# DOES YOUR WOODWORKING SHOW A PROFIT?



## yarydoc (Oct 16, 2009)

For me woodworking has always been a hobby. This is what I do for fun, therapy, or just to feed my tool addiction. I have found that anything that is sold if you add some more money with it I can buy more. I realize that there are some truly gifted people on this site that sell there products to supplement your income or even make a living at it. My question is this, If we didn't love what we do would we be woodworking? What kind of time do you have in your projects and how does it average out? How many of us actually make minimum wage on our projects.


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

My woodworking does not show a financial profit. I never wanted it to. I enjoy it a great deal and I get a great payback when I see the look on my niece's face when I give her a music box I made. I get a great feeling of satisfaction when I complete a project for my church and I take pride in a house full of furniture that I made. I could go on but this is getting boring. I'm sure you get my point.


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## stevenhsieh (Jan 8, 2010)

Very few do woodworking because of money, most of us do this for the love of the craft.


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## asthesawturns (Aug 23, 2009)

I am trying to make a profit, but, this is my 3rd year trying. My tool purchases should be down, I have most everything I need ( not want). It is hard though, I have a full time job, that gets 50 - 60 hours a week, and with special events going on like my sons graduation coming up,my other son plays varsity lacrosse, each game is 4 hours total time donation 10 hours a week, lots of yard work. Sometimes I have to work a sixth day, my wife seems to come up with ideas for my time at home, other responsibilities. I just haven't had time so far this year to make sale-able stuff. A couple more weeks and things slow down, I can get some turning in. I am not whining, just explaining. It is good to be busy.
Keeping my chin up and my visor down.
Good luck.


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## closetguy (Sep 29, 2007)

Thanks for speaking for the rest of us Steven. "Love of the craft" doesn't pay the bills. I do it for the money.


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## tyskkvinna (Mar 23, 2010)

I'm not quite at the "making profit" stage, but I am making income. I anticipate that by the end of this year, it will be profit (from my initial investment in equipment and tools)

It's definitely something that I love doing, which I think just makes it easier for me to be able to dedicate the energy into it being profitable.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

I've made $. I've lost $. Thankfully, I made considerably more than I lost. 
My tools have all been paid for from when I made $. 
Now it's all for the fun of it. 
For me, woodworking with profit in mind is just a job. 
I don't need a job!


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

I'm like many, furniture building for me is mostly a hobby. I rarely do work for hire so no profits here. Most money I receive for building is when I do things like remodel a house or build a deck.


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## hObOmOnk (Feb 6, 2007)

My gross profit margin runs an average of about 80% on retail and 40-50% on wholesale.
Not a hobby…


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## rhett (May 11, 2008)

If you woodwork for a living and don't make a profit, then you aren't really woodworking for a living now are you?

If it cost you money to do it, then it is a hobby. Even if you have fancy business cards and a website.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Woodworking for a living is a tough game even the most elite and talented struggle to make a profit.
It's one of those chicken today feathers tomorrow things.


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## cranbrook2 (May 28, 2006)

I build because i love what i do but i am also very lucky to make lots of money doing it !


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## Greedo (Apr 18, 2010)

i think it may be different in europe, professional woodworkers here usually have so much demand that they mostly only do the biggger most profitable jobs like making stairs, doors and windows. no time to lose on anything else, thats why it's not that hard as an occasional woodworker to get regular jobs making furniture and other special things as long as your not asking too much. and maybe also because professional woodworkers (in belgium) usually charge €40/hour (about $60!), wich is partly why i got into woodworking because im "greedo" the greedy bastard who doesn't wan't to pay someone $60 an hour to make his windows and doors for his future house!

as to answer the first question, im under a special contract with my dad on the farm where i don't work for a salary but for "shares" in the farm, so occaional woodworking is my only source of income. so i need to make a profit doing it. i started end of 2009 by investing about €3000 in better equipment and tools, and started making profit about 3 months later, so now my little "business" sustains itself. but all this adds an ambiguity, i need to make profit so jobs go first and personal projects come after. there is so much i would like to make for myself and my GF, but i feel like im losing money if i do that and i just don't have the time as i got the farm, evening school, and my "business", that occupy at least 13 hours of my days, 24/7 don't rest on sundays either!


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## huff (May 28, 2009)

There's a lot of different type woodworkers and a lot of different levels of success or profit. For some, woodworking is nother more then a vehicle to make money and if they weren't making money at it they would move on to something else…......Others, it's a passion. We love what we do and can't think of anything else I would rather do for a living, so the money is not the # 1 priority. I make my living doing woodworking and have for the past 25 years. I guess you could say I've had some pretty profitably years and then there has been some slim times. 2008, I had the best year I've every had in the 25 years I've been woodworking, yet 2009 was one of the worst. Doesn't matter! I'm sure I'll die behind my table saw and I'll never be a millionare, but I'm happy and very proud of what I do.


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## Dustin (Dec 14, 2008)

I do it because I want more tools. I'll be honest. I make thousands of dollars that I just seem to blow away on more tools. I think I spent well over ten grand last year alone. This year I've already spent over six. Someday I want to make enough money to drop 5k at a time on cool new huge machines! Here's the thing though, I've been an entrepreneur for a decade before I got into woodworking. I absolutely know the game. The trick now is to learn woodworking.


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## rhett (May 11, 2008)

It makes me kringe to hear someone talk about doing woodwork for money and then turing around and saying they need to learn how to woodwork.

Granted, running a successful business is more about knowing how to run a business, but a firm grasp of the trade is equally important.

Best of luck.


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## uffitze (Apr 23, 2010)

I'm with you rhett … we have to be able to do quality work … it is what sets our stuff apart from mass produced stuff from China. And, in order to do quality work, well, you have to know how to work wood.

Of course, if Dustin can afford to hire somebody to run the shop and simply focus on running the business, all the more power to him.


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## Pdub (Sep 10, 2009)

I started out doing it as a hobby, but over the years it has become a part time job. I'm not complaining because it allows me to buy more tools and have extra cash in my pocket. All of mine are special orders except the one craft show I do each year. I've found that I enjoy it more when I'm just out playing in my shop than trying to meet a deadline for someone.


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## buffalo689 (Mar 2, 2010)

I do it for a living, steak one week..hotdogs the next..( i don't like chicken that much jim)! the big secret to self employment is not to sit down and calculate what you made per hour, you'll kill yerself…


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## Porosky (Mar 10, 2009)

My woodworking business has shown a loss four years in a row. I'm running this company into the ground. (Big smile as I blow a smoke ring and put my feet up)


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## Brian024 (Feb 2, 2009)

Hobby/small business, depending on the time in the year. I don't know if I would ever do it full time, I've always thought that if I did then I wouldn't enjoy it as much since it is more of a relaxation time for me. Usually during the winter is when I'm in the shop building "funiture" type pieces. Spring and summer months are when I get asked to build stuff that takes me outside the shop; millwork, trim, door installs, more along the lines of finish carpentry; occasionally I get asked to build some funiture. All together it adds roughly 30% on to my total income for a year, but what I make from woodworking usually goes back into; tools, saw blades, etc; but ocassionaly is used for helping to pay bills if I need to.


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## Stargazer (May 9, 2010)

I do woodworking for a living because that's what I've done for 35 years. It's what I know best and have many $$$$$$Ks invested in equipment and frankly, I'm damn good at it. It's not the carreer I really wanted, I wanted to be an airline pilot. It's just the way it worked out so I do my best at it. Sure wish it paid more though.

The cabinet business is very slow, only had a couple of small jobs this year. Trying to make it in one speciality is tough so I also do trim carpentry, framing, decks, concrete forming, sheetrock, tile and occassionally painting. These days I do whatever I can to scrape out a meager exsistance.

But, when I do get work I do make money, just how much is the variable. Some jobs I end up making less than minimum wage, some produce over $50 an hour. Most average around $20 to $25 an hour which is what I try to estimate in the job. Around here that's not a bad wage for construction of any type.

Rick


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## Nomad62 (Apr 20, 2010)

I cut logs, started doing it for fun and maybe a couple of bucks, and that's what I've gotten. I've stepped up to better equipment to save my back, and have made a little more but am not so sore for having done it. If I didn't find it so much fun there is no way I would do it. Got a lot of wood around the way, looking for a means to step up again and actually start a biz to sell it. One of these days…


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## woodspark (May 8, 2010)

Just to make it international, a comment from the bottom end of Africa: I do woodworking for a living and it's a pretty decent one. But then, I don't expect much, we live simple(we want to!), my overheads are low( I'm a one man shop). I have to be real versatile to stay in the game and will do any work, as long as its wood. I've made some damn good money, I've had lean times. I'm still passionate about it 25 years down the line! In short, pretty much the same as all above. Its the same all over!!


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

In the cost / benefit analysis, if you consider the therapeutic benefits, and the reduced cost of purchasing top quality, unique wooden furnishings and fixtures for the home, then yes, it shows a distinct profit… And I haven't sold a single item…


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## Roz (Jan 13, 2008)

I too do woodworking as a hobby and on some level a necessity. I am working on my home built circa 1865. I need and want to do some things myself. I take some commissioned jobs and build some things to sell. 
I took a look at this question last year. I realized after expenses I was only working for about $10.00 an hour and giving some things away. My goal was about double that per shop hour. I want the quality of my work to be so good that customers do not mind paying that price. I increased my prices and still have, what seems to be the same number of request. 
If you are going to the trouble to make something and sell it, you need to sell it for enough to make it worth while.


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