Board lengths, arm-rest heights, the little right-triangle braces in the corners. I work it out before I cut, which is why the second one matches the first.
These aren't decoration. They're the actual drawings I work from — the swing seat and the stand it hangs on, dimensioned down to the quarter inch. If you order a custom piece, you get one of these before I cut anything.
Lengths, thicknesses and hardware worked out on paper. Cheaper to fix a drawing than a board.
Stock milled to size. Red cedar mostly — it holds up outside, which is where most of what I make ends up.
Everything goes together once without glue, so I can see it wrong before it's permanent.
Clamped up and left alone. This is the part you can't rush, and the part most people do.
By hand, through the grits, until the edges feel right rather than just look right.
Base cedar, stained cedar, cherry, walnut or weathered gray — or a stain or paint color you pick, which is a custom finish and carries a slight upcharge.
The five I keep on hand are base cedar, stained cedar, cherry, walnut and weathered gray. Most people pick from those. Anything outside them is a custom finish — I can do it, there's a slight upcharge, and you get the number first.
If none of them suit what it's going next to, you can pick a stain or a paint color instead and I'll match it. Costs the same.
Tell me what you're after and I'll put real numbers on it.