Any advice for an aspiring woodworker?
A little. But mostly its general advice.
An email I got from a younger guy some months back:
“…I'm trying to get into the woodworking scene. I have some experience with woodworking and carpentry but not a lot. I'm mostly interested in furniture making/design. I've been looking through your book and website lately and I'm really just a big fan of your work. I'd love to buy you a coffee if you're free to chat about woodworking and how you got where you are. Let me know!”
I told him that I’m not exactly making a living as a woodworker and my journey has been fairly atypical, but he was still interested in any advice or experience.
“I've been meeting with some design/wood people to hear about the unconventional paths they took to get where they are, maybe learn about some things I hadn't thought of.”
Fair enough.
So I sent this off to him, and figured I’d share it here, as it’s broadly useful:
I'm a big proponent of workshops. You can learn some skills, meet like-minded people, and surmount some hurdles of discomfort. It doesn't have to be exactly the thing you're hoping to work on—I met a guy at a timber framing workshop who managed rope work and tree construction and I ended up doing some of that work with him. It's a good place to make connections. So, if you can swing paying for it, look locally at places that do classes for pros (like chainsaw or timber work), or for amateurs (such as a chair making class.)
If you're a quick learner, a hard worker, and would be an asset to a project, I'd reach out to builders/makers you admire and offer to help them in some way. Let them know what you can do for them. Paid or not, the real payment is the skills you're stealing and the network you're building. My buddy Charlie Hoehn wrote a lot about "free work." He's got some good pointers.
While I'm a big proponent of free work (you're getting paid in experience and wisdom... it's not free), get comfortable as quickly as possible with selling yourself and pricing your time fairly. It's hard for most. It was (and is) hard for me. Most people who work with their hands undervalue their time and skill. Raise your prices!
Learn by doing. Whether it's in your own backyard, at a paid maker space, on a paid or unpaid jobsite, whatever... just do work. It's easy to get bogged down under the daunting totality of the big picture. Better to just put one foot in front of the other and be willing to make some mistakes. Own them. Learn from them. Do better next time. There's no replacement for time in the saddle. It'll amass skills and efficiencies.
Earn where you can and reduce your overheard as much as possible. Maybe you've heard the saying that "abs are made in the kitchen." Which is to say, it's not about lifting more in the gym… it's about not eating lousy food.
Same goes for saving money. Sure, making more money is great, but for many people income isn't the reason they're not saving...it's their lifestyle. Lifestyle creep grows with your paycheck.
You want to not be desperate and to have options. To be able to travel across the country for a job that will earn you some valuable skills and connections. You need to be able to quit a shit job to take some time to gamble on yourself. Or to pay for the aforementioned workshops.
All these things require financial security and wiggle room. The less obligations you have early on and the more money you have in the bank, the more you can have some fun with your burgeoning career, take some chances, and pursue opportunities as they are presented.
All my previous points are about making space for opportunities to arise and it would be a shame if you couldn't say yes.
On the topic of money: Consider your expenses through the lens of your business and start being diligent about deducting your tools and all the other associated stuff now. Money invested at a younger age is worth a lot more than money earned later. So figuring out how to shave a few grand off your taxes now will pay dividends down the road. Paying out of pocket to get good advice from a tax/accounting professional now to set you on the right track will help you from kicking yourself years from now.
I've seen a lot of semi-accidental success by being public in my work. Sharing projects and creating videos, that sort of thing. I haven't been a YouTube personality by any stretch, but I have had opportunity come my way because people knew I existed. If you can stomach some of that, it can help. Sure, you can build a word of mouth reputation in obscurity. But you also don't have to.
You can never go wrong building community. It's an investment in your network and mental health. It'll find you opportunity and employment. It'll sustain you. It can give you some purpose and help you hone in on what your value and utility is within that community.
On mental health and just generally working on yourself... No one wants to work with, nor recommend, an asshole. Good energy, vibes, whatever, go a long way. Being nice, going above and beyond expectations, being reliable, are all skills that are frankly more important than how well you can cut wood. Learn how to communicate effectively. Underpromise and overdeliver. People/clients value all those qualities immensely.
Steal as much institutional knowledge as you can from those you work with. Take note of vendors and local suppliers of doors and windows and wood bits of hardware and all that. Finding the shop that sells a specific type of fastener or glue or dowel or whatever can be hard won. It's not always an easy Google. Ask questions, siphon that info, and write it down.
Fake it until you make it. To some degree anyway. And you have to thread the needle because you don't want to come off as a scam artist, or to over promise and underdeliver. But if you run a handyman ad on Craigslist that says "I'm new to building and have built a couple decks" no one will hire you. Run one that says "Skilled carpenter ready to build your deck, remodel your house, or repair a roof." Then just say yes to the deck jobs that feel like they're within your wheelhouse. Don't overstep, but also don't knock yourself out of the race. You can fake it a little.
I think the best general advice at this early stage is to do what you can to build a portfolio, reputation, and skills. Right now you've got time, enthusiasm, a lack of commitments and overhead, and energy... AKA Youth. Leverage that. Reach out to anyone who is doing the type of work you admire and see if you can't work with them. Just make sure you have a clear reason you can communicate to them as to why they'll benefit from bringing you on. Ultimately that’s what most people and companies are interested in, so you have to appeal to those incentives.
That's all I've got for now. Holler if you've got questions.
-Jeff