I am retired and woodworking is my primary hobby. I am not that great at it, but I still spend 30 to 35 hours a week puttering around in my basement shop. I probably have a half dozen projects underway at all times. 90% of my raw materials are recycled pieces that have little or no cost.

My “words of wisdom” are, if you repurpose stuff, people’s’ expectations for craftsmanship are diminished. I get comments like, “Wow, I can’t believe you built that from old pallets”

Do your projects as well as you can and don’t worry about how much time it takes. Speed picks up naturally as your skills increase.

My words of wisdom are work safe, work safe and work safe, then I show them my left thumb. Ouch. Believe me it is very unpleasant to lose any part so a finger or thumb. And you are right Jim, hobby versus business, I found that out right away.

1) DO NOT try to be the best of your club members, but try to make a better project than the last project you had produced.
2) Think that the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
3) Be patient and take your time.
4) Look for quality not quantity.
5) join a club of your interest to widen your knowledge.

Ha, I gave some advice earlier. He wanted to know how to trim out a window, ext jambs. I told him to hire a carpenter. (i’m a carpenter.)

Many times when I meet someone who does woodworking and they find I do woodworking for a living,they ask how they can become a professional woodworking,I tell them not to wreck a perfectly good hobby by trying to make it into a business, If they insist they’re going into the woodworking business I always tell them to find a special nitch in the market and specialize in it.