With Chen thus getting by with odd jobs, his family of seven had, as Chen puts it, "enough food to eat, but not quite enough clothes to wear." And so Chen Huo-chin later got a day job applying chemical paints and varnishes at an ROC Air Force base in Shuinan, Taichung County. He continued to make lacquer ware when he came home at night.
這樣零散的工作，對一家七口的陳火慶而言，「是夠吃，但是不太夠穿」，於是陳火慶之後進入了台中水湳空軍飛機製造廠擔任化學漆塗工，晚上持續傳統漆器工藝的製作。