Vol.11
I Issue 2 Tennessee Valley Woodworkers Editor,
Richard Gulley February 1996
It Looks
like Another Great Year
Ross appeared to be in control at has first meeting
as president (it’s important to appear to
be in control Ross). It does look like a great year for all us wood-chuckers.
Doyle has let me in on some of what’s in store for us at future meetings and I
can hardly wait.
Lucinda gave me her minutes so l could recap
January’s meeting, and I had every intention of giving a play-by-play account
as we usually do, but I thought (first sign of danger) we were all there and
saw it all first band. Maybe we could use the space in the newsletter for a
little information propagation I do have to say that the program, tough not
hardcore woodworking, was very interesting. I didn’t know there was anyone in
our area with that kind of talent. By the way, if you would like to have the
show and review let me know and I wall be glad to include it.
The present plan for this months meeting is a wood supplier,
Milner Carden, from the Tullahoma area.
Future Events
Please
give special attention to this year’s seminars. Those in charge of scheduling
these events need your input as to your interests and when the best time is for
everyone. Think it over and be ready to give suggestions to Doyle or Tom.
The
tenth anniversary committee is planning a dinner, banquet, luncheon thing for
March I think. Plans may have already have been made but then again, maybe not.
Just in case, the above paragraph is probably applicable to this one as
well. I’m not sine if the Stanley tour
was set up for the March meeting but I am sure we’re meeting there at 5:00 p.m.
(I think). It would probably be best if you attend this month’s meeting and find out.
Ten Years Ago This
Month
Bet you’ve been
waiting all month to hear what was happening in the February 1986 Splinters!
Well wait no more, here it is.
Henry Davis,
that year’s president was featured in a close up interview. The difference between
an associate and a regular member was explained, there was a short article on
the right glue for the right job (Doyle could there be a program there), and
Henry Davis had a rough worktable for give-a-way - (free, nothing, nada). By
the way Henry, did you get rid of the table.
A follow-up is in order.
News From The Net
I didn’t ask
anyone if this segment was of interest to anyone and no one had comments.
Please feel free to let me know what you want in your newsletter.
Anyway
here’s this months installment.
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 13:23:25 GMT
From: Mike
Oniffity
<onif@ECSVAX.UNCECS.EDU>
Subject: Frost
Bites Dog-Roy Saves day!
In case you were wondering what Roy
Underhill, host
of The WOOD WRIGHTS SHOP (North Carolina Public Television), gets himself into
during the off-season, take a peek the following article from the Williamsburg,
Virginia. Viirginia Gazette:
MAN PULLS DOG
FROM ICY LAKE By Bill Tolbert
of the Virginia
Gazette
JAMES CITY (20 January
1996) - A man swam 30 feet through the icy waters of Lake Powell to save a
hound dog that bad fallen in.
A dozen people
gathered quickly Thursday around 1 p.m. along the stretch of Jamestown Road
that crosses the lake. The dog had fallen through a stretch of ice that got
progressively thinner away from shore.
Within a few
minutes it appeared ‘that the dog couldn’t hold on much longer. Roy Underhill,a
local writer and former Colonial Williamsburg artisan, dove in and pulled the
dog to shore.
“The dog was
fading fast and you could just see it wasn’t going to last much longer,”
Underhill said Friday. “ I just had to do something.”
Underhill
was at his house, which overlooks the lake, when he noticed several people
gathered at the waters edge. Through a telescope he uses to watch wildlife, he
honed in on the dog, which was flailing away.
Underhill
grabbed a folding ladder from his house and rushed to the scene. The ice didn’t
appear strong enough to support the weight of a human, but it was too thick for
the dog to break and swim to safety, he said.
When
it looked as if nothing else was working, Underhill took off his shoes and
climbed out onto a ladder, which bad been extended over the ice. But the ladder
broke through the ice, dunking Underhill. Luckily, the ice was broken enough
for him to swim to the dog, grab it, and start back toward shore.
“I
managed to swim out and bash the ice with my fist just enough to make a path,”
Underhill said. “I grabbed him as be was just about to give up. As I grabbed
him, I remembered all the stuff from the junior lifesaving classes I took when
I was 16. I finally got to use it”
“I’d
never met him before, but Roy Underhill is a hero in my eyes,” said Jerry
McCardle, one of the motorists who stopped and tried to help save the animal.
“If he’d do that for a dog, just think what would he do for a human. The story
here is that Roy Underhili is a legitimate hero.”
A
frigid Underhill turned the dog over to county Animal Control Officer Shirley
Anderson, who
rushed the animal to the Colonial Veterinary Clinic at Five Forks, just up the
road
The dog, still unclaimed and without any
collar or identification, was doing well Friday morning, but he was taken to
the pound, since no owner had come forward.
If he isn’t claimed or adopted, he’ll likely be put to sleep.
“A
lot of support and a lot of concern and care have been shown to the dog”
Anderson said Friday. “After all he’s been through, I hope he gets a good
home.” “He just needs some tender care”
Underhill
said he’s step in to save the dog again if needed. “I’ll take it if no one else
does.’
Other Neat Stuff
Never Hurry,
Never Worry or, Why don’t you ever have the time to do it right, but you always
find the time to do it over.
I’m tellin’ you
I cut twice and it was still too shorts so l cut it a third time and it
fit-into the fireplace.
“I look back
with some satisfaction on what an idiot l was when l was 25, but when l do
that, I’m assuming I’m no longer an idiot” -Andy Rooney
“Many people
appear to imagine that they cannot afford to have artistic surroundings,
whereas the wonder is that they can afford so much expensive ugliness.” M H.
Baillie Scott.
REMEMBER IT’S
February (Valentine)
Which reminds
me —I’ve got two planes I’d love to sell
#5C Stanley - $25
#6C Stanley - $20 (blade worn bad)
Both are somewhat negotiable.
I found this article on a commercial
woodworking site. It dealt with sales and service for the commercial wood chuck
guys. I think much of it applies to the small business folks and hobbyist as
well. This was the third in a series of articles and I also had to nip and tuck
here and there to make it fit on this
page, so if it reads a little strange that’s probably why.
Other valuable tools to
help a client visualize his project are anything which gives an idea of a
project’s relative size. This can be as simple as a tape measure, used when
discussing a specific project to show in the actual area the unit will occupy
how tall and deep, say, an entertainment unit will be. Or it could be a
life-sized cardboard cutout to show the size of a dining table top.
Use any aids you can think
of that will help you show what you’re picturing. This helps to assure that it
is what your client has in mind, too.
Ballpark prices. In a
word, “don’t.” Don’t give them especially early in the development of your
relationship with a new client. Once your client understands that you don’t
just guess to formulate your price, the last thing you want to do is plant a
number in his head. If you do, no matter how scrupulously you document your
“final” price, it is the ballpark price he will remember.
Note, however, that I said
to be careful about guess-timating “early in the relationship.” That is because
after you have done a certain amount of work for a particular client, you may
develop a feel for what the “typical” job for that customer is worth. But until
you are both very comfortable in the relationship, ballpark pricing is best
avoided.
Clients as references.
There is nothing wrong with using past or present satisfied customers as
references, with a couple of conditions.
One is that you have
checked with the client first to be sure that he doesn’t mind if you give his
name as a reference. And second is to
make sure that they are, in fact, satisfied.
People can be very fickle. Take every precaution to ensure that when you cite someone as a reference, they are as happy with your work a few weeks or months after the job is completed as they were on the day you delivered it. Most
will be. But for some reason I have yet
to figure out, a few won’t. What’s
worse is that they won’t do you the courtesy of letting you know personally,
but they’ll be happy to complain to any potential client you choose to
send their way.
The key is simply to
avoid listing as references clients with whom you even suspect a problem.
Nothing you can say or do will change
the mind of someone who has made a decision not to be satisfied, regardless of
the hoops you agree to leap through.
So, for giving references, remember this
credo: when in doubt, count them out.
Service after the sale. On the other
hand, to make sure you have satisfied customers, you should make clear that you
want to know if there are any problems with your work, no matter when they
develop.
Since you made the project, you are
naturally the best person to service it, if and when then arises. Make this
clear to your clients. Nobody likes call backs, and if you’ve done your job
well you should have few, if any, for months or years after the installation or
delivery. But let the clients know that
for repairs that result from ordinary use, you’ll be glad to keep your work
looking and working like new - for a modest fee, of course,
If however, problems arise that are
clearly due to shoddy workmanship (and they usually show up within a few days
or weeks of delivery), it is incumbent on you to correct them free of
charge. This si, of course, perhaps the
best reason to get it right the first time.
There’s no trick to determining whether
you are being called back because of a problem due to your workmanship or the
client’s or to the client’s use of unit.
Doing right by your customers is just a matter of honesty. Put honesty
into practice as part of your selling system and you’ll find that it’s the best
way to do what is right for your business, too.
That’s all
folks!
Hope to see you all at this month’s
meeting. Til then, watch out for
SPLINTERS.