Jim Tolpin’s Guide to Becoming a Professional Cabinetmaker
Original price was: $24.99.$9.32Current price is: $9.32.
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Your Blueprint for Making Good Cabinetry and Good Money
If you’ve ever dreamed of making an honest living with your hands, then let Jim Tolpin show you how to become a professional cabinetmaker without losing your shirt – or your sanity.
Thirty years ago Tolpin almost destroyed his custom cabinetmaking business because he committed every easy-to-make but hard-to-avoid mistake. He fixed his shop, his woodworking techniques and his business model so that instead of them making him crazy, they would make him a comfortable living.
With the help of Jim Tolpin’s Guide to Becoming a Professional Cabinetmaker you can follow the same successful and detailed path as you set up your own woodworking business (or make your existing business run more smoothly). Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Be as good at business as you are at woodworking. Structure your business correctly. Keep records that allow you to set accurate prices. Find new business and keep the old.
- Configure your shop, buy your tools and build your jigs so they earn their keep.
- Blend high-tech European cabinetry techniques with American furniture styles to make cabinets that are quick to build, easy to customize and a snap to sell to people in your market.
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27 reviews for Jim Tolpin’s Guide to Becoming a Professional Cabinetmaker
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Original price was: $24.99.$9.32Current price is: $9.32.
Orlando Lopes –
For the price ill keep the book other than that it sucks. This has nothing to to with cabinetmaking only the writer showing his shop and equipment.
petrock –
The book is about managing a cabinet making and installation job. It contains solid shop and job site tips from a salient and obviously experienced author. It does contain some construction guides but they are very basic and not the focus of the book. Jim did author another book regarding cabinet construction which I do have and highly recommend.
In closing, I used the advise of the text to fit a sample cabinet set up for a corner of my hobby shop. Tops and bottoms for about 8 feet of total counter length. Used story sticks and Jim’s layout advise. The stick is a great method for translating positions from the wall to the ply sheets. The ceilings and floors of the shop are uneven there and it allowed me to test Jim’s cabinet fitting advise during the install. Some of the generic forms in the book were also very helpful. everything is square plumb and tight and nice to the eye.
Those were my first cabinets made ( attempting a glue-up counter now also ). The wife likes them, so maybe I accomplished something. Need more pine and poplar to practice. I have no expectations that I will be competing with any of the home improvement stores or established cabinet shops. My brother and I on occasion will renovate and resell homes therefore remodeling a kitchen for cost is a priceless skill and will help our margins. Thanks Jim.
Amazon Customer –
Jim does a good job of explaining the details of starting a cabinet shop. It explains the problems that cabinet makers typically run into and how to solve these. It gives you ideas for start-up, how to set up and keep your books, how to buy and store wood and much more…
Of course there is much more involved such as accounting and customer support, but this one will get you started.
Generally, it’s not the woodworking skills that doom a business to failure it’s the business skills (or lack of).
Joseph Stillwell –
This book is great if you want to start a cabinet shop on a small scale and work up to a bigger business. It’s also great for a hobbyist woodworker with limited space. There are so many great ideas with getting the most success with the space you have. I’ve gone to a class Jim Tolpin taught at Port Townsend School of Woodworking. He’s a great teacher and all around great guy. You will be very happy with this book if you are just getting started in the business, or have been working for a few years but things don’t seem as efficient and profitable as they could be.
Brian K. Seitz –
Purchased this to help with establishing a better way to build projects; specifically cabinets. I found the book was organized great on all facets on creating a cabinet making business. While I had not considered making this a business, the professional structure laid out: Design, Production Planning, Job Organization etc. were invaluable. Would strongly recommend the book.
G. Spierling –
I have not read it through yet, but a quick look i’ll say good
WHITETRASH –
GOOD INFO. IF YOU WANT TO GO PROFESSIONAL THIS IS ONE OF THE BOOKS TO BUY. A LOT OF GOOD INFO ON SETTING UP YOUR SHOP
Felix Lopez –
Good ideas and information on how to approach woodworking as a business and leave the hobby behind. Also purchased “Working at Woodworking – 1991” at the same time and was disappointed that it presented much of the same information. If I had known this previously, I would have only purchased “Professional Cabinetmaker – 2005”.
Thomas( Doc Savage 45) –
Excellent book by Mr. Tobin. Wish I had read the practical information he gives when I first became inspired. It would have made my woodworking journey less painful.
He said one thing in his earlier version of this text which has been updated and is more now current. I am paraphrasing..”If there is no place to put it don’t build it.” good advice for guys who save everything then have no shop space to work?
Helps to organize and simplify?