Hi all, new to this forum have been lurking for a while and see you have a few threads about the going rate for a chippie.I attended a college a year and a half ago doing a two year course Hand crafted furniture come straight out of there and got a job in a place that makes pine furniture. I know there is not a lot of skill in this sort of work but am I selling myself short and should i move on. I have got a year and a half worth of experience in the trade. I also have my own workshop that is around a two car garage size and a few tools that I can get by with. I know I do not have the tooling to do hardwood furniture so not looking into that sort of work. I was just wondering if there is anybody out there that was in the same situation that i am in and what route they took to get out of the low payed job. I am not sure if I would like to go into the carpentry side of things havent really had much site experience but I think I am worth more than what I earn at present so time for a change. I only get a misely £6.50 an hour I do my own private jobs were i can obviously earn a lot more but it is just getting enough work to do it full time for myself just word and mouth at the moment. i suppose its just having the confidence to go out there ansd sell myself or change my career path i guess. Anyway waffled on enough now hopefully get some feedback for you all. Thanks Phil.
one could write a book about what to do, however, the route down the yellow brick road has to be your choice. from there you must start as you mean to go on. dont do work for family or friends. charge the right amount for you, get proper letter headings and business cards. get proper training if you need it. get a business plan.dont get by in your workshop if its not going to pay. to be honest you may be better packing up present job for now to earn more money until your plan is together. you will need a bit of spare cash until you are established
hi phil, i also did that course about 3 years ago. Luckily i am working for a furniture maker that produces high quality joinery, lots of kitchens and stuff. Although not really what i'm trained to do. Most of the cabinet makers that produce the highest quality hand made furniture are normally working out of their garages. So i think if you were prepared to go for it then do it, but just a word of warning about experience, ive been doing this for nearly 2 years now and im still picking up new things every day from actually doing stuff and advice from the more time served cabinet makers. It might pay you to have a look around for more cabinet making jobs, the money will be alot better than where you are now and with the huge deficit of skilled people, especially trained to the level you are you should be snapped up. There are 4 cabinet makers where i work and they are all over 50 with what looks like no young people skilled enough to start replacing them when they retire
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