Woodworking as a viable occupation

[Lost Sailor]

Hi-
I'll apologize and disclaim up front for what's sure to be a lengthy, weighty and ignorant first post.

I've decided to do what I want in life and be happy rather than follow the previous course I was on, due to circumstances within and out of my control. I'm 37, which is old or young depending on how you look at it. Due to divorce I recently sold my business, and decided after looking all over the Earth, to move from the SC coast to Asheville to sink in my roots. That part I've done. I'm relatively unfamiliar with Asheville-been here 3 months, and know a grand total of about 4 people here.

To cut to the chase, after much introspection I'm thinking of pursuing a livelihood in doing something with woodworking. What? I don't know. It's always been something I loved since I was a kid, and through the years I've become more knowledgable and proficient in building, repairing and even creating things of my own design. When I was about 10 I built a small bookcase with a drawer. Most recently I built 2 benches and custom built in bookcases and cabinets, which amazingly someone paid me money for. Oh, yeah, I also just built a bed frame out of oak. All came out very surprisingly well, especially considering the insufficient space and tools I have. However, I am a novice, in every sense of the word.

When someone offered me $ for my work, a spark went off.

So I guess what I'm searching for is this: does anyone make a living doing what they do here? How did you come into it? How did you narrow it down to that "niche?" How does one go about making a business out of it? And most importantly, how does one go about learning the craft?

I've looked for classes in my area; no luck. I've looked for shops that may want to have an assistant or apprentice or at least wouldn't mind having me hang around(doubtful); no dice. I'm so new to this that I'm not sure what angle to even approach it from. Meaning, design, custom furniture, fine furniture, restorations or what? I've even been contemplating a store to supply woodworkers(my background is in business) such as Highland Woodworking in Atlanta(on a smaller scale of course), which I think would be incredible, but not being familiar with Asheville, don't know yet if it would fly. Or even designing a small line of simple furniture and mass markting it. Just been letting the imagination fly.

Can anyone provide suggestions/direction/advice/criticism/encouragement/personal anecdotes/ideas/ or anything else they feel is merited? If so, I would appreciate and be very interested in it!

Thanks!(that wasn't so bad, was it?)
Michael

And please, no replies with this::eusa_thin or this: :rolf:!

 

[NCPete]

darn, :eusa_thin, those are usually my best responses.:rolf:

:eusa_doh:but considering that that isn't the sort of reply you are looking for, I would encourage you to consider some of Woodguy's(woodguy1975) classes, or perhaps hiking up to Klinspor's in Hickory or over to Woodcraft in Charlotte for some classes.

 

[DaveO]

Welcome Michael, you've found a good place for your questions. I wish I could answer some of them, but I am search for those answers myself. We have many members in the west part of the state that will chime in with their local info and advice. I am sure that you will soon hear from McRabbet regarding the woodworkers club in that area that he's headed up. Asheville is a great area with lots of craftspeople and a strong artistic community. I am sure that you will be able to find your nitch there. and AFAIK, there isn't a woodworking store anywhere to be found in those parts....could be a good opportunity.
I am glad that you joined us and look forward to your participation in the forums, and hearing about your successes :icon_thum

BTW :eusa_thin :eusa_thin :eusa_thin :rotflm: :rotflm: :rolf: ...just kidding:-D
Dave

 

[Lost Sailor]

Thanks for the welcome. I've been surprised myself at the seeming lack of resources in Asheville. Maybe they're just low profile, but I would think with all the artists, craftspeople, retirees, arts and crafts motifs and just the "scene" here it would be prolific. I am in the embryonic stage of this however, so I'm sure I'm unaware of what's really going on around here. Maybe. We'll see with some due diligence.
I really look forward to seeing what members have to say and where this leads.

 

[rhett]

Woodworking is a great way to make a living, as long as you can live on a shoe string budget. It is impossible to compete with foreign companies importing crap furniture. Having someone pay upwards of 400% more for a hand made piece as opposed to going to "insert big name store here" and buying particle board is a hard sell. But, there are people out there who do appreciate nicer things, just be on top of your game. I think I can speak for anyone else on here living by wood when I say, don't give your work away. When you undersell yourself, your underminding your work. Being a furniture maker is more a life style than an occupation.

 

[cskipper]

I am sure that you will be geting a lot of responses that will probably be more helpful than this, but I wanted to says that I hope you find dyour niche. For classes, you are probably closer to the Woodcraft in Greenville, SC (take I 26E to I 85S to Woodruff Rd. Turn left from ramp, right after the Whole Foods store, etrc - at the Red Robin gas station - Miller Rd. 1st building on the right).

 

[dancam]

Michael,

Welcome to the site and welcome to Asheville. I recently moved to Asheville from central NJ and I am throughly enjoying the area. As DaveO mentioned, we have a western NC wood workers club set up and we meet about once a month. We've got quite a cross section of members (hobbyists as well as professsional wood workers) and would love to have you join us.

If your interested, send me a PM (private message) and we can get the ball rolling.

Dan C.

 

[WoodWrangler]

Everything I've heard from wwer's is that it's a job of love without much money ... however, some people learn how to make it profitable. Though you'd probably never get rich, I think playing it right you could make enough money to live comfortably.

You might want to consider talking to Roger (timsparents). He's been doing wwer'ing and has been successful. He does larger commission pieces with a variety of advanced techniques & veneer work. He will be talking at the Charlotte WWer's meeting on Tuesday (there's another thread out here about that)

 

[McRabbet]

Welcome to the site, Michael! Glad to have another woodworker from here in the western part of the state -- I live in Hendersonville and want to let you know that we have an active group called the Western NC Woodworkers Association that meets once each month to share woodworking ideas, tools, projects, techniques and just chatter -- our next meeting is December 9th at 1:00 PM at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, just off US 70 to the east of Asheville. If you open the Site Navigation Menu and click on View Your Group Memberships, you can be put on our contact list. Hope to see you on the 9th and in the forums.

As you've read from some of our members posts, there is a surprising lack of woodworking resources locally -- a few good wood suppliers, but no WW tool store. Our WNCWA group does have some woodworking professionals and some of us do commission work to supplement our tool and wood buying needs (I'm retired). I've done five commission jobs in the past year -- two good interior built-in projects and 3 decks (strictly for the money), so the work is out there. I've got two more good custom interior projects in the hopper... Come to our meeting in December and lets chat about other options with the members.

Rob

Rob

 

[antioch8]

Welcome Micheal, I bit the bullet a few years ago and chose woodworking as my profession and must admit there is alot of truth in what Jeremy and Rhett posted. A career in woodworking can be challenging without careful planning and a little luck. The hardest issue I have had to deal with is pricing my work. I can easily cut my own throat if I am not careful. Thankfully the LOML has better business savy in that area than I do. I wish you luck and success and am willing to share any information I can based on my experiences.