Steve,

You made the point that you want to sidestep the liability discussion, but at some point there are a lot of aspects to that you'll need to consider. OSHA may be another factor.

Some questions to consider:
  • How would you charge for your consulting time, when a client keeps taking you away from a paying project of your own?
  • How would you charge for consumables and overhead? You need to consider markup.
  • How would you measure non-discreet consumables? For example, wear and tear on blades? Your time to manage this?
  • How would you determine someone's competence relative to useing a paticular tool/machine?
  • How would you handle damage to your machinery/tools?
  • Do you really want to get into supplying "materials"? That could put you in the middle based on material problems.
  • What would you keep for "open shop" hours? Are you ready to open up evenings or weekends if your client works during the day?
  • Do you have adequate rules setup for shop cleanup?
  • What is the opportunity cost of this venture? In other words, what will the time and capital requirements be to do this and what would be your change in sales/income if you invested the time/money in another aspect of your business?
  • Is there a "woodworking club" in your area that you can contact to see how they do things?


It sounds like a neat idea. Post a separate thread to discuss liability, insurance,OSHA and related issues.

If you decide to pursue it, best of luck!

Rob