Scale Model

[john verge]

Presenting a client with a scale model of an office desk/ reception desk. The front is a waffled Wood detail and the top of the raised desk portion will be solid wood of western maple/ western red cedar or douglas fir. The main desk i think well be douglas fir which is used in the model. Curious, do our clients prefer realtime/ actual material models or state of the art CAD-models in order for them to get the picture and us the contract?

[Mathieu]

Curious, do our clients prefer realtime/ actual material models or state of the art CAD-models in order for them to get the picture and us the contract?

Interesting question but I think this really depends on the client, their character and what appeals to them. How will each person interpret your proposition or sketch? I had different clients react very differently to a CAD design, some might be impressed others might wonder how this relates to an ancient craft. Hand drawn sketches work really well if you are able to draw in perspective accurately and add some colors to it.
In the end I think the most important thing is your portfolio, the objects/buildings you have actually made previously. In an ideal situation your client can visit a building or interior you have done or see and experience a piece of furniture. If this makes them enthousiast it might not matter that much what your design looks like.
Personally I spend quite some time to make accurate sketches that I include in a proposal. I like to believe that this first impression helps to illustrate the care you take in your work as a craftsman. Honestly I really have no idea wether they really care or if it would matter in the end. It also depends where you live and the overall mentality of people towards craftsmanship I guess.

The model you made will sure help them to visualize what it might look like in the available space. What models often lack is the ability to radiate the character of the work you propose and how it influences the feeling of the room/space. Accompanying some pictures of similar work you have done might aid in that aspect. Good luck with your proposal, show some pictures when it is installed.

I am sure they will like the cat, does it come with the woodwork?..

[RLSIII]

personally I have found that CAD models can be a powerful tool with customers and code enforcement. ( minimum hallway clearances for fire escape routes, beam sizing ect).I recently built a cedar deck in harborcreek pa; where the inspector had never seen timber joinery describing a housed tusk tenon would be challenging to say the least. a CAD rendering made all the difference in coming to an agreement on fastener limitations. while im sure well constructed model would worked just as effectively however it would have taken up more time.
Rob S

[Chris Hall]

I think that CAD perspective drawings are very helpful for the vast majority of clients I deal with, and scale models would be excellent as well, though I think I would only be looking to do one for larger architectural work, and it would be something the client would have to request and pay for. I don't feel a need for a model to grap the design fully, however I can appreciate that some makers might feel that way. Some furniture makers like making mock-up and scale models.

From past experience, I can say that standard 2D plan and elevation renderings do not get the message across very well to some clients. Some people have a difficult time relating to such drawings, especially those with section views. If they are not fully grasping what is going on in a drawing, then they are not understanding what is to be built, at least not at a detail level. And they may not let on that they are not understanding the drawing. That's not a good situation for builder or client.

If you are communicating with people who will be making stuff with your plans, then you need to supply the plan and elevation views of course.

[john verge]

In this particular case, and i hadn't realized this prior to the meeting with the clients, one of the partners happened to be legally blind. I happened to have finished the small wood components well and that fact alone was appreciated by this partner asking, " will the end product be like this and are these the textures which i can expect?". The top of the raised desk portion known as the " transaction top" ( ha, ha, i find that term strangely formal and there i was calling the raised portion " the cheque writing top" , will be a piece of 3" thick maple with the cut sort of making it a flitch of sorts, leaving some natural outside wood of the tree in tact. The one partner felt the representative piece which i had offered and it is shown in one of the pics but actually a piece of cedar, was a nice texture and ultimately what i wanted but that " sharper edge should be well blunted".
Interesting process for sure and in this case i think the model was well suited to the presentation. So the " transaction counter" will return around the end of the desk to form the short leg of an "L" but the desk will not have the corner cut out which dedicates the working area for the computer monitor. So that's fine. I guess they felt that the receptionist may not want to work on such an angle.
So, interesting twist of circumstances i thought and it goes to show that you never know how things will unfold. I appreciate the various views offered, thanks. John

[john verge]

So now i am forced to miter these two beasts together; in accordance with the clients wishes. Any thoughts? It's been dimensioned and it is flat and kiln dried. So how do you make a miter stick here i'm asking myself?

[Chris Hall]

In that sort of width, you are asking the impossible if you hope the miter will remain closed year-round unless it is to be located somewhere with very carefully controlled humidity. The client needs to be made aware of this, and see if it is something that they would be fine with.

Best chance for keeping it decently tight is a single or double spline with two or three threaded rod connectors across the miter, pocket accessed from underneath.

[john verge]

Funny you should mention the imbedded rods mounted across the miter from underneath. I was moving toward that but wasn't sure if the ikea approach ok. The office does have a humidistat in it so the fluctuations in that regard will be minimal, but i will be sure to tell the clients to expect some movement for sure. Thanks for the double spline detail that should register the miter nicely. I guess a hardwood spline of 1/2"x2" ( thickness x width) would be sufficient?

[Paul Atzenweiler]

With the width any small gaps would be exaggerated along a straight miter I would think. You could make the miter line an "S" curve or zigzag you would have to design the pattern to match the overall design of course. You have a circular recess on the inside of miter on the mock-up, you could replicate the circular recess by having small circular inlay/insets. The insets could also act as splines.
These quickie ideas may not go with your design at all, spit balling.

[john verge]

Very creative suggestion, appreciate it.