Make puzzles and I'll sell 'em for ya
What kind are you talking about? Scroll sawn?
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What kind are you talking about? Scroll sawn?
Nope...three dimensional interlocking puzzles and puzzle boxes. Check my website (cubicdissection.com).
Well, dive in! I'm happy to help if you have any questions. Reading AP-ART and Puzzlecraft is a good way to get started. Here's a link to both:
http://www.puzzleworld.org/puzzleworld/art/articles.htm
http://www.puzzleworld.org/puzzleworld/art/articles.htm
To make decent 'side money' I'd much rather take on a single large job that takes weeks rather than make a bunch of things that I can knock out in a day or two.
The small things (to me) seem labor intensive (unless I'm going to make a dozen of them at the same time) and aren't going to command a decent hourly wage. And after you pay a gallery 40-50% you might be lucky to have 'beer money'
I don't/won't/can't compete with all the discount places that sell stuff that comes from overseas.
I have an opportunity periodically to 'rub elbows' with people that 'want what they want' with almost no budget constraints. They don't want to hear lumber is $12" a board foot or high end drawer slides cost a 'fortune'. These are the customers to cultivate. You want to do work (at least I want to) for the people that make $500k+ a year. I don't think you can make decent money making things for someone that parallels your/my own lifestyle.
Try to find a niche where you are the 'go to guy' to solve some 'annoyance' clients might have. I just made my 3rd 'cat litter box cover' to keep the client's dogs away from the litter. Criteria was size, match the trim in the house, cats can get in, dogs can't, easy to open to clean litter box, easily knocked down for transport and can you make such a thing?.
The only thing I said was 'you know that might cost you $500. $100 material, 2 custom made hinges, $400 labor later and its a done deal. Who would have thought?
Think 'outside of the box'. To me basic woodworking is basic woodworking. I don't care if its a 'litter box cover or a full wall cabinet. I like the variety too.
Even chairs or dining room tables, china cabinets. If you have the skill go for it. Just don't look at satisfying the low end. You can't compete with 'Rooms to Go'
Is there a market (even if small) for the $500 or $1000 pen? Got a well to do relative or member of the family? Try making them a 'high dollar' turned pen for a birthday/xmas present. Something they will show off to their friends. Who knows where that will lead.
Also don't forget the 'woman' of the family. Many times they run the household. The husband is too busy 'making money'. You would be surprised how many wives get together for lunch, exercise (with personal trainers), take their dogs (yes dogs) for an ice cream get together (I didn't believe this one till I saw it). These women talk about their household problems.
Well I have to get on to working on making a 9'x5' wall space into a old fashioned chalk board complete with mahogany trim. Chalkboard paint, magnetic paint, bunch of router work and an open ended budget. I already know the material alone is $200+
In closing...think outside of the box, consider cultivating high end clients, and don't sell yourself short. Above all, enjoy what you are doing.
The small things (to me) seem labor intensive (unless I'm going to make a dozen of them at the same time) and aren't going to command a decent hourly wage. And after you pay a gallery 40-50% you might be lucky to have 'beer money'
I don't/won't/can't compete with all the discount places that sell stuff that comes from overseas.
I have an opportunity periodically to 'rub elbows' with people that 'want what they want' with almost no budget constraints. They don't want to hear lumber is $12" a board foot or high end drawer slides cost a 'fortune'. These are the customers to cultivate. You want to do work (at least I want to) for the people that make $500k+ a year. I don't think you can make decent money making things for someone that parallels your/my own lifestyle.
Try to find a niche where you are the 'go to guy' to solve some 'annoyance' clients might have. I just made my 3rd 'cat litter box cover' to keep the client's dogs away from the litter. Criteria was size, match the trim in the house, cats can get in, dogs can't, easy to open to clean litter box, easily knocked down for transport and can you make such a thing?.
The only thing I said was 'you know that might cost you $500. $100 material, 2 custom made hinges, $400 labor later and its a done deal. Who would have thought?
Think 'outside of the box'. To me basic woodworking is basic woodworking. I don't care if its a 'litter box cover or a full wall cabinet. I like the variety too.
Even chairs or dining room tables, china cabinets. If you have the skill go for it. Just don't look at satisfying the low end. You can't compete with 'Rooms to Go'
Is there a market (even if small) for the $500 or $1000 pen? Got a well to do relative or member of the family? Try making them a 'high dollar' turned pen for a birthday/xmas present. Something they will show off to their friends. Who knows where that will lead.
Also don't forget the 'woman' of the family. Many times they run the household. The husband is too busy 'making money'. You would be surprised how many wives get together for lunch, exercise (with personal trainers), take their dogs (yes dogs) for an ice cream get together (I didn't believe this one till I saw it). These women talk about their household problems.
Well I have to get on to working on making a 9'x5' wall space into a old fashioned chalk board complete with mahogany trim. Chalkboard paint, magnetic paint, bunch of router work and an open ended budget. I already know the material alone is $200+
In closing...think outside of the box, consider cultivating high end clients, and don't sell yourself short. Above all, enjoy what you are doing.
Now, those look intriguing!
Yup....Mr. Coffin is a heck of a nice guy to make it freely available. Techniques have progressed quite a bit since then, but that's still the bedrock of knowledge. Basic idea is that if you build rigid fixtures / jigs, you can transfer accuracy from a set of machinists gauge blocks onto anything. IMHO every woodworker should have a set of them if you work with small stuff regularly.
Yeah - That's the easy part! I hacked together 6 piece burr #305. Nothing fancy, just cut it out of some pine to see how it would go. Making it wasn't to hard but putting the thing together is another story! Them suckers are not easy to assemble (at least not for me) :icon_scra :BangHead:
PS: I did get it together but I did cheat a bit :wink_smil
pete
Do the Square Knot puzzles, as shwon here:
http://www.puzzleworld.org/PuzzlingWorld/chap06e.htm
sell okay? Even the little 6 piece ones?
Somebody gave me a bunch of walnut offcuts that would be perfect for making a bunch of those and it seems like the jigs for them would be fairly straightforward. Not like I don't have more to do than I will get to soon, but it would be nice to knock off a few things to absolute completion in short order.
http://www.puzzleworld.org/PuzzlingWorld/chap06e.htm
sell okay? Even the little 6 piece ones?
Somebody gave me a bunch of walnut offcuts that would be perfect for making a bunch of those and it seems like the jigs for them would be fairly straightforward. Not like I don't have more to do than I will get to soon, but it would be nice to knock off a few things to absolute completion in short order.
J
jeff...
I like to try and sell my work for a price that keeps the hobby going - that seems to be a fair price to everyone involved. If I were retiring I would look into internet sales - it's pretty much a no brainier - WW shoppers and the store is always open. The hard part is advertising - but then again think about trying to advertise to the world through word of mouth - it ain't gonna happen.
Thanks
Thanks
Yet another reason to "think niche". There aren't that many people interested in buying a citole (medieval stringed instrument), but I know where to find many of the few that do. And there are so few people making them that posting in a forum for Ren Faire minstrels is generally well recieved, particularly if it is not overt advertisement. I asked some questions about importance of period accuracy and got a couple of inquiries in response. They both had immediate needs, so it didn't amount to anything since I have no inventory (just a couple slowly being built with potential buyers already promised right of first refusal) but it was a promising result of sticking my toe in the water...
Hehe, #305 is, from a mathematical and functional perspective, MUCH more difficult to solve than the traditional six piece burr you find everywhere with a solid removable key piece. The traditional is a level one burr...i.e. you can take the first piece out with one move. The higher level burrs get quite difficult. A designer I know just sent me an 18 piece design with a level 48 solution. I probably won't make it....just because it's harder doesn't mean it's a better puzzle.
If you want to get good at solving burr puzzles, make yourself a 42 piece notchable burr set. With those pieces there are 314 different puzzles to solve. I got through about 1/2 of them and after that I could solve new combinations by just looking at them. Here's some good backgroun information on six piece burrs, with plans:
http://www.robspuzzlepage.com/interlocking.htmhttp://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~rh5k-isn/Puzzle/6PieceBurr/solidburr.html
So....if you want to make a GOOD interlocking puzzle, here's the key. It needs to be precise with a nice fit and feel, and the most important part is that when solving it there should be no "right" or "wrong" feel. A poorly made puzzle will feel more solid and aligned when you are on the right track, and when you are on the wrong track it will be fairly obvious by the pieces being misaligned and either too sloppy / tight. When I make a six piece burr with one inch stock, I cut the notches .005 oversize which seems to be a goo compromise between fit and allowing for variences in humidity. You have to *locate* the notches very precisely as well.
The "Square Knot" is actually the design patented by William Altekruse a around 100 years ago, in 12 or 14 piece variation. It's pretty ubiquitous since it's one of the designs available for import from cheap overseas manufacturers. A high quality version may sell better, but I wouldn't spend the time to make them myself.
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