pro

ken lutes

Member
Messages
98
Location
Winchester Ky.
Just wondering how many wannabees are out there. You know wanna new tool, wanna a new shop and wannabee a pro. Would like to hear how many want to do woodworking for a living and how many made there dreams come true and how they managed to make it work for them. I know I would like to start a small shop when I retire. I have several areas that I like to do. Would like to incorporate all of them into one type of business. I have always loved woodworking,making 18th century longrifles and hand forged knives. I have been making a few 18th century style country furniture and chest. I have made a few sets of hand forged hardware for some of my chest. But for now I still have to work for a living so I just continue to try to improve my skills and learn. Any other stories, I would love to hear from your experiences and ideals. How did you get to fulfill your dreams?
 
Myself, I am not a pro so maybe this is not what you want to hear either.

I am not sure I am all cranked up to be a pro so I can make a living at it, but I would like to think that I think outside the box and do some very custom, very unique projects. Building a train shaped cradle for my daughter for instance, or building a heart shaped crib complete with lovetails instead of dovetails. To less of an extent, my highly detailed wooden models could be included as unique as well.

I guess my frustration with woodworking is that some of these very unique woodworking projects go largely unnoticed.

If my dream was to become reality (and please don't laugh too hard), it would be to build that heart shaped crib, complete with lovetails and heart shaped spindles, and then donate it to the Make a Wish Foundation for auction. I think with that sort of exposure, a winning bid would be high and thus a dying child's final wish could be granted, the winning bidder would have one of a kind item, and I would get the recognition for building something high end and unique.

Typed out it sounds arrogant, but I put a lot of time and thought into what I do, and the handwork stuff like this requires is pretty skillful. I guess in this respect I am just the starving artist who wishes to be discovered. If I could help a child out via my style of woodworking, it would be my holy grail of woodworking.
 
It is an interesting question, and one that I'm sure many of us think about from time to time.

Recently, with the >> Aparto Renovation << I've been working sort of as a carpentry job, but I've not quit my day job.

I think if I were to do this full time, I'd have to be a lot more cut throat on pricing etc.

I do worry that doing it full time would take all the fun out of it. :dunno:
 
Travis that sounds like a great ideal. Maybe someday it will come true for you. Just stay on course and see. Stuart I know that I could never make a full time living at my hobbies. That is why I am going to wait till I retire so I will have something to pay the bills with. I really admire those who have the courage and most of all the talent to be suscessful at woodworking. I admire thier work and skills.
 
i too have had those thoughts, i am previusly a builder and that got helped along later on by taking a second job in the printing industry, which had good benifits,, the guy that i used to be partners with is struggling to keep his head above water. and its not becasue he isnt good. i have built my slef a shop to help me out in two ways, releive sterss from the job and to give me a fall back plan, and i have been fortunate to have meet and got to know some real pros..they arent rich by no means and there best thing they all say is they enjoy going to work.. to look at going pro for a second income like you mentione is good to keep you active and can make you some extra cash possibily..but to pay for the medical cost and insurances probally not. so in my case i can be ajack of all trades sorta and can still enjoy the craft.
 
The closest "pro" aspiration I have is to maybe someday generate a hobby income from pens and bowls. Need a lot more practice before that starts happening, and there's some flatwork needs to get done before I start turning more.

On the other hand, I do dream of starting a meadery, but I'd want to start part-time while still being employed by someone else full-time. I've started recording costs in my brewing logbook to try and help figure out a minimum break even amount to cover all the silly licenses. I think the best way for me to go is to learn to tap maple trees (I have three in my yard) for sap to boil down and sell at least one thing of syrup a year and also make at least one batch of maple mead each year. This way I could qualify as a "farm" and thus for the reduced "farm winery" license. Anyhow, this is sort of drifting off-topic, though it is a different hobby-to-business dream.
 
I think what most people here are discussing is not working as a woodworker, but working for themselves. No one is saying, I want to quit my current job and go work for a giant cabinet or furniture shop. No, I think what I am hearing is a dissatisfaction of working for someone else. That is a whole different subject than, "I am in the wrong field and should be in woodworking".

Personally, I am not interested in making woodworking a career for the main reason stated by Stu, it would take the fun out of it, because of the pressure to feed myself by it. Travis brings up a good point about being a professional may prevent you from really doing what you want because the client is king and you need to make what sells. Of course there is the best reason, I am too slow and I would starve.:rofl:
 
like what has been said here so far, creativity isnt designed to be mass produced. and mass production is where most make there money.. the turners out there are a great example..they do some fantastic stuff but the average joe or joanne wont pay for the uniques, just the 1.50 salad bowls that are mass produced and dont have the creativity in them. the same thing can apply to flat work too..mass produced cabs sell faster than custome stuff..and in todays tight market..the dollar goes to the best value for the buck not nessacarrly the best product.
 
I have had my own biz for two years now. Most of the money comeing now id from makeking reproduction moldings for cabinet makers. This I would say is about 70% of the income about 20% is from furniture repairs and/or refinishng. The last 10% is from furniture I make for others. If you want to do this, the best thing would start knocking on doors of places where you plan to sell this stuff. You will need a few good sources to get you going.
 
hi ken

personally i would never take my hobby and turn it into a buissiness . i think it would take all the fun out of it, having to meet deadlines and everything else on the buissiness end of a shop. i have turned out a few pro quality pieces, but if it was work i would probably starve to death at the pace i work at :rofl:
 
If only my wife had a better job than I, then I could try to hold up my end of the deal as a woodworker. She would have to supply the benefits. I know of at least one guy on the Wood Magazine forum that has this situation. I would probably have to be in an urban area like he lives so I could charge more for my work.

Here in the UP of Michigan, there is a very poor area. We have hardly felt the recession - it seems like we live in a perpetuating recession.
 
A sure fire method for me to lose weight after my wife, children, employees, employers, friends, brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, doctors, even the guy at the deli( who always told me to eat healthier while he was making me up one of his 1 lb processed meat/sub specials,) all failed, would be for me to attempt to make a living at woodworking.
 
hi ken,
i`ve been cuttin` boards for a livin` for over 3 decades....really it all depends on what a person wants out of life:eek:
if time off for hobbies or luxuries like new cars and health insurance are necessarry for your happiness then it`s pretty likely that doin` woodwork for a living isn`t going to cut it.
on the otherhand if creating stuff is in your blood and you get a thrill from the look in a customers eyes when they see your work and you don`t "need" lots of "stuff" to be happy then maybe woodworking is for you?
there are very few woodworkers who get rich...in fact many don`t even get by in todays day in age....but one thing we all have in common is the need to make things...
only you can decide what you really want out of life.
 
Woodworking Business

You would probably be better off retiring and trying to do it as a hobbyist/crafts business, unless you know of a better economy than I am experiencing, although I have a friend who is making a living in handmade pottery but she specializes in a nitch end of it like wedding registries and she keeps over head low ,home studio shop and internet sales, I'm not sure if something like that might work for wood working, Also keep in mind we are a nation of outsourcing, and throw it away mentality. Also you will need to have sales and marketing experience , Anyone can learn to build an item but if it's not sold bottom line you will go broke and it must sell for the right price as well! Since from what I've heard from a larger shop in my area to make one of a kind pieces the labor is intense and costly ,I'm Quoting a public school shop teacher of 37+ years in wood working and son and daughter who started a custom furniture shop locally and have specialized in shaker style furniture , The teacher says without his retirement income, his son who now does all the woodworking and daughter who does sales and marketing for there co. they would not be able to make it float anymore best year in sales early 2002-04, Economy not cooperating right now , As far as there shop they have a large 1 million dollar investment and a large house on the property for a show room. He did tell me at christmas they did recieve enough orders for item's to be made to keep them at a lead time of about 8-10 weeks out, that will drop off in march once those are made. Also I asked where they purchase there lumber , comes out west Virginia area , they go and purchase 6k to 10 K dollars worth at a time. for finishing they add this to labor cost as well they do some in house and also outsorce, + design inhouse and also very custom stuff they might have to outsource, Like I said before look at small items as well as large items to make because I noticed while I was standing in the showroom gathering this iformation they were making sale after sale for small items such small shaker boxes, bowls, quilt rack, and any type rack or small cab. you can think of etc. etc. Also mirrors, and a display of custom kitchen cabinets, By the way his son also works as an engineer and daughter work in marketing for a local builder. Hence contact for cust. cabinets as well as custom beds and night stands they make . If your're up for the challenge go for it , But you might want to just enjoy your retirement and maybe work at building items for yourself and family or just working at a woodworking store for enjoyment, I was told by my friend to stay out of the business unless you have personal finances to go through the bad times , beacause getting a loan to start a small business of this kind is almost impossible, Well I 'm done sharing my thoughts and knowledge of my friend , I hope this helped and didn't sound preachy! Follow those dreams for the USA will survive and flourish through these hard times.:type::wave::dunno:
 
I may have misused the title PRO? I plan on retiring in a couple of years and let my retirement take care of the bills. Like most of you have said I dont plan or even think that woodworking will will make a lot of money. At least not at the level that I am thinking of or planning on working at. Like Tod said there is a driving force in me that I just love to make things. I guess it runs in my family, my dad was always that way. I was raised and worked in a family own and ran business. I quit the family business about 28 years ago and have worked for major companies ever since. Not a bad move but I have always wanted to get back into something of my own. Only this time I want it to be something that I love to do and enjoy. I am not really worried about making a lot of money at it. As long as it pays its way and I am enjoying it I will be happy. After I retire I will have to have something to keep me busy. I am type that I have to be doing something. I love 18th century time period and would like to make items of that period. I have been putting my shop and tools together for quite a while so I have most of that behind be. Of course, like most of us I never quit dreaming of building a bigger or better laid out shop. I was just curious how the rest of you are going about your woodworking hobby and or turning it into a small business.
 
What a pod full of peas

Chalk me up in the group that just likes to 'make things'.

My dad always wanted me to become an accountant, but for some reason I ended up on software development.

For me, making software is great fun, but at the end of the day, when I turn of the computer, its hard to see what it is I actually accomplished.

Woodworking gives me the ability to see the tangible results of my efforts.

I always enjoyed making things with my hands, and if I had a clue when I was younger, I might have gone into engineering. It's just that I didn't take math and physics all that seriously when I was young.

All that being said, I can't imagine trying to go 'pro' with wood working. I like it too much. Going pro would most likely put too much stress on it and make it much less fun than I currently think it is.

Just my 2 copper pennies.....
 
If only my wife had a better job than I, then I could try to hold up my end of the deal as a woodworker. She would have to supply the benefits. I know of at least one guy on the Wood Magazine forum that has this situation. I would probably have to be in an urban area like he lives so I could charge more for my work.

Here in the UP of Michigan, there is a very poor area. We have hardly felt the recession - it seems like we live in a perpetuating recession.

Aaaamen.
 
Well Ken,I guess I am like all the rest....Just like to make things of wood,love being in my shop. I started working for my Father in 1946 at the age of 13. Not in woodworking,but in shoe repair. We were the first in our state to go into a major shopping center. That was 55 years ago and the shop is still running.I took over for my Dad in 1973. I had 2 sons that worked with me soon as they were about 15. After 22 years my oldest son went into carpentry. He has been succesful in remodeling etc. My other son and grandson still run the shoe shop. I still go in and work 1 day a week just to help out. But Unfortunatly to have a bussness in a shoping center.... They tell you what hours you have to be there. Only 3 days a year you can close
Easter,Thanksgiving and Christmas. The son that does remodeling can pretty much set his own hours. He takes long weekends in the summer. But when he works he works very hard. I sometimes will get a few jobs that some of his customers want built, that he just dosn't want to monkey with. So I do them
and get paid for the work I do. I really don't care about making much money on the job. But it alows me to buy tools that I think I can't live with out. Bottom line is Just try to do what you enjoy doing. Its nice being in bussnes for your self .....But lots of headaces go with it.
Ron:wave:
 
Ken, I've tried it out here in Tx. It's been probably close to three years back, now. basically my experience was: like any other small business, you need to be able to pursue your business with no income from that business, for at least three years. Plus spend money on it for wood, finishes,sandpaper,etc. I have no idea what people are like in Kentucky, but in Tx. we have lots of people with more money than they know what to do with. Problem one is finding them. In Tx we have the Texas Mesquite Assn. that puts on 2 shows a year, one in Fredricksburg in the spring, San Angelo in the fall. To do both shows from where I live,probably cost 1000 dollars. You may sell something, you may not, but you get exposure. After 2 shows, I ended up stumbling across a guy from Canada that bought that door that is my avatar for 2650. Now if I had stayed with it, I think I probably could have made a decent living. My opinion is that if you start turning out nick-nacks, then you have to do volume to make money(Walmart), then to me its no longer fun. If you can do high-end custom work, then its fun. Also, I already owned all the high dollar tools when I started this venture.
 
to put it shortly and bluntly. given the right location, the drive to succeed, the willingness to do projects that aren't glamorous, a good CPA and a true LOVE for woodworking. it can be done. for me, it took the fun away, because I wasn't getting to build the stuff i wanted to. after doing 30 houses full of cabinets it gets old. but at the same time there is something to be said for doing something you enjoy, even if you are forced to do it. for me it was more of a "what's better for my family" type thing.
 
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