密歇根新闻广播 密歇根州的不锈钢和高端金属制品

 

This shop is Fidler Furniture Company...headed up by Steven Mark Fidler.

"We do primarily custom metalwork. We do some woodwork where we have exotic woods wemix with our metalwork. Sometimes people want a table and they want a wood top, but ametal base and we can do both of those," Fidler explained.

Fidler does a lot of different kind of metal work. Some of it is art, but the bulk of it is beautiful and functional¹. But he didn’t get to this work in a direct line.

"Sometimes you have in your mind what you think your career is going to be and what you're going to do and it just it just kind of changes. And that's kind of what happened with me. People said, 'You do metalwork? Can you make this hood²?' Well, being bold and confident, I said, 'Yeah. Sure.' And, so we made one. And then, we made another one. So, things kind of went into it. People hear that we can do these hoods³ and now everybody- I have people that send me a national magazine ad and they say, 'Can you make a hood like this?' And I'm cracking up. And they say, 'Are you crazy?' I said I made that hood. And it's in a national magazine. We can do a lot of stainless⁴ steel counters and that's kind of fun because we do them in homes, we do them in restaurants, we do bar tops in big bars and so we get to meet with people and you go in there and everyone says, 'Hey, this is the guy who made this bar top. Oh, this is really cool!' You know it's just- it’s fun."

About your cooking hoods, don't you buy those at Lowes or the big Hobart kitche n appliance place or something like that?

"No. No. No, we make those from scratch. Our customers will sit down with us and they want the straps⁵ from this style of a hood, they want the shape of that style of hood, so we can really help them because we take several different concepts and put them together to get their dream hood."

How did you get started in this business?

"Well, I worked for Hobart Food Equipment, so my background was some stainless work. I had an opportunity to be a partner in a company that made commercial kitchen equipment. And then, I end up making- I came up with this idea (that) I was going to make stainless steel tables, occasional tables. I went to interior designers and I said, 'Look at these and this new line of tables we have.' And, they said, 'Well, do you make countertops?' Yeah, I've made those for years, but look at these beautiful tables. They didn't want the tables. They wanted countertops and cooking hoods and other stuff."

But, these aren’t utilitarian⁶. I mean, they are, but you inject some style and art into them.

"Yeah, we make them with a lot of different materials and we have a lot of different finishes. We do some patina⁷ finishes where you take chemicals and put it on the metal to change the color of the metal and change the texture⁸ of it. And, you know, mirror-polished stainless and brass⁹ and bronze and copper¹⁰ and painted wood. We mix a lot of different media to come up with a look, a different look that a customer might want."

If you've spent any time in downtown Grand Rapids, you've probably seen Fidler Furniture. But, the company does work beyond western Michigan. Steve Fidler listed a few of his projects.

"Amway Grand Plaza¹¹ Hotel, J. W. Marriott, Reserve Wine Bar, Ferrari in Detroit. We do a lot of work in Chicago in condominium associations," he said.

"Everybody says you should put your name on it, but when we do it with private people and that, I don't know if they want my name on it or not, so we don't put our name on it. Haven't yet," Fidler noted¹².

When we visited Fidler Furniture, there were some exhibits of side projects by the people who work there. For example, Anthony Amalfitano's lamps made of copper tubing andEdison bulbs were on display.

"I just kind of thought it was neat and it doesn't take a lot of tools to put ittogether that way, so, just a little bit of creativity at home, I guess,” Amalfitano said.

Walt Gurdak had a sleek¹³ sort of moped sitting on a table at the shop.

"It's more of a 60's 50cc racer style. You didn't see too many of them in the United States. They were more European,” Gurak said.

And there was some work by a guy who Fidler says has quite a following, Jay Prosch-Jensen.

"I do metal art. Been doing that about five, six years now. Mostly recycled, mostly found object type of thing is what I do. And, yeah, it's very nice that Steve embraces it the way he does and lets me work out of his shop and use some of his tools and even the scrap," Prosch-Jensen said.

Fidler says this is all about fostering creativity and keeping good people on staff.

"We hire artisans and artists. Like everybody here, they do art work in their spare time and even after hours. I enjoy giving other artists an opportunity to use the shop. We have a huge investment here for making art work and stuff and most artists don't have a great big press and shears¹⁴ they can use."

And Fidler says it’s also about keeping the work interesting.

"I feel like I’m doing a weekend fun hobby every day. Every day feels like a Saturday to me. I just- I love what I do."

Is it the design work of the hands-on stuff that you like best?

"Both. Both. I do a lot of the design work. We do have an engineer who helps with all the technical aspects of everything, but I like meeting with customers and coming up with concepts. I do work in the shop a lot. It's hard to stay out of here. I like coming in weekends even," Fidler said.

1 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

2 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

3 hoods   

n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩

参考例句：

• Michael looked at the four hoods sitting in the kitchen. 迈克尔瞅了瞅坐在厨房里的四条汉子。 来自教父部分
• Eskimos wear hoods to keep their heads warm. 爱斯基摩人戴兜帽使头暖和。 来自辞典例句

4 stainless   

adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的

参考例句：

• I have a set of stainless knives and forks.我有一套不锈钢刀叉。
• Before the recent political scandal,her reputation had been stainless.在最近的政治丑闻之前，她的名声是无懈可击的。

5 straps   

n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
• The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。

6 utilitarian   

adj.实用的，功利的

参考例句：

• On the utilitarian side American education has outstridden the rest of the world.在实用方面美国教育已超越世界各国。
• A good cloth coat is more utilitarian than a fur one.一件优质的布外衣要比一件毛皮外衣更有用。

7 patina   

n.铜器上的绿锈，年久而产生的光泽

参考例句：

• The trophy has a beautiful green patina.这个奖杯表面有一层漂亮的绿锈。
• Ancient bronze animal are covered in vivid green patina.古代青铜器动物被绿色彩铜绿笼罩。

8 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

9 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

10 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

11 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

14 shears   

n.大剪刀

参考例句：

• These garden shears are lightweight and easy to use.这些园丁剪刀又轻又好用。
• With a few quick snips of the shears he pruned the bush.他用大剪刀几下子就把灌木给修剪好了。