Fynnn's Saddle Shop..... Front Office

Last fall, I was at Flynn's Saddle Shop in Boise, Idaho. I dropped off a portfolio and discussed having the business show case some of my saddles.The manager of the western department was agreeable to that and I left the portfolio with one of the owner's wives. I also learned that they were just about to start construction on a new and much bigger building. I said I was interested in doing some of the furnishings for the new building. they called me when they had the architect's drawings and I went down to see them. To say the least they were not do-able. I bid on the job and then had to go back several times and wound up completely redesigning the front counter and office space. When I went in to get the final say on the colors, I was informed that they also wanted a pergola over the check-out counter. I didn't even know how to spell pergola. I soon learned and designed it as well. I got the bid and was going to start on it the 1rst of December because they had stated an opening date of 15 January, 2008. On the 15th of November I got a call and asked if I could bump it up to open the 1rst of January. Well, it was a big enough contract that I sure could. I went down and got my deposit and headed off for a load of material. As you might expect we were just in today and took these photos and the place is still not open. The best part is the checks cashed and were available whenever I wanted them. Great folks to work with and today they told me to design some more things for the store. Dandy.
The pergola started out as re-claimed fir 6×6 's and 4×6's. They were planed down some and then I began to work. I allowed 50 hours to build the pergola and wasn't far off. It is mortise and tenon construction with some exterior knee braces held on with lag bolts. The mortises were done with a hand drill and chisels and the tenons were cut with a hand saw. The joints are draw bore pinned. It could not be assembled until it was in place. I rough planed it with a #4 and then sanded over to smooth it. The finish is BLO, shellac, then gel stain and more shellac. The sign was done by someone else but seems to fit very well.

The cabinets(12) are Red Oak ply with Red oak face frames. All are open and there are two drawers on the two computer desks in the office space. The faces are frame and panel construction with 1/4 inch Red Oak ply panels.The shelf units on the front of the counter are part of my contract as well. There are two lazy susans in the back corner cabinets. The finish is my own Golden Brown Oak. 120 drops of TransTint Golden Brown to 1 pint of De-natured Alcohol. Then two coats of Light Walnut Danish Oil. The counter top is two layers of particle board with Red Oak edge band then Formica laminate on top.
While at the Denver Market last week, the owners showed photos of this to the owner of one of the biggest saddle and tack stores in the US. He said he would be interested in talking to me as he was going to remodel in a short while. If Todd can work in Ohio, I can work in Colorado. Yippee!! I'm glad this is done. I'm enjoying building a bunch of saddles.