I just found out last night that the person who has been restoring my g-grandmother's treadle machine case (the wooden section) is finished with the project. This person is one of DH's fellow firefighters and he teaches woodworking at the local 'reform school' for lack of a better term. It is this group of young men who have actually done the work with the teacher's guidance and supervision. This is a standing department at the facility and they have been doing this work for years. The teacher is someone we are friendly with but certainly not good friends. The reason I wanted him to do the project was because I knew the work would be done correctly and not just your quickie 'dip 'n strip' method of refinishing. Teacher was soooo excited telling me about this last night. Says it came out beautifully and I'm sure it is.
Enough background. My question is how much, or at all, do I tip for this work? The cost will be somewhere in the $100-$150 range. I'm happy with the price as it was a mess before and I don't think that is unreasonable for stripping; sanding; staining; finishing. The boys are not allowed to have any cash at the facility. The payments go into a facility account and are then distributed to each student in an inhouse 'personal' account based on the number of hours the individual put into any particular project that they can apply credits to at the inhouse commissary. Do I just give the teacher a tip for his pickup/ delivery of the item and the care with which the job was completed? Give extra to the boys for their accounts? Give extra to both? How much???
In a quandry here. I'll get delivery of the case sometime this week depending on weather and everyone's schedules. DH of course still needs to sandblast and repaint the iron base pieces so it will still be a while before it's all put back together. I picked up a 15-91 a few months ago to use in this piece as the original machine has apparently been MIA for a very long time. No idea how that happend but I can't do anything about that! I'm really excited about getting this project completed. Not sure how much I'll actually use it but the sentimental value is tremendous.
TIA, Kim in NJ