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I’m interested to hear about your switch from software to woodworking. How did you get started? Do you make money by building pieces on commission? Are you glad

by cglace 7y ago

I’m interested to hear about your switch from software to woodworking. How did you get started? Do you make money by building pieces on commission? Are you glad you made the switch?

mauvehaus 7y ago
I got started taking a basic hand tools class and followed that with other evening and week-long classes. I'm actually not somebody who's been in the shop since they could walk; I'm pretty late to the trade. At the moment it's like that old joke: "What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend? ... Homeless." I do make some money on commission work, but not enough to cover my living expenses. What I do make I'm largely investing back into the business, which I just started. This is probably fewer tools than you might think; I pay for annual access to the bigger tools I don't have, and I have a pretty decent selection of the moderate-sized tools that I got for pretty short money (band saw, drill press, and table saw. All good tools, total: <500 USD). Mostly it's stuff like a camera and lights to shoot my work, a logo, and the other sorts of things that separate a hobby from a business. A better website [0] is on the list as well, but never having been a web developer, my partner and I are likely going to use squarespace or something similar. Am I glad I made the switch? Emphatically yes. I love the woodworking aspect. I'm happy to report that my partner is helping with the business-y things. Also: she's a way better photographer than I am. Any of the pictures on my existing website that look good are probably hers; the crappy ones are mine (and need to be re-shot around the time we get around to settling on a logo and commit to getting a real website up). TL;DR: I'm lucky to be married to the world's most supportive partner. [0] http://longwalkwoodworking.com http://longwalkwoodworking.com <- HTML like it's 1998, CSS lifted pretty much straight from the "68 bytes of CSS..." article posted here a while ago. There really do need to be pictures on the home page, a contact page, an about page, etc. Hosted on github pages, no Jekyll, etc. I threw something up so that I could put a URL on business cards and have it go to something.
- cglace 7y ago
  Really great looking stuff. How long did it take to get your dovetails perfected?
  - mauvehaus 7y ago
    Thanks! I'm still working on getting the dovetails perfected. Like a lot of things, they require practice. While I usually get them right, if I haven't cut any in a while, they often come out a little rough until I get my hands used to making the right motions again. Really perfecting them would mean getting them both accurate and fast. I definitely need to cut a few more to get to that stage, and do it regularly to keep it there.
- kiddico 7y ago
  Holy crap. This may seem weird, but I've been looking for boxes. I've got way too many small things that don't seem right in the open, but also don't have purpose built containers... If you're interested in making a few I'd love to buy a few veneered boxes ( in the pictures presumably taken by your wife ;P ) ...For real, I have a primal need for boxes that don't feel threatened by a stiff wind or a few ink wells stacked inside... email is in my profile if you're interested :)

by cglace 7y ago

I’m interested to hear about your switch from software to woodworking. How did you get started? Do you make money by building pieces on commission? Are you glad you made the switch?

mauvehaus 7y ago

I got started taking a basic hand tools class and followed that with other evening and week-long classes. I'm actually not somebody who's been in the shop since they could walk; I'm pretty late to the trade. At the moment it's like that old joke: "What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend? ... Homeless." I do make some money on commission work, but not enough to cover my living expenses. What I do make I'm largely investing back into the business, which I just started. This is probably fewer tools than you might think; I pay for annual access to the bigger tools I don't have, and I have a pretty decent selection of the moderate-sized tools that I got for pretty short money (band saw, drill press, and table saw. All good tools, total: <500 USD). Mostly it's stuff like a camera and lights to shoot my work, a logo, and the other sorts of things that separate a hobby from a business. A better website [0] is on the list as well, but never having been a web developer, my partner and I are likely going to use squarespace or something similar. Am I glad I made the switch? Emphatically yes. I love the woodworking aspect. I'm happy to report that my partner is helping with the business-y things. Also: she's a way better photographer than I am. Any of the pictures on my existing website that look good are probably hers; the crappy ones are mine (and need to be re-shot around the time we get around to settling on a logo and commit to getting a real website up). TL;DR: I'm lucky to be married to the world's most supportive partner. [0] http://longwalkwoodworking.com http://longwalkwoodworking.com <- HTML like it's 1998, CSS lifted pretty much straight from the "68 bytes of CSS..." article posted here a while ago. There really do need to be pictures on the home page, a contact page, an about page, etc. Hosted on github pages, no Jekyll, etc. I threw something up so that I could put a URL on business cards and have it go to something.

cglace 7y ago
Really great looking stuff. How long did it take to get your dovetails perfected?
- mauvehaus 7y ago
  Thanks! I'm still working on getting the dovetails perfected. Like a lot of things, they require practice. While I usually get them right, if I haven't cut any in a while, they often come out a little rough until I get my hands used to making the right motions again. Really perfecting them would mean getting them both accurate and fast. I definitely need to cut a few more to get to that stage, and do it regularly to keep it there.
kiddico 7y ago
Holy crap. This may seem weird, but I've been looking for boxes. I've got way too many small things that don't seem right in the open, but also don't have purpose built containers... If you're interested in making a few I'd love to buy a few veneered boxes ( in the pictures presumably taken by your wife ;P ) ...For real, I have a primal need for boxes that don't feel threatened by a stiff wind or a few ink wells stacked inside... email is in my profile if you're interested :)