FUNDI BORA. Producer coach · walkthrough mockup
Read the design brief →
07:58Safaricom
Fundi Bora.

Kazi bora, bei bora. A senior workmate in your pocket: it looks at your work, finds what to fix, and shows you how — with the tools you have.

Built for fundis, by fundis' rules: your skill file belongs to you, advice never assumes tools you don't own, and every fix shows what it earns you.
08:00Safaricom
Your workshopProfile 1 of 3 · Business
1/3
Yusuf Odhiambo
Gikomba cluster, Nairobi
6
2 casual
Stools · Tables · Bed frames
~8
Cypress, mahogany offcuts
Photograph your bench and tool wall. Don't tidy up — I read the workshop as it really is. I'll list what I can see; you confirm and add the rest.
Profile 2 of 3
08:04Safaricom
Tools I can seeConfirm, correct, add
2/3
Hand sawOWNED
Hammer + malletOWNED
Chisels ×3OWNED
?No. 4 plane — blade looks wornOWNED
+Circular saw (added by you)BORROWED · SAT
+RouterNONE
Asked at signup, one tap: “Would you rent your tools to nearby fundis when idle?” — Yusuf says Ndiyo ✓. (This flag quietly seeds the tool marketplace.)
08:07Safaricom
What should we work on?Profile 3 of 3 · Goals
3/3
FFundi Bora
Last one, Yusuf. Six years in — you know your strong hand. What costs you money today?
Pieces coming back for repair. And customers bargaining me down on finish.
FFundi Bora
Comebacks and finish. Sawa — those are exactly the two I can see in photos. And the target?
16:20Safaricom
Karibu, YusufGikomba · 6 yrs · goal: zero comebacks
TODAY

Finished a piece? Show me.

Assess it before it leaves the workshop — 5 minutes, and problems become lessons instead of comebacks.

Your skill file
Frame squareness
L3
Joint fit
L2 ↗
Finishing
L3
FROM MEMORY
Watch: joint gaps

Seen in 2 of your last 3 pieces. Today's assessment will check this first.

Home
Assess
Orders
Profile
Same eyes as the buyer's app. Shot 5 of 7 — now the stretcher joints, close. (I remember: joints first for you.)
5 / 7
16:31Safaricom
DiagnosisNot a grade — a cause
1/2
FOUND · STRUCTURAL
Gap at stretcher tenon, rear left

Frame is square and the top is decent — good bones. This joint is the one thing between this stool and full price.

FFundi Bora
One check: was this cut with the hand saw, freehand? Show me the off-cut if you still have it.
16:33Safaricom
The planFix · Prevent · Drill
2/2
Fix now · 40 min · KSh 0
Re-glue with a shim, clamp with rope

Cut a thin cypress shim to pack the tenon, glue, then a rope tourniquet clamp — no metal clamps needed. Steps on the next screen.

Prevent · from the next piece
Knife the line on all four faces

Mark every tenon with a knife line around all faces before sawing. The saw has a wall to follow; drift dies.

Drill · 10 min on Monday
Six practice cuts on offcut

Six tenon cheeks on scrap, checking each against the line. I'll look at a photo of the six and tell you which habit is holding.

Tool worth knowing about: a marking gauge (KSh 600–900 at Gikomba hardware) scribes that line in one stroke. It would remove this comeback permanently — it pays for itself in one avoided repair. Not required for the fix.
16:36Safaricom
Re-glue the jointStep by step · with your tools
2/5
1 · Open the joint fully

Work it apart gently — don't lever against the leg.

2
2 · Shave a shim from cypress offcut

Two strokes of your plane gives a shaving the right thickness. Dry-fit: snug, not forced.

3
3 · Glue shim + tenon, reassemble

PVA on both faces. Wipe squeeze-out now — it stains the finish later.

4
4 · Rope tourniquet clamp

Loop rope around the legs, twist tight with a stick, leave overnight. Jua kali clamp — as good as steel here.

16:52Safaricom
Ask anythingVoice first — hands are busy
🎤

“Gundi hii inakauka saa ngapi kabla sijaendelea?”
(How long does this glue dry before I continue?)

FFundi Bora · voice reply
Kwa PVA na hali ya leo — clamp inakaa overnight ndio bora. Unaweza handle kesho asubuhi. Usiketi juu yake leo! And Yusuf — while it dries: that plane blade is worn. Five minutes on your sharpening stone tonight makes tomorrow's shims easier.
17:00Safaricom
Skill file updatedWhat I'll remember — yours to edit
Pattern noted

Tenon gaps in 3 of your last 4 pieces (assessments #12, #14, #15 — tap to view). Root habit each time: freehand cheek cuts. Monday's drill targets exactly this.

Joint fit — trajectory
June
5mm gap
July
3mm
Today
2mm ↗

Direction, not labels. You're closing the gap — literally.

Next project, I'll speak up before you cut the tenons — that's the point of remembering.
08:41Safaricom
Re-assessmentSame stool, next morning
VERDICT · AFTER FIX

Sound — sell it with confidence

Joint tight, frame square. This is KSh 3,800–4,000 work now, not 3,000 work.

BEFORE · visible gap, shoulder open
AFTER · seated tight, glue line clean
This week

1 comeback prevented (≈ KSh 600 saved) · 1 habit changed · drill Monday · certification progress: 3 of 10 clean assessments

That's the basic loop. Flip to + EXTENDED for the marketplace: tools, jobs, and sketch-to-workplan →

EXTENDED
10:05Safaricom
Tools nearbyAn order needs a router — you don't own one
FFundi Bora
The shelf order you quoted needs grooves — router work. Buying one is KSh 9,000+. Two fundis near you rent theirs:
Wanjiru T. — router only KSh 250/day

3.4 km · Kariobangi · rented 6× · ★ 4.5

Your own listing is live too: No. 4 plane · KSh 100/day — from the “willing to rent” tap at signup. 2 requests this month.
EXTENDED
10:07Safaricom
Router bookedMusa K. · Thursday
CONFIRMED

Thursday, 7 AM – 6 PM

KSh 300 + KSh 500 refundable deposit · M-Pesa on pickup · Musa's shed, Gikomba B.

FFundi Bora
First time with a router? Say the word Thursday morning and I'll walk you through safe setup for those grooves — guard on, two passes, against the rotation. Don't learn it from the order itself.
Why this works

Idle tools become income for Musa; Yusuf takes a KSh 12,000 order he'd have refused. The cluster already lends informally — the app adds discovery, booking, and a deposit.

EXTENDED
12:30Safaricom
Skill badge earnedVerified from real assessments
BADGE · VERIFIED
Joint work — Level 3

Earned from 14 assessed pieces, gap trend improving 5 months straight. Self-claims can't earn badges — only assessed work can.

Temp job match KSh 1,200/day

Wamalwa Furniture, Kariobangi needs 2 fundis with Joint work L3+ for one week (school desks order, starts Monday).

The badge travels with evidence: Wamalwa sees the assessed pieces behind Level 3, not a star rating.
EXTENDED
14:12Safaricom
Customer sketchWhatsApped this morning
1/3
Customer wants this coffee table with a shelf. Can I quote by lunch?
about 1 m? knee high shelf chini
FFundi Bora
Read it: coffee table, 4 legs, full-width lower shelf. "About 1 m" and "knee high" are guesses — let's pin the numbers before we price a single stick of timber.
EXTENDED
14:14Safaricom
Pin the numbersI propose · you correct · nothing is assumed
2/3
1000 mm ✎ 420 mm ✎ 300 ✎
FFundi Bora
Proposed: 1000 × 500 top, 420 high (standard coffee height fits "knee high"), shelf 300 below the top. Tap any number to change it. One question: does the customer's sofa sit low? If yes, drop to 400.
Sofa is normal. 1000 is right, customer confirmed by text.
EXTENDED
14:17Safaricom
Work plan & quoteCoffee table · 1000×500×420
3/3
PieceSize (mm)Qty
Top boards, cypress1000 × 125 × 254
Legs420 × 50 × 504
Aprons870 / 370 × 70 × 252+2
Shelf slats876 × 90 × 185
Plan · 9 steps · ~2.5 days

Cut list → square legs → tenons (knife-line all faces — your drill!) → aprons → dry fit → glue-up → shelf → sand 80/120/180 → finish. Timber ≈ KSh 2,400 · hardware & finish ≈ KSh 450.

SUGGESTED QUOTE

KSh 5,800 – 6,500

Covers materials, 2.5 days' labour at your rate, and profit. Below 5,500 you're paying the customer.

Check before cutting: totals assume 25 mm planed stock. Verify board thickness at the yard — and measure twice. A wrong cut list wastes real timber; this one is a starting point, not gospel.