# getting started



## jm540 (Jan 14, 2009)

I am a union electrician and have been out of work for 8 months. wood working is a hobby I have had for 5 years. my great grand father passed and I got his tools. they sat for a year and we moved. the tools went to storage. we got a bigger place. the china particle board furniture fell apart. I vowed no cheap furniture. I owe I owe I owe. I started working wood. I have made several things. I remodeled 2 houses.

I built some adorondacks for grandma to give away for christmas. she liked mine so much. I made tooling to produce efficentlly and found 2 dealers. dealer 1 no sales 3 months. did craft shows no sales. dealer 2 starts next month with 6 pair.

got my second comission entertainment center friend of a sister not much profit (hoping for word of mouth) + to eager to over impress, not willing to ask enough. don't care to make chairs but will to keep going all profits help but mostly tooling and the lumber shed whichis looking good. help please. I want to make beautiful things and not have them sit in my shop or given away.


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## pete57 (Jan 22, 2009)

What kind of chairs are you going to build if need be? I have been out of work 4 months, sucks huh?


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

making chairs for profit is a tough cookie to get into as the market is drenched with inexpensive, mass produced chairs that use CNC tooling/machinery and even those factories/shops that make chairs on North American soil have to compete against the off shore markets.

I have a close friend who used to make Anirondack/Muskoka chairs and sell them by the tractor trailer load who recently closed his shop down due to the above. Even owning his own building, property and being mortgage free….............couldnt make a go at it. He now installs and maintains pools and hot tubs and in the off season keeps his hands dusty in my shop.

I make custom cabinets and have to really SELL, SELL, SELL the benifits of my product over the factory compitition and for the most part,people look at the bottom line in $$$$$. Thankfully you cannot buy production cabinets like mine…...........yet


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## jm540 (Jan 14, 2009)

Adarondacks that is what Im'm affraid of

cabinets sound great but I'm just learing case work.
thank guys anyone know of a real niche they don't want to touch


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## pete57 (Jan 22, 2009)

I am trying to get juried in Windsor Chairs and build 18th century furniture. I will do just about anything to get wood or tools will keep me in what I love to do. I am a Site Superintendent that was laid off about 4 months ago. Jobs that I use to run are just not out there yet and I live in the country in rural PA where jobs are not as plentiful as in the City. So I do alot of porch patching and word of mouth in the church that I go to has landed me work now doing small jobs contractors will not do. Work is coming faster and it is honest work. I charge between 25 and 45 bucks an hour and it helps. I am getting more antique repair lately also. Hell man, porch stairs are always rotten away and there is a safety issue to the land lord and most will pay to have it fixed if you bring it to their attension.


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## toolman409 (Jan 28, 2009)

Getting involved w/community college wood shop-helpful for me

I took early out retirement after 30 yr electrical engrg/supv career. Sold tools part time at Sears for two yrs to get buys on returned tools, plus found used tools to improve my shop.

Then I found a great high school carpenter shop/evening community college instructor that has seen a lot of the business over the years. He saw my talent and helps me focus. Being an engr, I tend to be slow and particular. [READERS: PLEASE! REFRAIN FROM INDIGNANT COMMENTS ABOUT PICKY ENGRS. I'VE ALREADY HEARD THEM ALL - several times.] He also gets calls from folks who want handmade/custom work. Now that he is full time community college carpenter/cabinet shop instr., he tends to refer these calls to "students" like me. (He keeps his day students real busy making serious sawdust from kitchen cabinet and storage building jobs.) Some of his referrals have been a blessing.

Others want a lot for nothing. I ask them if they can buy what they want, retail. I can't compete w/retail and can explain that my clients have to place an added value on handmade/custom work for me to be able to help them. Tends to separate the sheep from the goats.

When I get my pics in order, I hope to get my website up to be able to refer perspective clients. References also help. Marketing will always be time consumming, I guess.

Wishing you the best, Jay


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## Moai (Feb 9, 2009)

I'm not the right individual to say this (because I'm stuck in the same hole) but try to think "out the box", try to make something new, something innovative, a new idea, a new approach…......Don't end up doing the same chair many people is already doing…..
I love windsor type chairs, I really want to give it a try some day, but I am not going to do the same 19th century one…...this is 2009!!!

I'll give u and example…..take a look on this chairs…...are not them something new? a more contemporary interpretation but still loyal to a long and beautifull chairmaking tradition?


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## VerteramoFurniture7 (Jun 21, 2009)

So I was just searching about starting business and was wondering how its going with you?


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