RE: Finding a hot niche in a cold place
Very cool! (your last picture didn't show up so hopefully you can fix that).
I have fond memories of my Grandma's wood burning stove. In Buffalo we had a terrible storm and lost power for over a week. Guess where we cooked our food :) right on top of the wood burning stove. It's also amazing to see how reliant we are on cell phones and electricity when power is lost and new forms of entertainment are essential. (My sister actually got engaged during that storm, but that is a different story.)
I also put far too many logs in the stove in an attempt to warm the house and we had to wind up opening every door and and window and spending a bit of time outside. Those stoves are very efficient.
I like what your friend does and love when people find niche markets doing something they love that may not be found in many places. He has definitely made some work that can generate nostalgia and start some fun conversations.
Thank for sharing @brigetbunchy you always have very interesting posts :)
What a great story @benjmiller! I sometimes boil a kettle on top of our wood heater, most of the time I forget that I can even do that! Thanks heaps for thinking my posts are interesting, very kind. Also will look into the photo issue.
Thanks for fixing that last picture, it was a great final picture. If he doesn't mind I'd love to know what a custom stove would go for that he has created (a ballpark price).
He doesn't create them as such, but rather restores originals. They vary in price depending on the model, age and rarity. An average would be around the $1,500- $5000 mark, but it can be considerably more for older ones plus there is installation costs and usually a new flu kit is required.
Very cool and to me that sounds quite reasonable. It's nice to see creative people doing things they enjoy. That's really what people need to find. No matter how much money you make, if you don't love the work, it really doesn't matter.
Making less money and enjoying work more can be a great thing for many people.