Salary
Average Salary: $28,440
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $1,187,313
Starting pay for a furniture maker is typically in the nine- to ten-dollar-per-hour range, but for those who can cut it, the rate goes up to almost fifteen dollars an hour, on average (source). That works out to a solid $28,440 per year. It's not a heck of a lot, but think of all the money you'll save by not having to buy a whole wardrobe's worth of pricey dress clothes. No fancy shoes, no dress pants, no "they want how much for this?" shirts, and definitely no ties. You don't want to wear a tie around power tools. Bow ties are safe enough, but they're a little formal for this kind of work environment.
Apprenticeships, vocational schools, and even bachelor's degree programs are available if you want to accelerate the learning curve. The more you know, the more you can earn. The high range for this industry is around $45,000 per year (source). If you put off entering the workforce for a year and get some schoolin' under your belt, you'll have a big leg up in the race to the top.
When you've mastered the craft, you might think about opening your own shop and charging those nice, juicy artisan prices for your furniture. If you've got some business smarts, you could also get into supervisory or management positions. You might have to wear a dress shirt and fancy shoes, though.