A Day in the Life of a Custom Furniture Maker by Graeber Design
This is how William from Graeber Design spends his time as a Custom Woodworker. Not every part of this list will work for you and your wood business, but take whatever elements you find useful to improve the efficiency of your company.
If you have a to-do list for your day, it will help you maximize your time each day by scheduling everything in advance. additionally, it can give you peace of mind whether or not you have an urgent task or project to complete so you are always prepared.
Day 1 Morning Routine
Usually, William starts his day by checking up on his emails and replying if there are project inquiries. He also tackles some shop maintenance to avoid future machinery problems by ensuring that everything is working as it should.
Don’t forget to schedule a quick talk and establish a good conversation with your existing and future clients to ensure ongoing projects run smoothly.
This is William’s daily schedule. Take a look at his order of operations and see if his workflow could apply to you and your business.
7:00 – 7:30 Writing up orders and answering emails
7:30 – 7:45 Cutting drawer and door faces
7:45 – 8:00 Checking drawer and door sizing
8:00 – 8:30 Shop Maintenance
8:30 – 8:55 Routing a table base
9:00 – 9:30 Meeting with clients
9:35 – 10:00 Shaping a table base
10:00 – 10:10 Lining out the crew on a new based design
10:10 -10:25 Back to shaping
10:25 My guys are about to walk over and inform me that a $400 piece of walnut lumber has been miscut. What follows is me being overly dramatically upset, and lumber being thrown at the floor. I retreat to my desk to clear my head and redesign the table base to allow the miscut pieces to be used.
10:45 – 11:00 Planing and jointing walnut lumber
11:00 – 11:40 Final touch-up on the set of bar stools
11:40: 11:55 Making template for the new table base.
Day 1 Afternoon Routine
After lunch William back to his ongoing projects and does quick tasks while waiting for other pieces to finish.
Take note also of Williams’s routine when it comes to taking photos and social media posting. Preparing and planning your photography and social media posting will help enormously in terms of marketing your brand.
12:00- 12:35 Lunch
12:35 – 11:15 putting a black finish on a dining table
1:15 – 1:30 Planing and jointing white oak lumber
1:30 – 1:50 Back in the booth
1:50 – 2:10 Glueing up a coffee table base
2:10 – 2:45 More shaping on the table base
2:45- 3:05 again in the booth
3:05 – 4:30 Still shaping and sanding the table base
4:30 – 4:50 Clean up
4:50 – 5:05 Photographing barstool set
5:05 – 5:15 Laying out a table leg prototype
5:15 – 5:45 Cutting and gluing prototype table leg
5:45 – 6:10 Cutting a table base prototype
6:10 – 6:20 Sizing a tabletop
6:20 – 7:00 Edge sanding table top then heading home
7:10 – 7:45 Editing the day photos
7:45 – 7:50 / 8:05 Preparing the days post/ posting
After the long day is over, William has finished the following.
13 hours
9 pieces worked on
4 pieces completed
4 pieces quoted
1 piece ordered
Sometimes it really helps to see how other woodworkers manage their time. Always remember that copying another person’s workflow will rarely work for you, so take the time to adapt what works with your business and your schedule! See you on the next blog Woodpreneurs! If you want to learn more about woodworking tips and techniques you can visit our FB page Woodpreneur Life!
IG: @graeberdesign