It's loud, right? [Points at the table saw.] This is the main source of the noise in here. When we work, we leave it on all day, except during the lunch break. I got used to it a long time ago. But I think working with so much noise for so long has some bad consequences. My hearing isn't as good as it should be at my age.
When I first started, we mostly used hand tools. They don't make so much noise. Oh, yes! Tools have changed a lot. Thirty years ago, most of our tools were imported-Taiwan wasn't capable of making them. Over the years, there have been more and more power tools, not just from Japan and the States, but also from Germany and other countries. Recently, more locally made tools have been available. They're cheaper, but they tend to have problems. A nail gun should last about two years. But, if you use it a lot, its life span is shorter. The electric saw dies when it gets rusty. They all have a certain life span. Locally made tools usually don't last as long as imported ones, but some people say it's more economical to use them. For one thing, new types of the same tool come out almost every year. If they stop producing a certain kind of tool and you can't buy parts, then the old model can't be fixed if it breaks. So instead of buying a tool that lasts forever, I just buy a cheaper kind. It's all up to you. Everyone has different philosophies.
The bottom line is we can't go around without tools. The table saw, nail guns, and nails are all essential. Whoever runs the job has to bring the tools. I usually bring two toolboxes for the whole crew. The other guys just bring small hand tools, like wrenches, pliers, hammers, planes, and stuff.
[Puts nails in the gun, and drives one into a board.] These are our bread and butter-we depend on them to make a living. Some people I know have become a little obsessed with tools. They collect them like it's a hobby. When they go abroad, if they get a chance, they'll visit hardware stores and pick up some new toys. I've also got into the habit of collecting tools, but I'm not so addicted. I collect all kinds of wood samples, though. I do it out of a professional interest. But, personally, I enjoy looking through them. Building-materials companies let me know when new stuff comes in and they give me samples. I've got quite a collection now. I guess I actually grow more and more interested in carpentry along the way. [Smiles.]
When I was first sent to be carpenter's apprentice, I had no interest in it. It was hard. [Shakes his head.] I was about fourteen or fifteen. I guess that's why it was difficult-I was just a kid. I learned to saw, nail, plane, and I did a lot of busy work. I thought about quitting for the first year and a half. But one of my aunts kept telling me that I should stick with it. She said that once I started something, I couldn't just quit halfway through. Her encouragement made me stay on.
Nowadays, you don't have to go through an apprenticeship to become a carpenter. You can learn it from vocational schools and public or private training programs. Younger generations are luckier. But on the other hand, it seems that they don't learn as much as we did. As far as I know, kids in vocational schools only learn to make small things, like mailboxes, pen holders, and really simple furniture, like stools. They only take a few carpentry courses each semester. And government vocational training programs, even though they provide intensive training in carpentry, only last about six months.
A lot of people go to furniture factories to learn. They work and learn at the same time. They start at the entry level and work their way up. Nowadays, hardly anyone apprentices to an artisan, even if they want to learn about carpentry for interior de sign-and that's more difficult than furniture making. I've had a couple of young guys who learned from me, but they basically worked under me. They started from basic stuff and after one or two years, they were pretty competent. But then they left me to work for themselves.
When I was learning to be a carpenter, it took longer and was much more complicated. Apprenticeship took more than three years; after that, I worked for a long while as a journey man with experienced artisans to get practical training before I could start working independently. Experience is critical. You can always pick up some skills from more experienced artisans. I admit that I stole a lot of my skills from them. [Laughs.] I also worked with an interior designer and I learned from him, too. We had to be able to read his layouts. After a while, I sort of knew how to draw interior design layouts myself. I started my own business when I was thirty.
Household carpentry is my specialty. I do ceilings, floors, bedroom sets [headboards and wardrobes], living-room sets [TV and stereo racks], and bookshelves for study rooms. I used to do a lot of partitions and kitchen cupboards. But no one wants them anymore. I used to do temporary stages for fashion shows too. Now, there are companies that specialize in it. Sometimes I do single-piece furniture jobs for customers. They ask me to copy something from a catalogue or a store. I do tailor-made pieces in my workshop. I also do work for clothing stores, book stores, cafeterias, and so forth.
I prefer household jobs. Shelves or open-faced closets in, say, clothing stores, are standard things that don't require creativity or ingenuity. It's simpler than working on apartments, but stores always set tight deadlines. Sometimes it's impossible. I don't like the pressure. Apartment owners don't rush you. They want a good job done and seldom ask you to pick up the pace.
Most customers are like that-they're concerned about getting quality work. I feel that customers nowadays care more about quality than in the past. Because people now have higher living standards, they tend to demand better merchandise and service. Carpentry is no exception. Nowadays customers want more attention to detail. They can easily buy well-designed and inexpensive ready-to-use furniture in stores like Ikea or Comlife, but they don't want standard, mass-produced items. A carpenter can tailor an apartment interior according to specific instructions. That way, the customer not only has a unique piece, but also one that has more refined features than they'd get with factory-made furniture. What's a refined job? Well, it's attention to detail-a precision job. Of course, you need to use a measuring tape when you're making a piece of furniture, but that's not enough. There are always some mistakes. A tiny error here and another there, and the end result is a defect. It might not be obvious, but it's definitely detectable. A perfect piece is one that turns out with a tight, but smooth, fit between adjacent angles or between joints. I think customers are entitled to demand precision. It's only fair.
Do I have really bad customers? [Chuckles.] I don't remember any. Well, there are those customers who delay payment. Like they'll give you checks that you can cash only after six months. The worst are the ones that don't pay. It happens. Yeah. Sometimes. For instance, when a company suddenly closes down, then I can't get paid for the work I've done there. Or the store I'm doing work for gets sold, and the original owner, who owes me money, just takes off. They simply disappear and it's impossible to track them down.
Then there are the picky types. I really can't call them bad customers, but they're the most trouble. They always complain, and all you can do is try to do what they ask. You shouldn't argue with them, right? I mean, a smart person won't want to get into a quarrel with his customer. I try to meet their demands. In this profession, you get business through your customers-if they like you, they always come back and they'll recommend you to their friends. I call my regular clients sometimes just to say hello. And I provide follow-up services for them-they sometimes need me to do some repairs afterwards. If it's a small problem, my service is free.
Work also comes from friends in the same profession. I team up with several other carpenters. It's not a set team, because it's always different guys. If we're working on just one case, the team can be as small as three persons; but if we can find enough carpenters, we can take on two or three jobs at once. It's normal to make a team among people in the same profession. It's usually a bunch of friends who share jobs. We're like partners, so to speak. If I get a job, I'm the contractor and they get paid by me; but if another guy asks me to help with his job, then I get paid by him. An arrangement like that guarantees more working opportunities. Two heads are better than one, right? Strength in numbers. Don't you think?
Going rate for a carpenter is about NT$3,000 [US$111] per day. That's fair. It's not too bad compared to what other people make. But we don't get a year-end bonus or other benefits. Contractors make a little more, since we charge by the job. We negotiate the price directly with the customer. We'll give an estimate, based on material and labor costs-and customers seldom bargain. They might ask around, but there shouldn't be too big a difference. There's no standard, but there's a sort of tacit understanding within the trade. And like I said, customers care about the end result. I'm sure they believe that you get what you pay for.
During the past decade, we've had a couple of big wage jumps. Much higher than the 5 percent annual raise for government employees. Our wage increases have at least kept up with increases in the cost of consumer goods. Then again, we don't get a regular salary. There's no guarantee that we'll have work tomorrow.
I heard that in some countries, carpenters have strong unions and they get jobs through these organizations. The unions kind of guarantee job opportunities and regulate wages. They say that in the States, when the government needs carpenters, they call the local union; then the union sends someone to do an estimate and provides a crew. We've actually had similar organizations in Taiwan for a long time, that's where we pay our insurance premiums. They have meetings to elect representatives. Other than that, I don't know what they do. It would be nice to have something like [American] unions. But in Taiwan, we fight our own battles. Most professional carpenters are self employed, like me. We don't join together. I'd sure like to see the new generation of carpenters form a strong union.
I also heard that in the States, carpenters are licensed. We should learn from this and do the same. It seems fair, not just to consumers, but to people in the trade. They say it'll guarantee the competence of the artisans and the quality of their work. That would benefit customers. But I wonder if the average guy in the profession would accept the concept. It won't be easy. But I'd love to see it happen some day. We've come a long way, and I'm sure we'll catch up with these advanced countries sooner or later.
I plan to retire when I'm sixty. That's about the time my eyesight will start to fail me. I can't say if I'm satisfied or not with my career. I didn't choose to be a carpenter. Fate put me here. I accepted that, and I've tried to do my job as best as I can. Carpentry certainly isn't the toughest job in the world. Nor is it the easiest. It has its good and bad points, like most other occupations. I'm glad that I've lived through all these years without any big troubles. I'm also grateful to have been able to put my four kids through college. I feel rewarded.