Welcome to the workshop

I created this site to help woodworkers start and grow part-time businesses from their home workshops. You can make a decent part-time income building and selling projects directly from your shop. For more than 15 years, I was able to sell my work to clients throughout Massachusetts without relying on craft shows, consignment stores or wholesale partnerships.

A few facts about me:
• I've had an interest in woodworking since middle school
• Lack of shop access forced me to give up woodworking for more than 10 years
• My original workshop was in a bedroom of my first apartment
• Marketing and communications has been my primary profession

A Part-Time Professional: My Story
As many of us have discovered, woodworking can be a challenging way to make a living when it’s your primary source of income. The cyclical nature of a full-time manufacturing business can have you busy one month and super quiet the next.

For me, setting up a part-time operation takes a lot of the pressure off the business but still offers a way to earn some extra funds. My woodworking side business allowed me to upgrade the tools in my workshop, build an eclectic range of interesting projects and improve my woodworking skills along the way.

Running your woodworking business on a part-time basis gives you more flexibility with your hours and the freedom to choose the types of projects you’d like to build. And when things inevitably get slow, you’re not forced to take on projects that aren’t appealing.

I’ve learned that selecting the right projects to build for potential customers is one of the most critical factors when selling your work. If you can create a portfolio of projects that sell well and offer you a decent hourly rate, becoming a part-time professional woodworker becomes a satisfying second career. That’s what I’d like to share with you on this website.

My Woodworking History
If you’re wondering how I got into woodworking, here’s a more detailed version of my story.

Like a lot of woodworkers, I first started furniture building through my school’s industrial arts classes. I began with simple projects like storage boxes and side tables. As I gained experience and confidence, I tackled more complex projects and spent more hours in the school shop.

During high school, I really got into woodworking and my shop teachers allowed me to work on projects all hours of the day.

As school progressed, I continued to develop my techniques and attempted more-involved designs and even built a few projects for some of my teachers. I learned a lot during that time and kept at it all through high school.

Once I left for college, my woodworking hobby was put on hold. Sadly, my college didn’t have a woodworking program so I no longer had access to a shop. I gave up my building hobby and spent the next few years struggling through my school's engineering program.

Rediscovering a Favorite Hobby
After college, I often thought about getting back into woodworking but didn’t have the funds or the space needed to put together a workshop. In school, I’d been spoiled into thinking that I needed a big shop to make anything decent.

Anytime I got the urge to start building I’d think, once I buy my own place, I’ll get back into it.

In the mid 90’s, a few friends and I rented a small house close to work. As luck would have it, my bedroom included a small sunroom that was separate from the rest of the house. The room was in pretty rough shape and went empty for months. Then, out of the blue one morning, I realized I could set up a small workshop in there.

A Tiny Shop is Born

After a quick chat with the roommates about my plans, I headed out to see what kinds of tools I could afford for my little shop. I bought the bare essentials to get started – a contractor’s table saw, some hand tools and a stack of bar clamps.

I was pretty rusty at first, so the projects that came out of that shop weren’t so hot. As my work improved, I began building furniture for the apartment as well as some gifts for friends and family. Since my roommates and I worked together, word got out at the office that I was making furniture.

Soon coworkers started asking me to build furniture pieces for them. Most of those early requests were fairly typical home projects like coffee tables and small cabinets. Then a colleague asked me to build a project that changed everything.

Stumbling onto My First Profitable Project
At first glance, my buddy’s request was simple. Build a wooden trunk to store her gear at the stables where she rides horses. Riders call these storage chests tack trunks and they come in all shapes and sizes.

Some models are practical, made from rubber or plastic. Other trunks are wooden, well-crafted and some have ornamental designs. In fact, a few of the high-end wooden models look more like jewelry boxes than storage chests.

After researching all the existing trunk designs I could find, I built one from pine and plywood. I jazzed up my prototype with a bit of router work and showed it to my friend. She was pleased with my design and bought the prototype. Since she kept her trunk at the stables, other riders got a look and soon a few asked where they could get their own trunk. I was in business.

This was the first project I made for people outside my circle of friends. It was exciting to make sales to strangers as it helped validate my skills as a woodworker and improve my confidence as a builder.

And my new customers challenged me to come up with variations on the original design, add personal touches or work quickly to make a birthday or holiday gift deadline.

Once I became comfortable building for customers, I realized how special these trunks (and customers) were.

My Formula for Finding Woodworking Projects that Sell
Unlike many projects that woodworkers like to build, tack trunks have three critical qualities that make them great customer projects. They sell for a healthy price. They’re relatively easy to build. And, most importantly, they have easy-to-find prospects who are likely to be interested in buying them.

As I built more trunks, I realized that third quality (easy-to-find riders) was the most critical to my success as a part-time professional. Stables of horse enthusiasts would gather all over Massachusetts every weekend to ride.

As a small business owner, I was able to reach out to these riders and show them what I had to offer without spending a fortune on marketing and advertising – or competing with big box retail stores.

Finding Worthy Customer Projects

As time went on, I started looking for more niche woodworking projects that served a distinct group of potential customers. When working on my business, I avoided most of the common furniture projects and instead, concentrated on specialty items.

I gave up making traditional tables, chairs and cabinets and started building projects designed specifically for gardeners, craft beer fans and cigar lovers.

Finding these offbeat projects helped me grow a business that didn’t have to compete with national retail stores or the local full-service cabinet shops.

This website is dedicated to uncovering more of these types of projects for woodworkers who would like to serve customers who enjoy owning things made by local craftspeople.