Cutting Edge Woodworks (long)

Chris Mire

Member
Messages
945
Location
Southern Louisiana
not sure if this is the right place for this, maybe it belongs in the off topic forum, feel free to move it mods. thanks



For those of you who don’t know I have owned and operated my own custom cabinet business since Feb 07. Recently I decided to close the doors on the business and return to work in the engineering field where I worked before. Computer aided drafting and design, specifically in the petrochemical field. My decision was not an easy one. I fought with myself for months trying to decided what to do. In the end I decided this was the best route for me and my family. My stress level was far too high and the aggravation that comes with building and installing entire homes worth of cabinets was just getting to me.

For me this was always a hobby, something I loved to do. Doing it for a living took the fun away, I still enjoyed doing it and enjoyed my job but it got to a point where it just wasn’t the same anymore.

I know this comes at a time when the economy is bad and it seems like I would be shutting the doors due to lack of work, well that is just the opposite, in the months before I quit I was turning work away or passing it on to another cabinetmaker friend. I just could not keep up with the amount of work I had and I refused to hire anymore workers (mainly because I am OCD about my work). It was just me and Dad and I was outsourcing and still couldn’t keep up. This drove the stress level up, not to mention I was contracting my own home which took far more attention than I expected.

There is lots more I could say but it would make this thread too long. Bottom line is I am much happier and less stressed than I was and that is great for me and the family.

If anyone is considering a move like this, let me know, I’ll do my best to tell you the things I wish I had done differently that may have helped make it better.

I am now working on my last set of cabinets (well for awhile anyway) and it is my personal ones. My best set yet I think. I’ll be posting pics soon. Finishing should be getting started this weekend.

Thanks to all who helped me while I was in the biz, I appreciate the support this place offers us all. :clap:

Sincerely
Chris Mire
Former CEO of Cutting Edge Woodworks
 
Chris, life is a journey, and you took a road that you wanted to take, now you have come to a crossroads, and you are making a turn, I hope it is one for the better, sure sounds like it.

Who knows where you will be in 10 years, maybe you will get sick and tired of the "engineering field" and go back to woodworking. In 10 years or so, you will be in a very different place, kids will be grown up, and such, so who knows.

Are you glad you gave it a go, even though, right now, you are closing the doors? I'd think you would be, at least this way, you can say you did give it a go.

Best of luck to you, and your family! :thumb:

Stu
 
you are right stu. i fought with the decision for so long because I felt like I was failing if I gave up. But because I chose what I feel is right for me and my family I feel like I succeeded. Plus I think the biz was a success in many ways, I had a good customer base and had lots of work.

I think things happen for a reason, and it just so happens that i started this business 5 months before my son was born, which meant that I got to see him alot more in his first year than I would with a traditional job. That means the world to me. So yes, i am glad i gave it a shot. It is good to know I could do it and do it fairly well.

I still plan to do woodworking, both for fun and hopefully a little profit, but I just need a break for awhile, not to mention all the personal projects that I will need to build to fill the new house.

thanks
Chris
 
Hi Chris.

Sometimes it is hard to take certain decisions, but as Stu says you don't know what will happen in 5 or ten years time. Take it as a "stand by" position to be retaken when things and circumstances change, and after all I'm sure that you can extract positive conclusions from the experience.

I wish that now that it is a hobby again you will recover the fun in doing it.
Thanks for sharing you projects and experiences with us.
 
Chris, I admire your guts... both to take the plunge, and to choose to get out when the time was right.

I retired (early) from a good paying job to do woodworking full time. Like you, I have more work than I can handle (and so do a couple of my friends who are solo woodworkers in town). But I can go as fast or as slow as I want, so it is still fun (I can sit at the computer and play on forums, and go to the shop a little later, if I want, since it is no longer "work.") And as a retiree I don't have to worry about working hard enough to put food on the table.

I won't take cabinet jobs, because they tend to be bigger commitments with strict time constraints, but I do a lot of furniture and entertainment centers, and love it. I did that work part time (as a hobby more than second job) while I was working, and have had a backlog of work since long before I took the "full time" plunge. If you can keep your shop, you may find it is a pleasant avocation or part time business until retirement, then use it as a way to keep yourself happy and off the golf course.
 
Chris, I can't really add much to what the others have said, except that by pursuing it professionally/commercially for a while, you were able to develop a nice shop and REALLY hone your "Skills" and procedures to PERFECTION, (as has been seen in the Beautiful Pictures of your Work) that you've posted here.:thumb::thumb::thumb:

I truly think that in the long run you will see it has been a Win/Win situation that will leave you with Superior Skills and Experience whenever you want, (or feel the need):rolleyes::D to continue woodworking down the road whether as a Hobby only, for part time work for added income, OR commercial projects of some type (at your own pace after retirement).

I wish you the very best in your new endeavor, and look forward to seeing pics of the projects you will make for your own home. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.:D Don't be a stranger either.:type:
 
Chris,

That's a very honest assessment you've provided.

My job, punching keys for a living, hasn't always been fun. At times I've enjoyed dreaming about what it would be like working with my hand for a living, building things. In the back of my mind I've always known that if I turned my hobbies into my living, well, I'd probably feel about them the same way I feel about my current job. Don't get me wrong, I like my job fine, but I enjoy my hobbies more.

Certainly you've provided some good food for thought here....

I hope you are able to enjoy both your vocation and your hobbies....
 
Sounds to me like you entered the full-time woodworking business with a lot of reasoned thought, and you are now leaving it with the same level of reasoned thought. Nothing wrong with that. As Stu said, they're forks in the road, and it doesn't look like you're taking any of the turns recklessly.

Best of success in your return to the CAD world. (At least you know you always have the woodworking to fall back on.) ;)
 
toni, thanks, it's been great sharin and getting feedback on my work.

charlie, i think i am at the point where i don't want to do kitchens anymore unless it is for close friends. i found one thing out for sure in my business venture. you can be doing something you love to do i.e. woodworking, but if it isn't the type of woodworking you truly have a desire to do then you won't enjoy it.

ned, i'll never sell my tools. it is very tempting, especially things like the W&H but i would need it later and wish i had it.

norman, thanks alot, i won't be a stranger. i can actually be around alot more now that i sit at a computer all day. i definitely think it's a win/win.....it would have been hard to convince LOML to let me build my shop that size, but now it's done.

Brent, please don't take my experience as the defining truth when it comes to whether your hobby can be a fulfilling profession. I think it just depends alot on the nature of things, schedules, type of work, your personality. I think that I could do it in a way that would make me happy, but i'd have to make some sacrifices at first to get there and now is just not the time for that.

hey vaughn, i tried my best to be level headed about it, the thought came to me to leave it behind about 5 months ago and i just kinda let it simmer, and it went away, then 2 months later it came back, and an oppurtunity presented itself that I could not pass up. I needed to make sure it was what i really wanted and needed.

tod, sell my tools? are you kidding? :rolleyes: actually i am selling my table saw, but i am selling it to dad cause he needs one and it is set up nice and cozy in his shop. now i just gotta figure out which one i want. :dunno:
i am already wanting to get back in the shop, and i am still working on my cabinets. i am just ready to finish cabinets and do some furniture or something different, maybe i'll buy a lathe...:eek:

thanks everyone, someone pm'd me and asked me to share what i would have done differently, so instead of just replying to their PM, i'll post it here so everyone can see in case it might help others.
 
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