I guess I know enough to say that ahead of time. Here’s the scoop.
Years ago I was pretty into making furniture. Life occured, and remodeling and trimwork is more the path I’ve followed for the last 7 years or so. And I like that. But the strings pull oh so mightily to return a little more to that aspect, and it manifests itself very regularly with the making of built ins and the occasional one-off piece. I’m good at it, not stellar, just good, but I enjoy it, and thus far people ask for more than I’m willing to take on.
My real hangup thus far has been space. And theres the potential we’ll be moving, and the building there is only 1200sf but it’d be a cramped start.
In short, not a complete business change, but a different facet, to be sure. If I think I really want to set up a shop, and YOU happen to be someone who already does that, what kind of stuff are you going to say to me. Its almost moot to say I have all the tools on the planet because they’re all on site installation remodeling stuff. Sure, I have a tablesaw, bandsaw, jointer, etc but they’re all lower end stuff, not the industrial wares I’d be looking at. Just as example, the planer is just a benctop 12″. The jointer is just a 6. When I think shop, I’m thinking a panel saw and a PM66 or similar, 12″ jointer and wide belt sander and line borers and shapers and . . . and hand tools for cryin out loud.
Anyway. Theres the pitch.
Real trucks dont have sparkplugs
Replies
Oh, sounds more like a gloat at 1200 square to me. My latest shop experienced a 50% increase in size a few months back. It's now 12' x 18'. There are 3 of us working in it.
Take care, Mike
No, and I'm actually a little apologetic if anyone took it that way at all. In my head 1200 is barely feasable, 2500 is a bare minimum to actually fit in there everything that I think needs fitting. (Ergo, I'm open to other ideas)
I have a friend with an 8000 sf shop, 4 guys, and theres never enough room for any of them to quit running into each other. That plays into it some I guess. Then again, he's probably doing more volume than I have any intentions towards.Real trucks dont have sparkplugs
RW,
I would say before you go out and completely re-equip a shop to go into business for yourself building furniture (sounds like that's the direction you are heading) take a deep breath.
Depending on your tablesaw, you may want to upgrade that, and skip the panel saw for the time being. I have been building cabinets (not fine furniture, but I do that too) for a couple of years. I have a Jet 6" jointer. I just ( it came in 4 or 5 days ago) bought a Grizzly 20" planer to replace a 12" dewalt 733. My point is, you can get by with that planer and jointer for a while - likely quite some time. Give it a go for a while and replace one piece of equipment at a time, down the road. I have seen someone go hog wild and buy all new equipment only to find out they can't make a living at it, or don't like it - and then they sell everything for 2/3 to 1/2 of what they paid for it a few months down the road.
And Mike is right, 1200 sq ft is more room than you are giving credit for. My shop is 1200 sq ft (30 X 40) and I am set up in half of that (20 X 30) with a few machines on wheels. I keep 1/4 of the shop space open so I have a place to put cabinets (sometimes 30-40 of them) as they are being completed and waiting for finishing, and 1/4 of the space has my wife's ceramic equipment.
Good luck,
Lee
RW,
Space shouldn't be a problem. I told my wife that we never use our living room, so why shouldn't I just convert it into and extension of my workshop. She has not yet agreed, but I am hopeful. Maybe you should try that with your significant other.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
1200 is a good sized shop to start. Keeping the over head low is everything. I have a complete industrial shop (no wide belt sander) with a 16'x10' spray booth packed in a little over 1,000sqft. ,including a bathroom, and I can take as large of a project as anyone else around me. In fact I am building a high end kitchen with 45 linear feet of cabinetry right now.
Machine layout is the importaint thing. Really think hard about every detail, and keep the lay out flexible by putting smaller machines on casters. In adition to all the necessarry cabinet shop machinery I have a full compliment of remodeling tools. I started off like you; slowly moving from remodeling to cabinetry/ custom furniture and fixtures.
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
Build a nice big porch and put your big machines on rolling bases. Build nice big doors and windows too. That will make your shop much more pleasant to work in as well as giving you the extra space you need. Put a rocking chair on the porch for when you just gotta sit and think.
Scotty
I lease a comercial building so I am not too keen on adding to the building, and I have a big ol lazyboy for thinking in.
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
RW,
Don't take this the wrong way, but, me thinks you need to readjust your thinkin. Just because you live in a big, wide open state doesn't mean your shop has to be. 1200 sq ft is the same size as my house. If I had a shop this big I would be ecstatic. My shop is 12x20, MWENZ is 12x18 with three guys working in it--unbelievable.
What I'm getting at is, our situations are basically the same although our circumstances are different. You're established and I'm gettin back into--with an eye on some extra income after retirement (T-16yrs and counting). I really want to throw everything out of my 3 bay garage and buy all that I think I will need and get started straight away so I can get better that much faster. Reality is--that can't happen. I have to take things one step at a time, doing what I can as I can, with an eye fixed on my ultimate goal.
If I were in your situation, I would take that 1200 sq ft and configure it so I could get the most efficient production out of it and let future demands (jobs-wise) guide you towards future decisions regarding machinery, space, etc.
I remember something my granddad once told me..."if you bite off more than you can chew, you might end up choking on it." Those words have served me well through life--when I was wise enough to follow them.
Good luck with whatever decision you make.
Good day,
Chris.
RW, You didn't say whether you plan to use employees to help you.
I have a little bit of a head-start on you. I bought my shop which was an old grocery store, 5000 sf back in 1983. Most of my larger equipment except the saw-mill was bought at auctions, which was more economical than buying new, so it is all paid for.
I have more equipment and space than is reasonable for any one-man shop should have. Yet, I still have to hustle to make a decent living. At the present, I have a remodel job going, and I am back to using the portable job-site tools. Funny, I have a nice unisaw, and PM 72, but have been using the little 9" rockwell most lately. That will change as it get into the finishing stage, and will do more of the work here in the shop.
I think I would advise you to hang onto the portable tools, even if you have to find someplace else to store them. You may still find it hard to make a good living in that small a space, so being able to transport tools to the site may be a welcome option in the future.
I like getting the furniture orders, but I still have to make a living by taking jobs that may not be as much fun or glamorous as I would like. So keeping flexibility in the business plan helps. It seems a shame for my shop tools to sit idle for a period, and I can't charge extra for having equipment that I am not using, only the ones that I am using at the time.
But then you may be more creative and a better craftsman than I am. Actually the salesmanship hat is the most important tool to incorporate into your shop plan, so don't overlook that part.
Before you hang yourself out there with a lot of debt, I would seek someone out in your area who is doing what you visualize this shop to do for you. You may find that this shop is a cage, and those tools are the virtual treadmill as you find yourself caught up in the "rat race of life." But if your wife has a good job, and the kid is smart enough to get a scholarship, I think you should go for it.
Insightful, humorous, I like that.
I'll be the last one to pontificate on my talents. Every time we think we're getting good we meet some 16 year old who's better. And theres always the Maloofs and Klaus types out there to keep our humility in check.
No intention of parting with the portable stuff. I know I'll still use that, and like you said, sometimes you take things on that might not be completely top of your happiness and joy list, but they fill in the voids between the other tasks.
Some of it will crossover I'm sure. I have entirely too much Festool. A lot of that works equally well in both scenarios. Framing guns, not so much.
I talked to the Cleary folks this weekend who put that building up. And we're going to an open house here in a couple of hours. I can make the building bigger easily. About 4K for every 10 foot added to the long dimension. So I could make it 30x60 for 8 grand, plus the concrete of course. That struck me as a little more affordable than I'd anticipated. Real trucks dont have sparkplugs
<30x60 for 8 grand> That sounds pretty decent to me. You probably can pour that slab yourself, and even save some money there too.Since you are still in the planning stage, you might want to keep an eye on some of these used equipment sites. It can save you a bunch of money.I think you mentioned getting a wide-belt sander. Before Rick L signs on, let me be the first to suggest that you consider a stroke sander. You can usually find a really nice one at a very good price on some of the auction sites. Here are a couple of places to keep an eye on. http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/exchanges/machinery.cgihttp://www.irsauctions.com/index_lots.asp?pg=details&id=10364
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