alexsutula

Glad to see that you have made Lumberjocks a part of your Woodworking experience… Welcome

-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT

Welcome to the site. Glad you found us…enjoy

-- Gary, DeKalb Texas only 4 miles from the mill

Welcome to LumberJocks!

Welcome to LJs a place were there are great people super projects and outstanding woodworkers. Enjoy

Welcome to Lumberjocks!

-- masrol, kuala lumpur, MY.

WELCOME to LJ’s ….the best place to enhance your woodworking skills and knowledge.

Hello Alex,

Let me welcome you to LJs. I am sure that you will find being a member of this group to be an interesting, as well as exciting, experience. Have fun and enjoy.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Welcome to LJ’s. We are here to help you with your woodworking endeavors. Feel free to ask for advise. But Be aware…this site can be very addictive…………LOL

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

Welcome aboard. Nice to have you join us on Lumberjocks.

-- Wayne - Plymouth MN

Thank you for the kind welcome! I know what you mean.. it is addicting in a way.. i spent two night just looking at peoples projects and not working on my own haha. Forgot all about my assignment and got yelled at in class the next day lol.

Hi there,
I too am somewhat new to LumberJocks and would like to welcome you to the site. The folks here are great and the projects will absolutely blow your mind. There are some very talented people out there…
Sit back, enjoy the ride and be careful, this site is extremely addictive…
Welcome to LJ
Wisty

-- New Project = New Tool... it's just the way it is, don't fight it... :)

Welcome to LumberJocks. Glad to have you aboard. †

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Appomattox Virginia [email protected] †

Welcome to Lumberjocks. The projects are an inspiration, the information is priceless and the people are supportive. The only problem is, the site can get addictive.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

very nice work and clean…....!!

Good luck, Alex,

Those are darn fine goals if you ask me. Work your passion. Nothing else in your working life will make you as happy. As is evidenced by the LJ’s site, there are customers out there who cherish fine craftsmanship, they’re just hard to find. And they will almost always ask for a bargain. I have found that a few really great customers, (who many times become friends) will help you through the ‘thin’ parts. I have been given commissions when it was really slow with no real time limit, but a value that we could both live with. I doubt many of us will get rich. Mostly, if you’re lucky, you make enough to pay the electric bill and keep food on the table.

I once read an interview with James Krenov, (years and years ago, but he was already very well known in woodworking). In that article he states (paraphrase here, like I said, it’s been years) “If my wife didn’t work I couldn’t do this.” In the pictures was dressed in a flannel shirt, couple days beard, like a guy you’d run into down at the lumber store.

I have no idea what his personal wealth was, but I seriously doubt he got rich doing what I think was the best woodworking and cabinet building I ever saw. I think Sam Maloof did better marketing, tho.

For me the fortune is in the creative flow, the process, from idea to holding it in your hand. I don’t know about specialization or niche or categories; I pretty much make what the customer wants. Occasionally someone will give you the chance to make something with a slight element of originality, vision, or art that no one else is doing. You can see thousands here on LJ’s. You’ll probably lose money on that, but for me, those were the most enjoyable and memorable times.

If you’re fortunate, you will get thru 30, 40, or 50 years and the things you designed, created, and crafted will be a ‘body of work’.

Some advice, sign or brand everything you can. Some things can’t be. Many of the pieces you build will bring in other customers. Hold down your debt. That’s what eats you.

Don’t get discouraged, have fun, force yourself to take a vacation once in a while (we never made it to ‘annual vacation’).

Trust in your own vision, but don’t hesitate to give the customer what he wants. If you are diligent and persistent, you will build a reputation and a business.

-- vicrider