Day Job
#21
I've been a professional cabinetmaker/woodworker/installer for 37 years. I've thoroughly enjoyed most of it. One drawback that you are concerned about is losing interest in working in my own shop. I do this for 8 - 10 hours a day, sometimes 6 days a week. Schedules are sometimes almost impossible to meet. I have never been in business for myself, although I'm seriously considering it. When I do work in my own shop, I get a sense of pride and enjoyment. It's just not often that I "feel" like working in my shop after a day's working in someone else's. Just my 2 cents.
I no longer build museums but don't want to change my name. My new job is a lot less stressful. Life is much better.

Garry
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#22
I was a carpenter for many years. mainly rough framing but also did siding,roofing, decks, etc.
although i loved the career, i had absolutely no interest in carpentering during my time off.
however, i had no problem going into my shop and makin dust during my free time.
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#23
Think about what KC wrote earlier. Make a list of the "negatives", the benefits, and salaries of your day job versus the cabinet shop. Carefully compare both, then decide which is better for you.
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#24
I'll add my 2 cents here.  I spent 50 years in IT, almost 60 years woodworking and doing 30-40 years doing furniture restoration/repair for various refinishing shops.  I know the total seems high, but most was done at the same time.  IT paid the bills while doing my woodworking and the restoration/repair kept my head on straight and gave me a pressure release and the extra money was nice too.  There were a couple of times I thought about giving up IT and doing woodworking full time but didn't.  I found that doing the restoration/repair work for a number of refinishing shops gave me some creative control and let me enjoy what I did while not losing the desire to do woodworking.  The best advantage was I did what I wanted but didn't require me dealing with customers or doing the finishing work when dealing with furniture.
I had a few times where I built furniture for customers and though much was good the few times I got those customers that no matter what you did or they got were never satisfied ruined otherwise good feelings.  
I really believe the OP should think very carefully before quitting his day job for furniture making.  In addition to the loss of salary, you need to figure in all the costs of setting up a commercial shop including tools, materials, licensing, insurance etc.  There's a lot of unseen costs that many don't add in prior to making a plunge.
Whatever happens, good luck and hope it all works out.
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#25
(04-08-2022, 07:54 AM)bmich Wrote: Thanks its a lot to consider.  I think I'll go down there and talk to them, see if I can work Saturdays.  This place seems to specialize in cabinets and restaurant furniture.  Booths. tables, etc.    Mainly cabinets though. 

I mean it would be great to get paid for what I love doing, but do I love doing it because it clears my head?  Its a stress reliever, so would the job just cause stress in woodworking?

75% of your time on the road is a LOT. Unless I were single with no ties it would be too much. The job you're considering sounds more like an assembly line job, not much creativity involved. Doing it part time seems like it would be optimum until you get a feel for what's involved, how it pays and what's the likelihood that you'd be laid off at the first sign of an economic downturn. Lots to consider.
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#26
Another thing I forgot to mention...

A buddy of mine and I spent a couple weeks working in a cabinet shop.  I was a bit disappointed in what was considered 'good enough', and more disappointed that there was always time to do things over when they weren't done right the first time.  Which was frequently.
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#27
If you do decide to go with woodworking. Check out what they are making. MAKE SURE their standards are as good as you're standards. You might be in for problems if they are focused more on production than quality.
9.5 fingers and 1 crippled
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#28
I was a trial lawyer for almost 40 years. I retired 8 years ago to get away from the stress and long hours. Woodworking has been my hobby fort most of my life. It was my refuge during the many difficult days in my law practice. It is still my refuge. It clears my head and the creative process is very rewarding. Many people have asked me why I don't take commissions or sell my work. My answer is that working commercially transforms my hobby onto a business with all the stress and worry I left when I retired. I'm not interested in getting paid for my work. I do it for relaxation and enjoyment. It exercises my brain and hopefully keeps dementia at bay. Nobody supervises my work and I don't have to please anybody but me. Woodworking for profit would compromise all of those aspects that make my hobby enjoyable. I prefer to keep my hobby as it is. I don't need the money to make it rewarding.
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#29
If you like your current profession, but not the current position, perhaps a change of employers rather than profession. That's what I did years ago when a change in leadership made a 15 year position unbearable.  I stayed until I found a new job, in the same retirement system, and transferred. 

The one day a week trial is also a good idea.  It would give you a feel for the career jump without a full comittment.
I sold a few pieces years ago, on request, but stopped when it became common for the "clients" to began picking at finished pieces looking for "adjustments in the final pricing."

Now, as another posted, I gift to family and friends, donate to charity raffles, or make things we can use.  Mostly the shop is my refuge frim stress and boredom.

Good luck on your choice.
Jim in Okie
You can tell a lot about the character of a man -
By the way he treats those who can do nothing for him.
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#30
My woodworking is a hobby, which has taken over a goodly part of my life. I retired from a computer software support job about 20 years ago. I've done some kitchen cabinet builds for friends, which I've enjoyed. Was doing one such build for a neighbor about a mile away who'd replaced his old farm house with a modern design. They'd typically spent winters in Arizona or Florida. This was going to be a dream job for me - work at a comfortable pace, and be able to move completed cabinets out of my basement shop into their empty house, then assemble everything once all the cabinets were done. In late fall they announced that since they'd lived in their motorhome all summer while the new house was being built, they'd decided to stay home for the winter. This being in Minnesota, they had to be out of the motorhome by Thanksgiving. So all the sudden the kitchen build had deadlines, customer pressing to have stuff built more quickly, and the job wasn't nearly as much fun after that, and at times I regretted even agreeing to build their kitchen for them. The real kicker came when I discovered they'd had a local millwork shop build the door to the pantry. I'd been working on the pantry door as a relief break from just building boxes, and I was about a week from having it ready to deliver. When I got home from installing cabinets for them on the day of "the discovery" the almost-completed pantry door made a few passes over the tablesaw and became firewood. And now my woodworking is strictly for furniture for myself or gifts to friends. And I do the work on my schedule, and as I feel like it. If I want to spend time on something else, there's nobody bugging me about "when is it going to finally be ready?"
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