Making the Case!

For years I’ve had this dream that I wanted to build a woodworking business. The dream is that I would build high quality peices of furniture. Furniture that would be passed down from generation to generation. I fantasize about all the trappings of what that business would be – a logo on my truck, a delivery trailer, a fully decked out shop and 8 hours a day cutting wood, listening to music, and sipping tea while I built fine furniture. Evenings and weekends with my family and friends enjoying the finer things in life.

Over the years I have worked hard to make that dream come true. I have studied woodworking at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking. I watched videos, read books and studied websites on fine furniture. I’ve even built quite a few nice peices of furniture and a whole lot of utility furniture. I have talked with many people in the woodworking field and I have found mixed reaction to the question of can you actually earn a living as a woodworker making fine furniture? The answer is clearly yes, as there are a number of people doing it. However, I would concider a majority of those who are successful at making furniture to be masters in their field and have almost cornered the market. There are also hundreds of, lets call them, utility woodworkers who build cabinets for a living and do a few built-ins and other peices as the need arises. Their main source of income is cabinet making, not furniture making. In addition, there are those who make a living building a few fine peices a year, but doing more teaching, and writing about how to make furniture. These people are still some of the finest craftsmen in the world, but choose to teach rather then build for many reasons.

I have found, particularily in this last group, that woodworkers often grow tired of the customers. People who argue about the cost of craftsmenship, have no taste or understanding of why a peice is built the way it is. Time and time again I have heard woodworkers say that they would rather build their own peices than to design custom peices for customers. Others have told me that the time and attention to detail put in to a peice can never be compensated for in what a customer would concider a fair price.

I do realize there are exeptional people who are earning a very nice living from woodworking. These people have built great clientel who get what they do and are happy to pay for it. They have figure out a way to perfect their craft and their market to make it work. Many have worked for many years, even generations, to build a reputation that demands a high price.

So, why is this my dream? It seems as though the idea of earning a living doing woodworking and the reality of it are far different. The reality is long days for little money working for people who do not understand what you do. Until you develop a market that understands what you do and are willing to pay for it. In the mean time, how many compromises do you make to keep money comming in to pay the bills.

Don’t get me wrong, I am sure the dream can come true. It would take a lot of work and sacrifice and maybe not something that a middle-aged man with a young family should do at this stage in his life. And after thinking about this, could it be that I really don’t want a buisness as a woodworker? Maybe what I really want is to have the time and ability(money) to build fine furniture that will last well beyond my lifetime. Build what I enjoy and what my family, friends, and neighbors would long to own. Much like a peice of art or a fine wine.

Maybe the outcome of the dream is the same, but with a different approach? For instance the dream is to still make fine furniture, just not make a business out of it. The dream is to still work in the shop, listen to music and sip tea, just not depend on making a living from it. The dream is to still have people wanting the peices that I make, just not justifying my existance on the price.

With the new approach comes a new mindset. No longer do I have to figure out how to make things more effiecently and more cost effectively. Now I can focus on quality. Using the best materials, the right joinery, and the correct finishes, no matter how long it takes or how much it costs.

To make this dream a reality I will need to figure out a way to support this habit. Where do I get the time and how do I pay for it? Fortunately, I have a great job that affords me some flexibility and enough pay to support my family and at least a little bit of my hobby. I also already have a well stocked shop with many of the tools needed to build most anything that I want. What I need now is the commitment to find the time and patiance to make it happen.