My time for sale - technical writing/testing or woodworking

[Toxxyc]

Good morning everyone, it is time to officially announce that I'm in the market for a contracting position - part time, 1~2 hours a day, doing writing for a side income. It could be technical, for marketing, proofreading, even descriptions for products on a website. I can also proof and check websites for issues. I also do FE testing on software and websites, and it is part of the writing that I do.

In addition to that, I also started a small business building furniture such as desks, tables and benches for an additional income, to your order. This includes patio and dining tables, study desks, reloading benches and more.

I've been doing both of these for a few years now but I need to up my client list a bit, so here we are. PM me if you're interested in either of these services!

[oafpatroll]

All the best with your initiatives. If I hear of anything in the testing and tech writing areas I'll let you know.

[Toxxyc]

Thanks mate, appreciated.

I created a small company for now, and wrote my first invoice end June for my first long-time client in the technical services space. It's super rewarding - they are happy, I am happy, etc.

I decided to do it the "right" way as well and I'm already keeping the money for SARS on one side. It hurts, but it's the right thing to do, I guess... :D

I don't have a registered business yet, but if I get more clients and more hours, I have A LOT of plans for this business. It seems there is a big market for it as companies don't want to employ technical writers full-time, due to fears of not having enough work for them, so this service should fill that gap for them. I'm quite excited!

[DaavG]

What is technical writing as a matter of interest?

[Toxxyc]

I do the writing of user guides, manuals, training material and things like release notes for software, particularly in the SaaS (Software as a Service) industry. This involves me running through the software end-to-end, and typically also involves me doing a ton of frontend testing. If need be, I also assist in UI/UX design choices as an outsider, as I typically have a fresh set of eyes on the product.

It extends past that though, and I've also done quite a bit of marketing material and all other kinds of professional writing for companies and people.

[DaavG]

Interesting thank you. I'll spread the word

[pblaauw]

Toxxyc I might want your help end of August. Are you able to build something like this?

[OCP]

Toxxyc I might want your help end of August. Are you able to build something like this?

That's awesome!

I want one too ;-)

Sent from my SM-G996B using Tapatalk

[Toxxyc]

Toxxyc I might want your help end of August. Are you able to build something like this?

I haven't yet, but I see no reason why it would be impossible. Wood is just damn expensive, so I'd actually recommend mostly steel with wood accents. To give you an idea of what I usually do, I'll copy-paste a post I placed elsewhere:

OK, so it's time for me to update this thread. It's been a "feeler" type thread for far too long. I'm now fully advertising my services in this regard.


I build custom furniture in my spare time. Desks, tables (patio, coffee, dining room, etc.), stands, drawers, etc. etc. I'm not ultra professional yet, but my work has been steadily improving over the past few years and every build is better than the one before. So far I've built small stands just to lift a PC off the floor, all the way up to massive 2.6m desks with risers and lifts and cable trays and drawers to house a computer system and a full AV setup, and more.


I've also done speaker builds (speaker boxes from scratch - design, optimise the sound profile, and build, as well as seal and install crossovers and drivers, etc.), speaker stands, re-built destroyed plinths, etc.


I started with this:



This was just a PC stand to lift a PC off a floor to desk level. This also cemented my favourite way to build - steel base with wooden top. It's strong, it's modern and it's not too expensive. It also works, and it's stable.


This style (black steel base, stained and varnished/sealed pine top) continued for a few builds. I did several desks in that style, as well as a tall and narrow stand for under a TV, and a few other builds, all in a similar style. I also started expanding, and one of my more fun builds was refurbishing a set of plinths for under a set of speakers for a customer. He bought a very nice set of speakers from a guy, but the guy ruined the plinths. Full description later in this same thread, but in short, the before and afters are here. Before:



After:




Alongside this I also started working with different materials, mostly on request from clients. These included a Carb member who had a desk built by some backyard guy to totally stuffed up an otherwise very nice piece of wood. He reclaimed the wood, had a tabletop made and sent it to me to rebuild a desk for him. I told him the drawers and steel from the base was unusable (unfortunately) and it was TERRIBLE. The top itself was covered in holes and damage from the previous builder, and I fixed it with a lot of elbow grease, combined with a very nice black epoxy to fill the holes. The result was very nice:




I also expanded into using composite woods for tops, including 16mm melamine boards, which is usually only reserved for building kitchen cupboards. However, the large size of the sheets mean you can build large desks. And I mean LARGE, like this monstrosity, also for a Carbonite member. He loved this so much, he moved it down to Cape Town with him. It's built like a tank and I made it purely with the intention of holding weight (and allowing his inverter to fit underneath it).



16mm melamine isn't the only composite that works, though, and Postform tops can also make really nice desktops. This is the same stuff used for kitchen countertops, and that's actually their primary goal. They make fantastic desktops because they're fairly affordable, come in decent sizes, and they look good. That's evident in this build, also for a Carbonite member:



This was my first all-white build, and while I had my doubts, the customer insisted and it really turned out fantastic.


I've also delved into the solid wood side of things. This was another Carbie who approached me with a few solid boards, cut from old railway sleepers. This was a VERY interesting build where I learned a ton, but I loved every second of it. From plugging the screw holes, to filling in gaps and cracks and holes with epoxy, to learning how deep the tar penetrated into the wood, its was all over a crapload of fun. And I believe the end result looks STUNNING:



So yes, this is a quick showcase of what I've done, what I can do and what I want to do. I wanted to replace the first post here so people don't have to dig through the thread anymore to find pictures, it's now all on the first post.


So, if you want something, hit me up. I now my location says Pretoria on here, and Modimolle on my profile, but I charge minimal fees for delivery around Pretoria, if you need it. Otherwise, I have two driveways at my place and the N1 to here is an easy road to travel, so picking up is also not a train smash.

[Toxxyc]

I'm also getting my feet wet with reloading benches, and designed my first one for a potential client this morning. The idea is weight, so it's fairly thick steel tubing with a nice fat wooden top. The design is rough and unpolished, but it gives an idea of what we're aiming for:

First draft.jpg


Seated reloading bench, 1.3m wide, 600mm deep (front to back). Reloading top is 800mm from the floor, and 35mm high. Roundovers and typical finishes I apply to these not drawn because quote isn't accepted yet (in fact I still have to calculate the quote).

Idea is to quote on both pine and blackwood, see what he likes and then finish to what he wants. Steel is 75x25 rect tubing. So yeah, gives you an idea of what/how I try to do things.