Table: Stainless and Glass

[chrisgay@sbcglo]

VERY NICE WORK , THAT'S THE KIND OF WORK I LIKE , STEEL FURNITURE, I AM GOING IN THAT DIRECTION , ALREADY DID SOME , I JUST RECEIVE MY TABLE FROM PLATING , BRUSH NICKEL PEWTER ,C R 1 3/4 LEGS WITH 1/2 IN BETWEEN AND SOME 3/8 AND 1/4 . THE TOP IS MARBLE .NOW I AM LOOKING TO FIND A NICE DESIGN FOR THE CHAIRS , NOT EASY.

Bobby

Thanks Bobby. Nice table, yourself. I'll look forward to seeing the chairs... be sure to get them done and post them.

[chrisgay@sbcglo]

Chris,
What does something like that go for? if you don't mind me asking.

Let's just say you try to get what the market will bear. You win some and you lose some. I had at least 2K in materials, had to deliver it, and you can probably estimate the hours. This table was pretty straight forward for me, and I can blaze through it pretty quickly. This just comes with experience, so fortunately I came out on top on this one.

[Laiky]

good enough, i'm curious how well one can do with custom furniture. I would guess getting the contracts is the hardest part. Who does the design? Do you get called in and have to make a proposal, including design ideas? Or do they come to you with what they want?

I'm guessing that you couldn't make pieces and then sell them like on E-bay. You would need a customer to request something they really want first?

[chrisgay@sbcglo]

good enough, i'm curious how well one can do with custom furniture. I would guess getting the contracts is the hardest part. Who does the design? Do you get called in and have to make a proposal, including design ideas? Or do they come to you with what they want?

I'm guessing that you couldn't make pieces and then sell them like on E-bay. You would need a customer to request something they really want first?

Laiky, here is my take:

One can starve building furniture for a living. You have to get into the right market, get the contracts, and charge enough to make an honest living and then some. Making things by hand takes a long time to do right, and in this day and age, most don't equate a significanty cost with skilled hours... that's why nothing is made in the US anymore.

I've put in my due time and have a strong client base and get all my work word-of-mouth. But I've been at it for a long time, have put my work out there, and have been there done that already. I consider myself lucky to be able to do what I love, but it aint no gravy train. Win some, lose some.

I've often considered (and people always ask) starting a line of furniture/product/whatever and peddling that. The problem I see is that you are just entertaining another business idea, which required marketing, manufacturing, and at the end of day, a lot of compromise if you want to make any real money. For the moment, being a manager and peddling wares does not appeal to me, so I keep it small and custom.

I have found that 99.99% of my work is custom, and that is where the money is for me. My background is in art, design, and motorsports (strangely enough), yet I find I like the jobs where the customer comes to me with a reasonably clear idea of what they already want, and I become the vehicle to enable it, making suggestions or refinements as needed. Anymore, I really just like to weld and can make more money with my helmet down than spending hours designing and trying to recoup the time in R&D. Been there, done that.

If this is the kind of work you are interested in, you just gotta get your stuff out there, do your BEST, and stand behind your work. Work begets work and jobs will come. You just have to manifest the stuff you like and be prepared to be hungry once in a while. Just always remember your own VALUE and be honest about it to both yourself and your customer.

I hope this helps.