Just made a career change from general construction to strictly high end finish work. The house we are in now cost 2.5 million! Needless to say its a beaut. So far I love my job. Just wondering if there any other finish carpenters on here?
I was a finish carpenter for a contractor during my short break in active duty, but that was a long time ago (1986 - 1987). I absolutely loved the work but couldn't get the contractor to pay me enough in Arkansas to pay the bills so I went back into the Navy. Congratulations on what I'd consider a good move.
I'm more of what you would consider the beginning? Ha I do basements and concrete. Hage done finish work before amd its alright, I like doin the rough work better myself. Mainly because I hate finishing drywall and painting. Good luck with the mew job though sounds like your already enjoying it.
After high school I was into high end cabinetry and woodworking. I specialized in raised panel work, doors, mantle surrounds, range hoods those kind of things. I did that for a couple of years then moved into the family business. I still miss it but I do some work on the side once in a while.
The place I'm at now makes all their own cabinets and makes all their trim and moulding. It's pretty cool. I was working on raised panel wainscoting today. Very cool stuff. What's the family business?
I used to pour all the footing, foundation walls and floors for all out buildings at my last company. A lot of big jobs. I don't miss carrying 8' forms, we didn't have those fancy steel cages for them. Those are sweet. You can have the forms spread out for ya. We stacked ours on pallets criss crossing so they didn't spill over. I liked forming and striping forms though. Pouring obviously is a good time, unless you have a blowout!
I'm into Material Handling Equipment. Matco Distributors | Warehouse Equipment Sales & Services Since 1945. It's a good living but for me nothing beats the satisfaction of finishing a woodworking project with all the grain matched, machine marks out looking perfect. I wish I had more time to do more projects but for now I just have to dream about it.
I build high end cabinets, I get to do some carpenter work sometimes. I do a lot of specialty work in the shop. Been doin it almost 20 yrs.
Keep your thumb outa the joiner! Lol Glue holds more than nails. Nails are just til the glue drys. Don't rush your saw, let it do the cutting. Keep your fingers further away than the length of nail your using. It's an honest trade and good for the soul. Keep your wood straight, bro
...and the table router. That was one of my two crowning achievements as far as brain farts go. I was using a table router to do some mortise and tenon joints. The dust had built up around the bit and for some reason I'll never be able to understand I went to use my hand to brush the dust away. I felt a short vibration, kind of like a shock. I looked at the end of my middle finger and it was sliced deeply 9 times and my fingernail was destroyed. Duh. The other was when I was building an oak porch swing for a customer. I was in the shop alone and I was nailing on the slats with a finish nailer and I had my index finger under the slat I was nailing. I mispositioned the nail gun and the nail came out of the slat, went through my finger and into the support. It didn't take me long to realize I was screwed. I had to pick the whole swing up, carry it to the office, pick up the phone and call the boss. He was laughing so hard he was crying as he was cutting the nail and bending it so I could get my finger off.
Ha yea blowouts suck, we've been pretty lucky and haven't had one in a while. Its always a possibility though. We use gates forms so don't really take advantage of the racks and get to pack them around. Cutting ties has gotta be one of the worse jobs about it but its not too bad I guess.
We had a tool like a wrench that fit around the tie and you just twist em and snap them off. I used to just whack em with my hammer and send them flying. Got pretty good at that only took me a 1 swing most times. All about the angle.
