How many times have we seen posts in here from guys asking how to go about making money in the wood working business? Answer; lots! The other night I was watching that program ” Deadwood” and it occurred to me that we, the furniture builders , are very similar to the prospectors; some us make money at this but most of us don’t. Some struck it rich but they were few and far between. The only people who made any money during the gold rush were the hardware merchants and the bars. Therefore it seemed natural that we should be in the supply side of this biz if we want to make any money. I am gonna buy my wife a fancy dress and start serving rubbing alcohol and ginger ale in my shop.
Now you can be seated and open your hymnals to that old workshop favorite, “Jesus Made Dovetails”
Wicked Decent Woodworks
(oldest woodworking shop in NH)
Rochester NH
” If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy……..yessa!”
Replies
Hallelujah Reverend. Bring it on. Actually somebody needs to become the Levi Strauss of Woodworking.. But if a person really wants to make money you have to prey on there problems or lusts. aka lawyer,doctor,undertaker,preacher,rock star,accountant,broker. But after the politicians (republicans,democrats,libertarians) and illegals finish the destruction of the middle class it won't make no never mind anyhow. Serfdom is at hand
--------------------------------------------------------------------
every time we lose a woodworker,we lose a library
Hi John ,
As woodworkers it is an easy transition to supply materials in theory . My take on the subject : over the last 25 or 30 years I have bought and sold and horse traded numerous tools and machines as I imagine many of us have . I have never lost a dime on tools , and I always keep the best and sell the rest while constantly up grading as the opportunity arises . Selling materials would involve a huge inventory and lots of other expenses with much risk involved . But buying and selling tools is a great way to get started out and have your pick at low prices . I have made several purchases over the years where an elderly person wants to sell out lock stock and barrel , or the widow may be selling . watch for estate sales and garage sales . It is one way to make a few bucks and collect a shop full of equipment , and you never know what you will find . There are so many shops in my area , when one opens one closes so there is a constant demand and supply of tools .
dusty
Testify! Cherryjohn. I found it hard to believe when Woodworkers Warehouse closed here. Many lumberyards and contractor supply places are going belly up too. I think it helps if you own the trees. Just like the excavation contractors, the ones that own the pits are making the big bucks. Some of it is the product backed by marketing. Look at the success of Lie Nielsen, working woodworkers can't afford their stuff but the hobby crowd can't get enough just to smooth up a board.
I did a renovation and display area install for a local branch of a national lumber company. They owed me 30 grand, 60 days later I got a check for $300. I also had a special order in with them for some molding. Eight weeks later they were saying that the wholesaler was having trouble with a new system. Come to find out, the wholesaler had cut them off and the typo on my check was just a dodge. They filed chapter 11 a month later. I guess it's not easy anywhere when you're fighting giants.
I hope you've got something besides isopropyl when I come to visit. I'm loosing my eye sight fast enough, no need to hurry it along.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Ever heard of the saying " The sure sign of a misspent youth is a good pool player"? When I was a kid in Northern Maine I used to hang out at a pool room/ bike repair shop; one pool table and you stood on broken bikes to make a shot! Well we had a local character, Hornpout Albert, who would come in with a bottle of ginger ale and rubbing alcohol and drink it. He is dead now but I hear his corpse is just as ugly as the day he died. When you come a'callin' Ill bring out the good stuff; Thunderbird and Cheeze Wiz. Hey, had my bike out yesterday for the first time for an hour and a half. Where were you, you wimp?
Wouldnt I love to have the bucks to be able to walk into Thomas Lie_Neilsen's place and pull out a wad of cash and say " Ok stop me when the pile is big enough". What a business to own huh. Oh, and Woodworkers Warehouse folded because the expanded too fast and they could not manage the incurred debt. Just poor business men and the system has a way of weeding them (us?) out . Now, what happened to you would have me down to the Kittery Trading Poat looking at a nice nickle plated 9mm. Someone would pay for stiffing me for 30 large!
Wicked Decent Woodworks
(oldest woodworking shop in NH)
Rochester NH
" If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"
Thunderbird AND Cheese Whiz? You must have sold all your tables! I thought I'd have to bring a loaf of bread to strain the Sterno. I guess I'll spring for the crackers.I'm not sure a little pea shooter like a 9mm would have been satisfactory. I was thinking of a cue ball in a sock, just to keep it personal. The local manager bailed me out eventually, this was coming from corporate headquarters. It was another 60 days but I did get paid. The thing that ticked me off, was that no one had the cherries to give me the real skinny. The molding delayed another job. At least it was just labor, being on the stick for materials too, is bad.I pulled out the FZ1 yesterday after a little shoveling. I'd been charging the battery but there wasn't enough juice to fire it up. Nobody had a battery that would fit. They didn't even have the model of my bike listed. Even the dealer would have had to order it. I was bummed but I put on some new carbon fiber fenders and a hugger. We'll be out getting tickets in no time.Hornpoutin' opened today! Kind of hard to find open water but the predicted rain for this weekend should help. Maybe it will wash some of the sand out of the corners. Keep that Thunderbird on ice, I'll be coming over after the 15th.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I am lookin' forward to the stop by, my friend. Bow as you walk by the V-rod.....it is a humbling experience.
I like to cue ball in the sock.......like it a lot. Sounds like something someone from Waterville would do.Wicked Decent Woodworks
(oldest woodworking shop in NH)
Rochester NH
" If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"
" Deadwood" I must be strange.. I love that show!
You arent that strange.
I watched the whole first season in 2 days.
Those days happened to have been this week.
I love that show as well.
I think many can identify with one of the characters.
-zen
My wife and I go gambling in Deadwood, the real one, twice year or so. They used a huge pile of artistic liscence with that show. We usually stay at the Bullock motel. Yep that one. The Roosevelt suite will set you back $50. It'd be $350 in Vegas. Fun place to spend an evening.
Steve
I guess Ill do some research, I wouldnt think it would still exist, thats cool.
-zen
It's great to see so many Deadwood fans here!
One of the things that impresses me about it is, how little "artistic license" (as Hollywood euphemistically calls it) they employed. Most of the characters are drawn from real accounts - not just their names, but something of their personalities as well. Of course they amped them up, but I have been impressed by the level of accuracy.
For example, Calamity Jane was notoriously foul-mouthed, even by the standards of the day. Practically every contemporary writer who visited such frontier towns remarks on how much swearing and profanity is heard; of course, they didn't write down exactly what was said, so the show's writers have invented a sort of modern version - and then used that as a source of comic effect from time to time.
And notice the street - it is invariably crowded and either muddy or dusty, matching contemporary accounts. How many times have we seen Westerns where everybody is clean, well-groomed, and the streets are wide and smooth? People in Deadwood had to pay to take a bath, or get their hair cut; so I love how most of them are depicted as hairy, dirty, with patched and worn clothing. This makes the rich ones stand out even more!
But the best thing is the characters. Swearingen and Bullock are mesmerizing - you can't take your eyes off either one. And the supporting cast are equally wonderful, complex characters; far from the typical TV cardboard stereotypes."Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." A. Einstein
http://www.albionworks.net
Last time I was up there, in the Bullock motel, I noticed a photo of the front of the motel, with a parade going by. I don't remember the exact date on the photo, but it was either 1905 or 1906. The street was cobbled, same as it is today, and people looked very clean and modern. The old west didn't end out here until the 20's, so Deadwood was ahead of the curve. In Ashby Nebraska, one of the places I lived, there was a gunfight in the 30's. One guy got his thumb shot off, both lived.
I've got to disagree with you about the artisic liscence being good in this show. People did not decivilize when they came west. They may have had to live in a hole in the ground temporarily, but they rapidly achieved a quality of life similar to what they left back east or in Europe.
One of my grandfathers friends was Jules Sandoz. If you would like to know what the old west really was like, read some of his daughters, Marie Sandoz, books.
Deadwood the show is a Hollywood creation, based in something besides reality.
Have a good evening,
Steve
"Deadwood had only one narrow street, filled with stumps, boulders, lumber, and logs, with hundreds of men surging from saloon to saloon..."
"Deadwood was then hog-wild; duels and gunfights in the streets..."
Doc Pierce, describing the town as he had seen it in 1876.In the episode that just aired, a fellow reads from a letter written by Wild Bill Hickock just before he was killed. The lines he reads are direct quotes from the letter, which survives.You are certainly correct that this is a Hollywood creation, but I disagree about its basis. This show has more reality in it than most, or any, other "Wild West" productions. People did in fact "decivilize" to an extent, especially in the early days of mining camps. Those that lasted more than a few years did get civilized, as a result of concentration of wealth - hence those clean streets in the Deadwood of 1905; the residents of 1876 would probably hardly recognize the place. Hickock was living in a tent, made of a wagon-cover stretched over a pole, at the time he was killed.It's fun to go back and read the contemporary accounts of some of these places. One of the best things about "Deadwood" the show is that it kindles interest in the actual history; and when you begin to look into it, and discover so many familiar names, it keeps your interest. For instance, it led me to a hilarious description of the town of Springfield, MO just after the end of the civil war.Cheers,
Timp.s. Gunfights never really went out of style, did they? Or is it just that they have come back into vogue... :-/
Edited 4/4/2005 1:14 am ET by AlbionWood
> there was a gunfight in the 30's
So? In LA we have gunfights all the time.
-- J.S.
I love Nebraska!
Steve
Is this the Cafe by another name!
All strength to your arm, Mate!
Malcolm
C-John,
Just to be the tsk tsk SchoolMarm ( don't have cable so haven't seen Deadwood - is there a schoolmarm ? ).
"eipihany" is actually spelled epiphany.
Tsk Tsk!
Tom
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled