Turtle Woodwork

I actually have one drawer-front left....

 

I agree with what you said. Also people like the work but want to pay very little

 

Absolutely. A toychest I built for my cousin's daughter out of free/mostly free pine, I was told by family I should make more for sale. I tell them, with lumber prices now, if I were to buy these boards from Big Orange or Big Blue, I'd be paying close to $100 for the material alone. No one is going to pay $100 for a toy chest, much less another $100+ for my labor.

 

Morning Mollie

 

This is true and difficult.

 

Morning John!

 

Morning Bill

 

Morning Crystal

 

My approach to selling projects might be a little unique. I've only used this technique on a few items but what I do is build a project that I want, then I'll stage it in the house and take a few photos. I'll post it on the marketplace for what I want to sell it for. My bottom line in the beginning was double the price of materials and add 10% when I was learning. Hell, we never stop learning. Then, I'd mark it up from that number another 20% for negotiation wiggle room. That way, I make furniture that I want to use but I'll sell it if someone likes it. Since I still have the plans, I'll remake it and tweak the design a bit to add new flair or features to it then do the same thing again, back on the marketplace. I include the price of all consumables when calculating cost; nails, blades, stain, sandpaper, whatever. If I make a custom project for a client, then the price is non-negotiable. If you are batching out multiple projects for a local fair then you might be able to be a little more lenient with your pricing but still, your time is worth something. Think of your hourly rate. Are you paying yourself 20$ an hour? 50$ an hour? Include that into your pricing. Bottom line is don't undercut yourself, you're valuable. Take that for what it's worth from a weekend woodworker. Hell, I'm about to start tackling my biggest project to date, L-shaped bunk bed with built in dresser for my kids out of walnut & poplar. Still deciding on what route I want to go with for epoxy to fill the knot holes in the walnut. I'm leaning total-boat tinted black but they have this newish product Thixo that's premixed in a caulk gun. Hidden cost comes from the need to buy multiple mixing tips. Not sure yet.

-J

 

That's solid advice and that's actually mostly what I have done. I started building stuff I wanted or needed myself and people kept commenting on it. When I made the first boards as Christmas gifts, I got requests for more. Since then I've been getting request for stuff and giving that priority.

The area where I live seems particularly frugal, so it's really hard going through the numbers. A county or two over and that's less the case, but this is where people know me. I'm a giver by nature so my tendency is always to undersell. It's a struggle.

You know I have dream furniture in mind that I would love to make some day, but I don't think I have the skills at this point.

 

I don't know anyone personally, just companies around here that do it. My brother-in-law helped us take down a tree in our backyard once and that seemed dangerous enough for me. I helped my dad take down some branches before. I think for something large you'd want to get a professional in there.

 

I hope you find who you are looking for.

 

If I was to hang up my hat tomorrow and quit my day job to become a "professional" woodworker on Monday, I'd use this approach:


Have a decent website put together with photographs, get a bunch of business cards created, you already have a branding iron. Find a niche that sets you apart. Start a youtube/rumble channel documenting your creation process. Thats how you get your foot in the door. I've heard of people reaching out to realtors and making cutting boards or charcuterie boards for house warming gifts but that might get you sucked into a single target market. If you're looking to do more than just that, home decorators might be a better avenue for custom furniture. It's a large ball to get moving but if Sisyphus can do it, so can you.

-J

 

I really appreciate your input. There's no lack of insight out there, but not everyone takes the time to share. I think I'm really fortunate to have some really good advice givers here.

 

@G8R_Taco guitar hanger time?

 

what furniture?

 

Like this:


Though now that I'm familiar with more types of wood, I probably want something other than pine.

 

Also, first tray is getting handles today.

 

Only the bed has special tools, for the tenons, the rest can be done with typical tools