10 ms·

Do you mind sharing what skills your dad has? Maybe you could help him teach those skills to other people who would be willing to pay for them? Platforms like U

by revorad 14y ago

Do you mind sharing what skills your dad has? Maybe you could help him teach those skills to other people who would be willing to pay for them? Platforms like Udemy, Skillshare and training courses like patio11's deliver a lot of value for some people. Even if your dad's skills are in a specific dying industry, he probably has some transferable skills which others want to learn.

jere 14y ago
For lack of a better term, he's a woodworker. He spent decades building really snazzy museum exhibits and booths for trade shows. He's usually identified as the most skilled person in whichever shop he goes to, but there doesn't seem to be a very high ceiling (again, I make below the US average for developers and he makes less than half that) Here's an example: http://www.designdimension.com/projects/cranium-connection-head-structure http://www.designdimension.com/projects/cranium-connection-h... Is that something somebody would pay to learn? I don't know. Maybe.
- revorad 14y ago
  Wow, that's beautiful work. I would be very very surprised if there's no one who would pay good money to learn that.
- WalterBright 14y ago
  Wouldn't such skill be transferrable to working with sheet metal? I bet the business of restoring and creating custom hot rods should pay well.
- revorad 14y ago
  Just had another thought: 3D printing is a hot growing field of work. Can your dad not learn to apply his skills there?
  - jere 14y ago
    Wow, somehow I never thought of that. Maybe I need to save up for a makerbot.
  - alanctgardner2 14y ago
    How exactly is 3d printing an industry, though? You either do CAD, or you make the printers. Neither really requires any woodworking skill. I do think you should make him a portfolio, though. If he's in the top 1% and willing to travel, he can avoid being a commodity and start doing one-offs for more affluent clients. Those people are few, and they likely aren't where he is, so communication is key.
    - revorad 14y ago
      3d printing is a new industry and I think it's a reasonable bet that it will become a big one.[1] If his dad knows to carve beautiful things out of blocks of wood, he can probably pick up CAD software quite easily. [1] http://www.judegomila.com/2012/12/manufacturing-renaissance-with-3d.html http://www.judegomila.com/2012/12/manufacturing-renaissance-...
      - mmagin 14y ago
        A random thought: I work as a software engineer. Also, I can think about 3-dimensional structures and sketch them on paper sufficiently to record the idea for later thought or sharing. But, darn, all CAD software seems incredibly tedious to me -- even that which people say is "easy" to learn. It kind of reminds me a lot of every time I try to use IDEs for developing software (I'm the sort of person who likes a good text editor and the unix shell for software development.) I'm wondering if this represents a valuable insight into what is lacking in existing CAD software, or if it's an just a necessary learning curve I haven't climbed that's inherent to the problem space.
        unimpressive 14y ago
        Full disclosure: I have almost zero experience in this area. I'm under the impression that CAD users learn the scripting language that goes with the software to automate a lot of the tedium. They're also the people who buy those crazy mice with the eight macro buttons and extension ports.
        alanctgardner2 14y ago
- zdw 14y ago
  Being a very skilled woodworker in an Ikea-centric world is difficult. You're making incredible stuff that will likely last forever, but fundamentally performs the same tasks as something that costs 1/10 as much. While you can find people who are willing to pay 10x Ikea for your wares, they're few and far between, and aren't likely to be repeat customers if the products are sturdy enough. I feel for your dad. Unfortunately, skilled artisan labor in the face of mass produced items that work similarly and undercut cost greatly is not the greatest place to be.
  - blablabla123 14y ago
    >You're making incredible stuff that will likely last forever, but fundamentally performs the same tasks as something that costs 1/10 as much. Yes, fundamentally for the first one year. Maybe I am the only one who gets weird feelings when furniture starts to degenerate each time it is in use. Ikea is cheap and good looking, at least for a short amount of time. If you don't like that, you can buy luxury furniture - or buy the high-priced Ikea stuff that somehow has reasonable prices. I think hand made stuff is in high demand, as long as it is affordable. AFAIK it's not... for me. :)
  - revorad 14y ago
    I think there's a positive way of looking at the same situation. There's no doubt that cheaper mass produced goods will replace more expensive manually produced ones. But as techies, we often overestimate the speed at which this change actually happens in the world. I bet there are thousands of people who really value high quality handmade wooden goods. The internet and mobile tech now makes it easier than ever before to find these people. So, there's probably enough money to be made in selling to these people. There'll also be less competition.
    - blablabla123 14y ago
      >There's no doubt that cheaper mass produced goods will replace more expensive manually produced ones. But as techies, we often overestimate the speed at which this change actually happens in the world. If your furniture is not older than 20 years, I doubt that you have manually produced furniture. Ikea was the pioneer and the rest somehow followed. Probably almost nothing that you own is hand-made.
- qznc 14y ago
  Maybe your dad should start a blog? The technical background story behind your link is at least interesting to the HN crowd and Do It Yourself is popular as well. There are probably highly paid jobs for doing unique things with wood, but the problem is finding and getting them. The general way is networking. Having a blog would help with getting known. Maybe an online blog is not the right thing in his world, which is probably "lower-tech". Maybe an email newsletter?
  - GFischer 14y ago
    A website can be huge. My uncle idolizes Mathias Wandel, who makes amazing stuff with wood: http://woodgears.ca/ http://woodgears.ca/ He's huge with the DIY and home projects crowd :)
- niggler 14y ago
  Is there a portfolio of his work? It might be possible to get into the high-end market (bespoke furniture)
  - jere 14y ago
    Not to my knowledge; that's why I suggested creating one. That might be a good idea, but I honestly don't know how feasible it is. I did once know a guy who made conference tables and he seemed to be doing fairly well.
- blablabla123 14y ago
  AFAIK restauration works are well paid and in demand. A friend of mine does this... And I once saw a documentary about some folks restaurating homes from the early 20th century or even 19th. They basically turned sh*t into luxury homes.
- abcd_f 14y ago
  I saw the exact same situation before. We were looking to make few custom pieces for our apartment and found a guy, in his early 50s, who did an incredible job. I also chatted with him and he too was complaining that the client stream is dwindling. His (and probably your dad's) problem is that he was still grasping at straws and willing to have the old world order back. He was longing to build custom kitchens that serve more to demonstrate his woodworking skills rather than to appeal to modern taste. He was also (erroneously) considering middle class to be his ideal clientele. The solution is right there on the surface. You can't compete with IKEA, so don't. You've got unique skill and it can be applied to make unique pieces. For those who do not shop at IKEA and find the quality of "affordable Swedish crap" simply appalling. For people who don't really mind paying 2-5-10x the IKEA prices to get exactly what they want and in quality they want. It's the top of the market, but that's exactly where the demand for high-quality custom work is prevalent. Also, the focus should really be not on the intricacy of the work, but on quality. The reason being is that the taste of carpenter is not likely to be aligned with the taste of someone needing a piece for his minimalist penthouse loft. The fancier the design, the more it detracts for the quality angle. So if you are to build your dad a portfolio site, make sure to feature either simple, but casual things or something that is clearly there to demonstrate the skill and not the design. ... it may sound like I ramble, which I am, but it was painful to talk to our carpenter and see how helpless and lost he essentially was in modern reality. You are in a position to help your dad, if not with anything else but your understanding how the Internet works and how it can be used for self-promotion. Do it, dude. Stop day-dreaming and build him a simple tasteful site (e.g. square space). Go from there.
  - lifeisstillgood 14y ago
    Completely agree. Think less craft and more art - a unique piece for each client at a unique price. And may I say the 5-10x increase in prices is too low - ikea will sell me a compete kitchen for 2000 ukp. If you sell a hand made kitchen for less than 50,000 ukp you are in the wrong place. (Incl labour and the cut to the architect)
- dbla 14y ago
  Does your dad do work on commission? I'm working on a website to help artists who do large scale commission artwork get more work. We do screen artists who apply for quality, but if you'd like I'd be happy to show the woman who does the screening this example to see if he would be a fit. Shoot me an email if you want to chat more. Email is in the about section of my profile.
- orangethirty 14y ago
  He needs to match his skills with a better market. I know of pretty shitty woodworkers who make bank by selling to people with money to burn. Someone with real skills would not have issues pulling 100K a year. But maybe your dad is the type of person who just loves his craft and wont bother with the business side of it. Its quite common. People like this just treat their work as a a hobby and have issues with selling it because its not work.
  - jere 14y ago
    >just loves his craft and wont bother with the business side of it. Its quite common. Yes. I've suggested the possibility of a business before and I think he believe it's too risky or not lucrative enough. In fact, I've ran into this mindset very often with my family. For instance, I've been trying to convince my wife to sell things online for quite a while. She's convinced now, but for a long time she thought it was total pipe dream.
    - ivv 14y ago
      I would build a portfolio site or a print catalog via something like Blurb and send it around Hollywood prop shops (addresses can be found online).
    - orangethirty 14y ago
      Note that very few people (percentage of total population) are interested in a business. When people are reluctant, it may be that they simply do not take to the idea. My wife does not like businesses at all. She is married to a marketing consultant/software engineer. :)
- contingencies 14y ago
  My dad has a friend who is an exceptional woodworker as well. Although for variety he has applied himself to property renovation (long term, personal, high quality joinery projects), his bread and butter is making and repairing bows for stringed instruments. These are about 2500USD a piece at a starting price; see http://www.ozbow.com/ http://www.ozbow.com/
- supertrill 14y ago
  do you know of the online shop called herriott grace? http://www.herriottgrace.com/ http://www.herriottgrace.com/ and http://shop.herriottgrace.com/ http://shop.herriottgrace.com/ HG is product based and what you describe sounds more about creating exhibits and environments. However, there might be similar intentions toward craftsmanship and construction. It does take time and work to set up a shop like HG (site is on Big Cartel), but with the right amount of SEO / Social referrals it is possible to find an audience that cares. Good luck!
- thenomad 14y ago
  May I just say - the comments following this post are one of the finest examples of why the HN community is awesome I've ever seen. The ingenuity, lateral thinking, and sincere desire to help someone you guys have never even met on display today are just mindblowing.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
YawaWorth 14y ago
>Even if your dad's skills are in a specific dying industry, he probably has some transferable skills which others want to learn. My dad is in a similar predicament being, well, a shady dealer in a troubled part of the world. Unfortunately for both him and myself, he doesn't want to leave his "industry" despite the diminishing returns and the risk or prison (he has never been in prison). Even if he wanted to his industry probably wouldn't let him leave. Posing this from a throwaway account for obvious reasons.

by revorad 14y ago

jere 14y ago

For lack of a better term, he's a woodworker. He spent decades building really snazzy museum exhibits and booths for trade shows. He's usually identified as the most skilled person in whichever shop he goes to, but there doesn't seem to be a very high ceiling (again, I make below the US average for developers and he makes less than half that) Here's an example: http://www.designdimension.com/projects/cranium-connection-head-structure http://www.designdimension.com/projects/cranium-connection-h... Is that something somebody would pay to learn? I don't know. Maybe.

revorad 14y ago
Wow, that's beautiful work. I would be very very surprised if there's no one who would pay good money to learn that.
WalterBright 14y ago
Wouldn't such skill be transferrable to working with sheet metal? I bet the business of restoring and creating custom hot rods should pay well.
revorad 14y ago
Just had another thought: 3D printing is a hot growing field of work. Can your dad not learn to apply his skills there?
- jere 14y ago
  Wow, somehow I never thought of that. Maybe I need to save up for a makerbot.
- alanctgardner2 14y ago
  How exactly is 3d printing an industry, though? You either do CAD, or you make the printers. Neither really requires any woodworking skill. I do think you should make him a portfolio, though. If he's in the top 1% and willing to travel, he can avoid being a commodity and start doing one-offs for more affluent clients. Those people are few, and they likely aren't where he is, so communication is key.
  - revorad 14y ago
    3d printing is a new industry and I think it's a reasonable bet that it will become a big one.[1] If his dad knows to carve beautiful things out of blocks of wood, he can probably pick up CAD software quite easily. [1] http://www.judegomila.com/2012/12/manufacturing-renaissance-with-3d.html http://www.judegomila.com/2012/12/manufacturing-renaissance-...
    - mmagin 14y ago
      A random thought: I work as a software engineer. Also, I can think about 3-dimensional structures and sketch them on paper sufficiently to record the idea for later thought or sharing. But, darn, all CAD software seems incredibly tedious to me -- even that which people say is "easy" to learn. It kind of reminds me a lot of every time I try to use IDEs for developing software (I'm the sort of person who likes a good text editor and the unix shell for software development.) I'm wondering if this represents a valuable insight into what is lacking in existing CAD software, or if it's an just a necessary learning curve I haven't climbed that's inherent to the problem space.
      - unimpressive 14y ago
        Full disclosure: I have almost zero experience in this area. I'm under the impression that CAD users learn the scripting language that goes with the software to automate a lot of the tedium. They're also the people who buy those crazy mice with the eight macro buttons and extension ports.
      - alanctgardner2 14y ago
zdw 14y ago
Being a very skilled woodworker in an Ikea-centric world is difficult. You're making incredible stuff that will likely last forever, but fundamentally performs the same tasks as something that costs 1/10 as much. While you can find people who are willing to pay 10x Ikea for your wares, they're few and far between, and aren't likely to be repeat customers if the products are sturdy enough. I feel for your dad. Unfortunately, skilled artisan labor in the face of mass produced items that work similarly and undercut cost greatly is not the greatest place to be.
- blablabla123 14y ago
  >You're making incredible stuff that will likely last forever, but fundamentally performs the same tasks as something that costs 1/10 as much. Yes, fundamentally for the first one year. Maybe I am the only one who gets weird feelings when furniture starts to degenerate each time it is in use. Ikea is cheap and good looking, at least for a short amount of time. If you don't like that, you can buy luxury furniture - or buy the high-priced Ikea stuff that somehow has reasonable prices. I think hand made stuff is in high demand, as long as it is affordable. AFAIK it's not... for me. :)
- revorad 14y ago
  I think there's a positive way of looking at the same situation. There's no doubt that cheaper mass produced goods will replace more expensive manually produced ones. But as techies, we often overestimate the speed at which this change actually happens in the world. I bet there are thousands of people who really value high quality handmade wooden goods. The internet and mobile tech now makes it easier than ever before to find these people. So, there's probably enough money to be made in selling to these people. There'll also be less competition.
  - blablabla123 14y ago
    >There's no doubt that cheaper mass produced goods will replace more expensive manually produced ones. But as techies, we often overestimate the speed at which this change actually happens in the world. If your furniture is not older than 20 years, I doubt that you have manually produced furniture. Ikea was the pioneer and the rest somehow followed. Probably almost nothing that you own is hand-made.
qznc 14y ago
Maybe your dad should start a blog? The technical background story behind your link is at least interesting to the HN crowd and Do It Yourself is popular as well. There are probably highly paid jobs for doing unique things with wood, but the problem is finding and getting them. The general way is networking. Having a blog would help with getting known. Maybe an online blog is not the right thing in his world, which is probably "lower-tech". Maybe an email newsletter?
- GFischer 14y ago
  A website can be huge. My uncle idolizes Mathias Wandel, who makes amazing stuff with wood: http://woodgears.ca/ http://woodgears.ca/ He's huge with the DIY and home projects crowd :)
niggler 14y ago
Is there a portfolio of his work? It might be possible to get into the high-end market (bespoke furniture)
- jere 14y ago
  Not to my knowledge; that's why I suggested creating one. That might be a good idea, but I honestly don't know how feasible it is. I did once know a guy who made conference tables and he seemed to be doing fairly well.
blablabla123 14y ago
AFAIK restauration works are well paid and in demand. A friend of mine does this... And I once saw a documentary about some folks restaurating homes from the early 20th century or even 19th. They basically turned sh*t into luxury homes.
abcd_f 14y ago
I saw the exact same situation before. We were looking to make few custom pieces for our apartment and found a guy, in his early 50s, who did an incredible job. I also chatted with him and he too was complaining that the client stream is dwindling. His (and probably your dad's) problem is that he was still grasping at straws and willing to have the old world order back. He was longing to build custom kitchens that serve more to demonstrate his woodworking skills rather than to appeal to modern taste. He was also (erroneously) considering middle class to be his ideal clientele. The solution is right there on the surface. You can't compete with IKEA, so don't. You've got unique skill and it can be applied to make unique pieces. For those who do not shop at IKEA and find the quality of "affordable Swedish crap" simply appalling. For people who don't really mind paying 2-5-10x the IKEA prices to get exactly what they want and in quality they want. It's the top of the market, but that's exactly where the demand for high-quality custom work is prevalent. Also, the focus should really be not on the intricacy of the work, but on quality. The reason being is that the taste of carpenter is not likely to be aligned with the taste of someone needing a piece for his minimalist penthouse loft. The fancier the design, the more it detracts for the quality angle. So if you are to build your dad a portfolio site, make sure to feature either simple, but casual things or something that is clearly there to demonstrate the skill and not the design. ... it may sound like I ramble, which I am, but it was painful to talk to our carpenter and see how helpless and lost he essentially was in modern reality. You are in a position to help your dad, if not with anything else but your understanding how the Internet works and how it can be used for self-promotion. Do it, dude. Stop day-dreaming and build him a simple tasteful site (e.g. square space). Go from there.
- lifeisstillgood 14y ago
  Completely agree. Think less craft and more art - a unique piece for each client at a unique price. And may I say the 5-10x increase in prices is too low - ikea will sell me a compete kitchen for 2000 ukp. If you sell a hand made kitchen for less than 50,000 ukp you are in the wrong place. (Incl labour and the cut to the architect)
dbla 14y ago
Does your dad do work on commission? I'm working on a website to help artists who do large scale commission artwork get more work. We do screen artists who apply for quality, but if you'd like I'd be happy to show the woman who does the screening this example to see if he would be a fit. Shoot me an email if you want to chat more. Email is in the about section of my profile.
orangethirty 14y ago
He needs to match his skills with a better market. I know of pretty shitty woodworkers who make bank by selling to people with money to burn. Someone with real skills would not have issues pulling 100K a year. But maybe your dad is the type of person who just loves his craft and wont bother with the business side of it. Its quite common. People like this just treat their work as a a hobby and have issues with selling it because its not work.
- jere 14y ago
  >just loves his craft and wont bother with the business side of it. Its quite common. Yes. I've suggested the possibility of a business before and I think he believe it's too risky or not lucrative enough. In fact, I've ran into this mindset very often with my family. For instance, I've been trying to convince my wife to sell things online for quite a while. She's convinced now, but for a long time she thought it was total pipe dream.
  - ivv 14y ago
    I would build a portfolio site or a print catalog via something like Blurb and send it around Hollywood prop shops (addresses can be found online).
  - orangethirty 14y ago
    Note that very few people (percentage of total population) are interested in a business. When people are reluctant, it may be that they simply do not take to the idea. My wife does not like businesses at all. She is married to a marketing consultant/software engineer. :)
contingencies 14y ago
My dad has a friend who is an exceptional woodworker as well. Although for variety he has applied himself to property renovation (long term, personal, high quality joinery projects), his bread and butter is making and repairing bows for stringed instruments. These are about 2500USD a piece at a starting price; see http://www.ozbow.com/ http://www.ozbow.com/
supertrill 14y ago
do you know of the online shop called herriott grace? http://www.herriottgrace.com/ http://www.herriottgrace.com/ and http://shop.herriottgrace.com/ http://shop.herriottgrace.com/ HG is product based and what you describe sounds more about creating exhibits and environments. However, there might be similar intentions toward craftsmanship and construction. It does take time and work to set up a shop like HG (site is on Big Cartel), but with the right amount of SEO / Social referrals it is possible to find an audience that cares. Good luck!
thenomad 14y ago
May I just say - the comments following this post are one of the finest examples of why the HN community is awesome I've ever seen. The ingenuity, lateral thinking, and sincere desire to help someone you guys have never even met on display today are just mindblowing.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

YawaWorth 14y ago

>Even if your dad's skills are in a specific dying industry, he probably has some transferable skills which others want to learn. My dad is in a similar predicament being, well, a shady dealer in a troubled part of the world. Unfortunately for both him and myself, he doesn't want to leave his "industry" despite the diminishing returns and the risk or prison (he has never been in prison). Even if he wanted to his industry probably wouldn't let him leave. Posing this from a throwaway account for obvious reasons.