furniture. A friend volunteered to help me find good
replacement furniture, since I was multitasking on a number of other
things at the time. He was a designer, working for one of the large,
prestigious design companies in a major CA city. I sent him photos of the
pieces and descriptions of what we hoped to replace as closely as possible
and he assigned the task of locating them to several of his home design
interns.

The email I got from him a couple weeks later essentially set out what had
happened in the country over the past few years before our loss. I wish
I'd saved it, but it said that his interns had visited a number of upper
end furniture stores and even a Furniture Mart looking for comparable,
commercially available pieces. They couldn't find any. The domestic
product had been reduced to lines and techniques that lent themselves to
rapid mass production and the Chinese built furniture, then flooding the
market, was very much hand made, hand carved and very, very much superior
to the domestic product.

What he told me, after more investigation, was that the furniture
manufacturers in the USA could simply not compete when it came to quality
AND any handwork. It something could be designed on a CAD system, with
cuttings that could be laid out by machine and with no real handwork, then
the difference in shipping cost might still give a slight edge to the
domestic product. Unfortunately, that product was very plain and was
usually in the lower end of the quality and design spectrum. OTOH, the
manufacturers could send a high end design over to manufacturers in China
and the product being returned in shipping containers was of incredibly
good quality, had most if not all detail hand carved and used solid woods
for most parts.

With that in hand, I personally visited several furniture stores and came
to about the same conclusion. We simply could no longer compete when it
came to making good furniture in the USA: the guy sitting at a bench with
a handful of carving tools in front of him, turning out rosettes at $.10
an hour was out producing the $8/hour guy in North Carolina in every way.

When it came time to buy our replacement furniture, we visited a large
chain and looked at what was available. Yup, there were two types: Made
in the USA and Designed in the USA but Made in China. The Chinese stuff we
saw was incredible from the standpoint of material, quality and
particularly craftsmanship. What we purchased for our living room, dining
room and bedroom would probably have cost $100,000 if made in North
Carolina. . . if it could have been made there at all. Sure, the joinery
was about the same, but every edge was hand carved, molding on the
headboard and footboard were hand carved and applied, fluting was hand
done, as was piping and other decoration. As a woodworker, I realized
that with the balance of my life ahead of me, I could never come close to
the craftsmanship in the decoration in what we purchased. The weight alone
was incredible: it took 2 big guys to carry the headboard alone up to the
bedroom and 4 men to take the dresser. The bed's never been moved since it
was set in place.

There is no reason anything you are talking about couldn't be made here, by
machine, and be as good, or better, quality wise. There is no doubt that it
would be more expensive but not as much as you seem to be saying.