5 ms·

Interesting timing. I'm quitting my development job at the end of the month and going back to school full-time to become a furniture maker. I have a lot of rea

Interesting timing. I'm quitting my development job at the end of the month and going back to school full-time to become a furniture maker. I have a lot of reasons for wanting to do this. The most straightforward ones are that I want to create something tangible and enduring with my time.

conorcleary 10y ago
Look into producing beehive equipment; even if you're not a beekeeper, there is a constant and large demand for high quality, low price woodenware. Fairly easy to set up jigs and it is easy to find blueprints. By the end you'll be a beekeeper anyway ;)
mrexroad 10y ago
I've always wanted to do the same. What type of schooling? Industrial design or something more materials / mechanical?
- mauvehaus 10y ago
  Traditional wooden furniture making. A large part of the appeal to me is that while power tools can make the work go faster, you can accomplish an immense amount using only a relatively small set of hand tools and time. For example, I built a pole lathe[0] (almost) entirely by hand in September. I bought 4x4 posts at Home Depot, milled them square with bench planes, chopped the mortises by hand, and cut the tenons with a hand saw. To make the dead centers, I chucked a big lag screw in my drill press and ground the head into a point with an angle grinder. Now I'm (slowly) trying to teach myself the basics of how to turn.
taway_1212 10y ago
> The most straightforward ones are that I want to create something tangible and enduring with my time. Maybe not tangible, but a lot of the backend code in financial organizations etc. is pretty enduring ;)
- blauditore 10y ago
  "Enduring" is quite a nice way to decribe "old and too risky to replace". ¬_¬
- pmiller2 10y ago
  I curse that fact most days, too. :/
pdovy 10y ago
Congrats, that sounds awesome! What are the economics of that business like? I love woodworking (as a hobbyist) but it seems like most people that manage to make a living at it are doing so through volume (e.g., cabinetmakers) vs. something like custom fine furniture commission work.
- mauvehaus 10y ago
  Thanks! This is going to sound absurdly short-sighted, but I haven't yet figured out exactly how I'm going to parlay my to-be acquired skills into income. I've talked to a number of people who are professional woodworkers, and they all make their living a little differently. One guy I've talked to does primarily architectural woodwork, but also does furniture commissions, a couple people do repair and restoration in addition to commissions. A guy not far from my sister-in-law's house does a lot of clock restoration (both cases and movements), as well as furniture work. Pete Galbert seems to make a living largely doing Windsor chairs on commission and teaching classes on making them (and he's an outstanding teacher). He also wrote a series of blog posts about doing woodworking professionally [0]. The school I'll be attending is the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts[1]. The owner, Phillip Lowe, does restoration and commission work as well as teaching classes, and I'm hoping to learn a little bit about how he goes about drumming up business in the course of my schooling there. In the short term, after finishing, I'm hoping to find either a cooperative shop or an established business to work in for a few years, eventually, I'd probably like to have my own shop doing largely commission work. In the very short term, my partner is going to continue working her full time job, and I hope that my current company will take me back over the summer. [0] http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-part-1.html http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-... http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-part-2.html http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-... http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-pt-3.html http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-... [1] http://furnituremakingclasses.com/ http://furnituremakingclasses.com/
  - pdovy 10y ago
    Thanks, definitely going to give those a read. Best of luck!
samstave 10y ago
What school are you going to for furniture making?
julsonl 10y ago
I'm doing the exact same thing! (quitting end of this month too). While I haven't decided to completely leave tech, I'm planning to do a couple of 3-month furniture intensive classes for my sabbatical this year. I'm also going to apply to the College of the Redwoods. It's kind of a moonshot though, given my limited woodworking experience, but I figured it's worth a try. What's the duration of your entire course?

conorcleary 10y ago

Look into producing beehive equipment; even if you're not a beekeeper, there is a constant and large demand for high quality, low price woodenware. Fairly easy to set up jigs and it is easy to find blueprints. By the end you'll be a beekeeper anyway ;)

mrexroad 10y ago

I've always wanted to do the same. What type of schooling? Industrial design or something more materials / mechanical?

mauvehaus 10y ago
Traditional wooden furniture making. A large part of the appeal to me is that while power tools can make the work go faster, you can accomplish an immense amount using only a relatively small set of hand tools and time. For example, I built a pole lathe[0] (almost) entirely by hand in September. I bought 4x4 posts at Home Depot, milled them square with bench planes, chopped the mortises by hand, and cut the tenons with a hand saw. To make the dead centers, I chucked a big lag screw in my drill press and ground the head into a point with an angle grinder. Now I'm (slowly) trying to teach myself the basics of how to turn.

taway_1212 10y ago

> The most straightforward ones are that I want to create something tangible and enduring with my time. Maybe not tangible, but a lot of the backend code in financial organizations etc. is pretty enduring ;)

blauditore 10y ago
"Enduring" is quite a nice way to decribe "old and too risky to replace". ¬_¬
pmiller2 10y ago
I curse that fact most days, too. :/

pdovy 10y ago

Congrats, that sounds awesome! What are the economics of that business like? I love woodworking (as a hobbyist) but it seems like most people that manage to make a living at it are doing so through volume (e.g., cabinetmakers) vs. something like custom fine furniture commission work.

mauvehaus 10y ago
Thanks! This is going to sound absurdly short-sighted, but I haven't yet figured out exactly how I'm going to parlay my to-be acquired skills into income. I've talked to a number of people who are professional woodworkers, and they all make their living a little differently. One guy I've talked to does primarily architectural woodwork, but also does furniture commissions, a couple people do repair and restoration in addition to commissions. A guy not far from my sister-in-law's house does a lot of clock restoration (both cases and movements), as well as furniture work. Pete Galbert seems to make a living largely doing Windsor chairs on commission and teaching classes on making them (and he's an outstanding teacher). He also wrote a series of blog posts about doing woodworking professionally [0]. The school I'll be attending is the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts[1]. The owner, Phillip Lowe, does restoration and commission work as well as teaching classes, and I'm hoping to learn a little bit about how he goes about drumming up business in the course of my schooling there. In the short term, after finishing, I'm hoping to find either a cooperative shop or an established business to work in for a few years, eventually, I'd probably like to have my own shop doing largely commission work. In the very short term, my partner is going to continue working her full time job, and I hope that my current company will take me back over the summer. [0] http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-part-1.html http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-... http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-part-2.html http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-... http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-pt-3.html http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/letter-to-woodworker-... [1] http://furnituremakingclasses.com/ http://furnituremakingclasses.com/
- pdovy 10y ago
  Thanks, definitely going to give those a read. Best of luck!

samstave 10y ago

What school are you going to for furniture making?

julsonl 10y ago

I'm doing the exact same thing! (quitting end of this month too). While I haven't decided to completely leave tech, I'm planning to do a couple of 3-month furniture intensive classes for my sabbatical this year. I'm also going to apply to the College of the Redwoods. It's kind of a moonshot though, given my limited woodworking experience, but I figured it's worth a try. What's the duration of your entire course?