I Know, I Know

Today I finished building these shelves:



Can you guess how many people coming through the shop let me know that the unit wasn't quite square? Were you about to do that yourself? Well, its supposed to look like Tim Burton's den.

I hate building things that are supposed to look poorly built. Once when I was TDing stock a designer did a little shanty unit and I wrote on the drawing "should look like you built it." I didn't think much of my carps that year. But normally you want to have a carpentry experience where you can be proud of the thing you build. It takes a whole other level of evaluation to feel good about something that's supposed to look crappy.

It isn't the same as building something pristine and then distressing it. When you do that you can still have the accomplished carpentry project moment. You can still look at the clean lines and precise joints and take pride in a job well done - and then beat it with chains or whatever. But setting out to build something that looks not right is just distasteful.

Actually, from a carpentry and tech direction standpoint this is a much more difficult project than a standard, square set of shelves would have been. For as awkward as it looks, there still is quite a bit of thought and precise work. It's just that the result of all the precise work is, well, a mess.

Now I just hope it doesn't fold up like an accordion when we stand it up.