I do my own tig welding for the legs with stainless steel as well as other metals, along with a milling machine and a whole host of crazy methods, like epoxy infused large pieces, doing it like the carbon fiber builders using laboratory vacuum pumps. My hand built drawers with dovetail joinery are built using wood from Oregon and dried in Las Vegas. All the hardware is custom to each piece, and my inlays and bow ties are hand cut. Everything I do is art, but with the skill of a journeyman. I’ve past the need for earning money in my life, which is why I rarely sell, though I could, according to everyone who has seen my work… including my fellow peers in the woodworkers group I belong to. I’m not begging for help or trying to convince anyone of anything, I’m just suggesting another way for people to meet and share ideas that would benefit both.
Trading ??? For equipment.
We all want money for our equipment and or time, but what if trades were introduced, giving another option and opportunity for a win, win.
I’m a retired firefighter but active artist with decades of craftsmanship under my belt. I build live-edge stereo entertainment centers and anything you can think of, but I donate it all to family or sell to a small circle of friends because like our hobby, normal people want to pay fifty dollars for Krell monoblocks. What I build, no one can afford in the small circle of my contacts, so I keep it of give to my family. A table that I build should sell for $10,000, but like my Krell monoblocks, people think it’s only worth fifty dollars… which is like pigs and pearls.
Anyhow, just a thought.