Woodworking
From board feet to a price you can defend on every commission.
Woodworking is deceptively expensive to price. The lumber on your receipt is only the start: a project eats blade and abrasive wear, hours of glue-up and sanding, finish that goes on in thin coats, and the offcuts you can't use. Price from the sticker price of a board and you'll quietly work for free.
The fix is to cost the way you actually build — lumber by the board foot you consume, each machine by the hour it runs, finishing and hardware per piece, and your bench time at a real rate. CrafterBy holds that model so a repeat commission is priced in seconds, not re-guessed every time.
The challenge
- Costing lumber by the piece instead of the board foot you use
- Ignoring table saw, planer, and sander run-time and wear
- Undercounting finishing coats, hardware, and consumables
- No repeatable price when a customer asks for 'another one'
How CrafterBy helps
- Cost lumber by board foot from the unit price you paid
- Add a per-hour cost for each machine in the shop
- Track finish, hardware, and abrasives per piece
- Save the build as a template and reprice instantly
How to price your Woodworking work
- 1Enter each species of lumber as a material priced per board foot.
- 2Add the board feet the cut list consumes, plus a waste allowance for offcuts.
- 3Add machine time — table saw, planer, sander — at each machine's hourly cost.
- 4Add your bench hours at a labor rate that actually pays you.
- 5Add finish, glue, and hardware, then set a margin for overhead and profit.
Worked example
Walnut end-grain cutting board (12×18)
- Black walnut, 4.5 bd ft @ $12.50$56.25
- Titebond III + food-safe finish$4.10
- Machine time — saw, planer, sander (0.9 hr)$3.40
- Labor — glue-up, flatten, finish (2.5 hr @ $28)$70.00
- Waste allowance + consumables$6.25
Most makers price this board at $120–150 — below what it costs to build once labor is honest.
Common pricing mistakes
Charging for lumber but not for the hours of sanding and finishing.
Forgetting that a $30 board yields far less than 30 dollars of usable stock after milling.
Using the same flat price for figured and plain lumber.
What you'll cost & track
Materials you'd track
Equipment run-cost
Price products like
Frequently asked questions
How do I price a custom furniture commission?
Build it from the cut list: lumber by board foot, machine time by the hour, finishing and hardware per piece, and your bench hours at a set rate. Add a margin for overhead. CrafterBy stores the whole model so the next commission is a quick edit.
Should I charge for shop machine time?
Yes. A table saw, planer, and sander have a real cost per hour — blades, belts, dust collection, electricity, and eventual replacement. Even a small per-hour figure keeps big machines from silently eroding your margin.
How much should I mark up my woodworking?
Start from a true unit cost (materials + labor + machine + a waste allowance), then target a margin that covers your overhead and the profit you want — commonly 40–50% for custom work. Never mark up from materials alone.