Some readers admit that they have the aspiration, but not the reality. I have made some but not enough to make a living … yet. As I enter retirement for a second time, I find myself wanting to create a small income stream using my shop. So, technically, I aspire to make a living from my shop. Some find that they have a greater enjoyment of the things they make when they are not doing so for pay.

My experience has been that I far more enjoy making what I want to make and then giving it away to someone who will appreciate it. When someone is paying me for a product, I tend to feel pressured to produce the product within a given timeframe, and I tend to over-work the project instead of doing a good job and leaving it at that. I really enjoy your emails.

No, I do not think I could make a living in my shop. I am a year insurance agent and have built up a substantial client base. I have the pleasure of building things like birdhouses, bird feeders, and tissue box covers — often to give away to friends and clients. So the answer is no. You would need to be good at marketing if you are going to make a living at something as much fun as woodworking.

I am a stay-at-home dad and disabled. I have built many things for others. I tend to do it for cost or slightly more than cost. Anything over cost is usually put into the gas tank for getting the materials or hardware and so on. With that being said, I never tried to sell myself to the folks that have enough money to pay for such. She declined that idea as she did not have a need for them. She did, however, need a place for storing paintings and other things to dry safely and out of the way.

So I took on the task. A month later, I delivered four multi-shelf rolling units that roll under a wall-mounted counter and out of the way for storage and drying purposes.

This was the first time I built something and had the materials donated, and I felt a sense of reward and accomplishment that I have never felt after any other build. I hope I have the chance to do it again in the future.

I enjoy the rewards of the craft for the satisfaction itself. Recently I have been asked by several friends and family to make items for them. The learning has been rewarding in itself. Some readers did have businesses, and they had insight into the difficulties of making a profit.

How to make a living building furniture - FineWoodworking

In either case, there is no guarantee you will even recoup the table fee. I spent much of September, October, early November building ahead on things. I considered the shows a success, money wise; I was happy to have a good-sized wad of bills in my pocket at the end of the day. But when I sat down later, and looked at the amount of time I spent in the shop to get that money — I was lucky if I was making 3 or 4 bucks an hour. Hard to pay for all that cast iron at that rate!

Not to mention saw blades and sandpaper. And I had a nice leg up, with a pretty good size pile of donated wood. I also have some health and family issues right now keeping me from the shop. But I have noticed, on the things I have done as gifts for family and friends, that my workmanship is much better when I am making a trinket box for a friend, vs.

Closely related to that, my enjoyment level is way up there when I am working to have a nice gift to hand a niece or nephew.

How much money can you really make doing woodworking? - WoodworkingWeb

I did notice my productivity was way better when I did not have to finish something i. The time spent finishing finer projects really eats into productivity. We bought a house that was approaching years old and very much showing its age.

Highly Detailed Woodworking Projects & E-Books — Mikes Woodworking Projects

As I honed my woodworking chops as a homeowner, I thought to bring in some cash by doing things for others. Repairing furniture was where I started.

Besides that, quite a lot of water has gone over the dam since then and my age is starting to show, too. I have, however, gained some insights to the idea of going in business as a woodworker. Starting out, there will be expenses. So, capital must be there to cover the costs until the business can pay them. Utilities including telephone, Internet yes you should have internet , heating and cooling, plus food, clothing, housing, advertising, materials, expendables, finishes, fasteners, some kind of accounting software, licenses including sales taxes, permits and what have you.

Not considering these many things is a major reason many fail to make a living at whatever business they want to operate.

I would strongly recommend YouTube as a way to promote oneself. Even the most skilled and talented have a long period in which they grow the business. If one has a smart, ambitious and encouraging mate, the chances are better. I have a nice sized piece of painted surface fiber core board that was scrap from a messed up project, and I take some automotive spray adhesive and spray on the back of a sheet of automotive wet or dry grit and glue it to the fiber board.

Then that big sanding block is clamped to the table saw table, and I then use the chalk method for making sure the box will sit flat. Of course, finer grit can be used to remove sanding marks as needed. Clearly, we hold the record on typos. Once again, our own typo makes the cut. When Rob asked you to describe your lottery-fueled dream shop, many of you stepped up to the plate with some surprising configurations.

Here are just a few. Some days never and some days an hour or two. I have a few thousand dollars tied up in tools and wood and keep buying more even though some of them have never been used. When I do decide to build something it is basically for family and friends or even something to use in my shop or the house.

I had a few years ago give serious thought to selling some of my crafts but as my health issues got in the way I gave up on that idea. I have been seriously considering selling off many of my unused tools, guitar parts and some of my wood but I hate to part with any of it even though something has got to give, and soon.

I spend hours per day on this business. Rewarding, yes… Full time income, never… But extra cash in the pocket is a good deal at my age and the enjoyment that my purchasers have expressed is well worth it! Woodworking Blog Videos Plans How To. Subscribe to Woodworker's Journal Now! Dreams, Yawls, Old Saws and Wood. Dark Thoughts and Bright Ideas. Holes, Rockwell, Batteries, Victorians and Rust.