So i got an email yesterday from LinkedIn, with some jobs they thought I might be interested in based on my profile, which lists me as a woodworker.  It was for a small place back east somewhere, might be interesting work, so i sent a reply with some pics of things i've designed and made over time.

 

Then I did some more digging, and find out it's a really small outfit, like 4 employees, and they have a factory they hire in NC to make their stuff as needed.  and what they mostly offer at the moment are various couches and one coffee table.

 

their niche is that they do sustainable stuff, using recycled or sustainable wood.  they offer replacement parts for you to swap out (like if your dog eats up your couch's wooden leg), or you ruin your covers, just swap it out and not trash the entire sofa to the landfill.  all their stuff is designed to be flat packed for transport to save costs.

 

so far, so good.

 

but it seems to me that they are playing in the same space that Ikea and other outfits (like Sauder) play in.  of necessity, all their joints have to be mechanical in nature, which is usually weaker than a properly glued MT or dovetail joint we all know so well.  and trying to compete with the big boys on price will be tough.

 

so i'm expecting nothing, but if they call/write, i'll keep all y'all posted.

Small outfits are a start. I was at Jakobe Furniture for 7 years. Not once did I use dovetail joinery.

Edited December 13, 20223 yr by BillyJack

When working in commercial we had a Dodds dovetail machine.

 

 

Edited December 13, 20223 yr by BillyJack

there was/is a firm in the DC area, Hardwood Artisans, that made really nice stuff, used a lot of dovetail joinery, all machine done, but also quite pricey.  way beyond the budget of someone just starting out in life.

IKEA can be beat.  You need to categorize your client, which is also what IKEA does, but at the opposite end of the spectrum.  Getting a custom and premium product in the view port of the right sort of client is the challenge, and I think inspiration in that element of the marketing mix is crucial.  But if the company has figured out how to sell the stuff, designing it should be fun, particularly since the design function doesn't necessarily have to be "resident" in the business.  I had a friend who designed display furniture for electronics.  The company hired him to design the pieces, he would make one (final) mockup,  then the company shipped it to China where a manufacturing house figured out how to make it all flat and assemble-able.  Seemed a good gig.

 

You might consider pitching conventional wood joinery as an option to this company.  The pieces are made with mortise/tenon* joints, but also with screwed connections.  The customer could then elect to use glue on the joint in lieu of, or with, the screws.

 

*I renovated some outdoor furniture for my daughter; the pieces all used M/T connections but fastened with screws.  I refinished all the pieces then tightened the joints (I used paper glued on the tenons) and both glued and screwed it together.  Maybe this would appeal to the more DIY inclined of a more discerning customer base.

Interesting subject and thread.  Thanks for starting it up.   My first job out of college was as furniture designer for a company in St. Louis.  They built their business making metal base residential furniture that could be flat packed and used mechanical connections.  No welding in any of their manufactured parts but some clever and well engineered connections.  They hired me to add wood furniture designs to their product line, but eventually realized they couldn't compete (in wood) with NC area and similar companies that brought logs from their own managed forests into the back door of their factories and sent finished/packaged furniture out the front door. 

I have several former students who started up their own furniture design/fabrication businesses after graduation. They cluster in areas with lots of money and local diverse hardwood sources. 

One project assignment we gave to our workshop 2 students was to design a piece that could compress somehow to 1/3 (or smaller) of its assembled volume.  KD hardware was allowed but clever kd joinery was rewarded with more "points".  My experience from that furniture company has inspired several improved wood joints that lock tight/square when assembled with a screw into an embedded nut or cross dowel.   

4D  

Hope things work out for you DAB if it sounds like you would want to give it a try. Just don't enter into any long term contractual agreements that way if you decide you want out you're free to exit. Keep us posted either way.

It’s one of those things you just have to try if it’s what you want to do. I was a cabinet maker for almost 30 years when a Furniture maker job came up in Kansas City. First day I got lost and called and said I would try the next day. They probably thought I chickened out. The next day I applied to the plant manager and one of the owners. We viewed some of my furniture projects online. Next day I had the job, they took interviews for two weeks.My first project working for the pm was a 48”x144” walnut conference table with an electrical panel under a fabric panel in the center. 

 

Edited December 14, 20223 yr by BillyJack

no replies, no emails, no phone calls, no carrier pigeons, no pony express riders, no large boxes filled with random piles of used 20 dollar bills, no singing telegrams, no PSA on TV.....nothing.

 

i'm guessing this is a dead end for me.  that's ok.

 

back to working in my shop for my own purposes.