Making it thrugh another year, '24-'25

[SawyerTed]

You might consider more select showings.  Up the ante. 

Create an "exclusivity" - for example: only on the second Saturday of the month at (you pick the location).   

Quit competing in the trivet, pot holder and candle crowd!

Do your own shows.  Once you get a routine and people know how to find you, you'll be able to quit dealing with the flea market mentality. 

[beenthere]

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I appreciate the suggestions. I am not giving up, just trying to refine/improve the process. I have thought of setting up 'my own show'  and just inviting one or two other vendors to join me, but still looking for a place that is 'right'. My place is too far out of the way for most folks to bother.
 I am staying away from 'select shows'. That just means the promoters are charging $200 - $500 for a 10x10 booth with no guarantee of sales. WAY too much of a gamble for me. Yes, I will surely be working on self promotion outside of shows in the cold months. Also, making myself less available just translates into even less sales. Nobody pursues me, at least not yet and the shows do serve well to meet new potential clients.
 21 if I had any skill, I would certainly do that. Yesterday when it got slow I pulled out my mando and moved to the far end of my booth and worked on my daily practice hoping nobody would hear me over the general and road noise. When I customer walked up, I put it away and he was disappointed. I explained I was just re-learning and really couldn't play. But if I could play, it might not hurt. Last year at the show I am doing next weekend (hopefully) I had a friend stop by my booth and he had brought his long neck banjo. He did sit on one of my benches and play for a while and we (the two or 3 of us) had a nice time as the crowd shuffled by. He is a touring pro who was leaving the next day for a long tour through the west coast and SW US. Only one or two folks knew who he was and said hi, the rest just thought we were goofing around, which we were. It wasn't a 'draw' however. Now if we had 2 pieces, it might be different.
 Ray if somebody did that to me, I might just fold up my tent and move.... on out of there. Organizers need to do their job, and that's not done when or after vendors are moving in.
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So yesterday's show was open from 11 to 5. I got there at 8:45 so I could figure out where I would fit best. The organizer showed up at 9 and we talked it through. I had already picked my spot, I helped her measure and mark the others and I started setting up. I actually had a better spot than I expected and the end of the aisle and could work out of my trailer for the day, which is important to me.
 Pleasant day, decent and fairly steady crowd, not many buyers though. I only sold one (my last) rustic stool. But the show cost me nothing but my time. I should have made a largish sign to list my next 3 shows, but I did tell a lot of folks I talked to about those shows. It gives them some time to think over items they were thinking about and go home and measure things up, then come back to another show and finish off a purchase, at least I hope.
 Show closed at 5 under sprinkling very light rain/mist, I was packed by 6:15 and home by 6:45 pretty tired.
 Next show (Saturday) I guess is my biggest one of the season, last year I did fairly well, but they raised prices this year and my booth cost about 80 bucks this time. I bring the trailer over on Friday to get my spot and do a rough setup, finishing Saturday morning. Forecast right now says a solid rain out for the day, so I am hoping for better than that, but the weather is not looking good at all. Then I do a repeat show the week after that at the fish and game club for my last try at making some sales there, then finish up with largest show I do (by attendance, but cheaper by cost) on the 21st. I am hoping one of these shows brings my average up. I am not quitting, but trying harder.
 I have no time to make replacement stock, really wish I did. What I need most is rustic stools, they move well, but I have to make a mess of legs and I only have enough slab wood the make about 4 more. Legs take me a while, with all the steps and I don't want to try to do a rush job. It will be winter work, but at least I know I can sell them. I will get started and see if I can have them for that last show at least.
------------------------------

 I have to fill out my show notebook this morning, then plan my week and get to work. I have a shed order I have to get milling on.

[Old Greenhorn]

 Surprisingly I got a lot more done than I had expected. My plan was to go pull logs with Bill today for milling up a woodshed build order.
Late in the afternoon yesterday Bill texted me inviting me down for a beer when I got home. I explained it would be late and I would be tired., but he texted back and said "c'mon down anyway, I'll be here."  Something in the back of my head said this was about more than a beer, Bill isn't a wordy guy like me and I know he is going through some heavy personal issues right now that flare up at odd times. I just had a feeling something else may have prompted the invitation. Maybe he just needed somebody to talk to. We've all been there. So I headed down after a quick dinner and chores. The house was dark, nobody around, as I was leaving I heard voices from a 1/2 mile away, loud laughter etc, and I figured he wasn't alone, so I drove back through the skid roads and found them. They had 2 campers, a fire, were barbequing and the kids were roasting marshmallows. They were camping with the little kids for a night 'away'. I was so tired I barely got through one beer (yeah, me) hung out for 30 minutes or so and headed home. I had another beer at home and went to bed.
 Knowing they were camping and inventing fun stuff for the kids o do, I didn't go down today, although he invited me for breakfast, I had mine about 45 minutes before his text. I was up early and ready to go. They were still doing 'fun stuff' when I went down at 6pm to get some beer out of the (3) kegs he needs to empty (what are friends for?). Been thinking about how I need to really get some stools made and I knew I had better get off my butt to have at least some for this season. But I am getting weary of what has become production work now.
 I found some material I could make legs out of and cut up 24, ripped them down square then put the chamfers on them to make them into octagons. I ran the tenons on all 24. Now that I have a variable speed 1/2" HF drill they go on a bit smoother, but not great. I still sand them from 1-1/2 to 1-1/4 diameter by hand for a good fit.. I am getting fast at it, but it still takes time to do that, then blend in the shoulder smooth. I sanded 16 legs. Then I cut a long slab into 1" sections for the 'seats' and drilled a few. I already had one stool in work and I drilled that too.
 All this is much faster than the last run I did, so I am pushing a bit. Tomorrow I will finish the drilling and glue all the legs. While they dry I will start on some cost racks. I am going to try out the style of those ones Danny made that went in the PR auction. I like those, makes me think of Danny while I am working on them. I am still stealing his ideas, I hope he knows that.
 So a pretty good day. Let's see if I can hold this pace. I won't have anything new for this weekend, no time for making and finishing by Saturday, but perhaps for the last 2 shows anyway. The earliest I could be cutting the legs on these Stools in Wednesday, then start final sanding and finishing. Not likely to get enough coats cured by Saturday, unless I set an alarm for 2am to sand and do another coat. I also have a couple of those cookie mirrors in work, but I still have one on the trailer.
 I gotta keep pushing. Tomorrow is another day.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yesterday being 'Labor Day' that's what I did. Never left the place all day, just worked. I really would like to have some stools done for the show Saturday and it appears that so far, I am maintaining a 'best case' pace. Yesterday I got them all drilled for legs, did the shape sanding on all the seats, and got them all glued up. The one stool I had in work already has through tenons because it is thinner and I cut off the tops of those legs at the end of the day and sanded flush. The 4 new ones have blind tenons, so they go faster and glue easier. I'll check again this morning, but I don't think I need to do any touch ups. They are ready to get the legs trimmed today.
 While the glue was drying on those I took the cherry material for the coat racks and cut it to rough length, ripped it to uniform widths, then cut finished square ends. I have to figure out how to jig up the hole drilling for the joints today, but the stools take priority. I am trying to get at least some of them 'sale ready' which means the push is on. I'll work on the coat racks as a fill in because they are unlikely to make this show, too much finishing required and this is a new design for me, so I need to work it through.
 SO for today, the plan is to go to the mill, trim all legs, hopefully don't blow up a blade or have one tear out, then back in the shop and do a lot of finish sanding and get the first coat on everything before dinner. I may have to run to town for another can of poly, I lost track of what I have. If there is time left, I will plug along on the coat racks.
 It's just another day.

[Old Greenhorn]

Another good day today, in fact nearly a perfect day. Weather is great, low humidity, lows 70's for a high, perfect. I got my stools down to the mill around 9am and was headed back at just about 10am. Bill texted me with a part he needed ordered so I did that to get it on the way, then started doing final sanding on the stools which is tedious doing 5 stools at a shot. Found one leg had a growth crack that I missed, so I filled that with glue and figured it will need more work and won't make the trailer this week.
 I got everything sanded and found I still had one new can of exterior poly, so no trip to town. SO I opened that and mixed and poured off a bit into a working cup and thinned with mineral spirits as I always do now. I got a goo coast on all the stools and set them off on a drying bench right at high noon. Way ahead of when I thought I would.
 I had lunch and feeling ahead of schedule I took a little mando break and began work on a second tune, this one will be slow coming I think, more complex. But I would like to kind of get back to where I left off with a half dozen tunes under my belt. I am also planning on hitting up a pro player friend for some coaching when he comes back from his west coast tour in a couple of weeks. My approach before was not great. There are some very fundamental things I cannot do and need to understand or work on...hard, before I can really play this dang thing in any useful way.
 Then I took the shortest coat rack pieces, which are more of a test run set only a foot long and started figuring that out. I wanted to make one test unit to see how it appeared and figure out my tooling and setups before I committed to the longer stock. My cherry is precious to me, I'm not wasting it on ugly stuff if I can help it.
 Got through all the steps on that and got it glued together, then sanded. Eventually the glue on the screw hole plugs dried and I did a final sanding done on that and am now looking at it and deciding how to proceed from here. Mostly I am trying to decide if I like it. Probably finish it tomorrow and think on it some more. This one I just made will probably not sell and I will use it in the shop of the house. Only 3 pegs on it. I'll see what the wife thinks, then maybe show it to youse guyz for a second, third, and fourth opinion.
 

[doc henderson]

my coat racks are usually spaced 6 to 8 inches apart, with a brass plated double hook like we all had back in grade school.  If I know they are going into a modern house with 16-inch on center studs, I space them 8 inches, so a hook lands on a stud.  I counter sink under the appropriate ones so a screw can hit a stud and get a hook over it.  some folks cannot figure out how to take them down.  slick!  

[Old Greenhorn]

Forgot to mention a little tid-bit from yesterday, one of those 'smiles' that pops into my day from time to time. When I went down to the mill to trim legs, I swung up by the shop to see if anyone was around. They weren't, all out on jobs. They are blowing and going on overload to get things done with a couple of big long running projects. So as I did my 3 point turn up at the shop to head to the mill, this little guy caught my eye. "Hello, what's this here?"



 SO that's a new addition to the fleet, cute as a button and perfect for Bill's road He might even do some woods roads with it for all I can guess.
 I just couldn't figure out how he got it home without me seeing it drive by because I know he would either stop, or at least give a blast on the horn. I thought maybe it's a loaner. 
 Well turns out they are so busy he went about 3 hours north picked it up late one night after work. He didn't wanna 'stop in' at 1am and I appreciate that. He says it is a blast to drive.  I might give it a try, but blade management on a grader has always been a bit intimidating to me. Angle, tilt, and crown are a lot of things to manage. Bill has over a mile of road to maintain to his place and had done it with the toolcat, mini-ex, and skidsteers all along. It's a nice road, but a lot of work. This will make it go plenty fasteer. I can't wait to see Inga driving it.

[Nebraska]

Fun!

[thecfarm]

Looks like a nice clean machine!!!

[Resonator]

Nice machine!

If you get to run it, start out just practicing slow. Work on basic lowering and raising the blade while moving, add more adjustments as you get comfortable. Just about any grader can be improved by adding a slope meter (bubble level type gauge) in the cab above the dash, so you know how the machine is crowning. Another help is to weld a rectangle of steel plate to a length of angle iron, and bolt it to the end of the blade (also known as a moldboard end gate). This will help catch material from trailing off the blade, and keep an even grade with each pass.

[Old Greenhorn]

I don't plan on using it, but I may take it for a test ride sometime, providing it has a cup holder.
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Well, I just returned home from to pre setup for tomorrow's show. This is a fairly big one which is also a town wide party with all the community groups involved, a car show, frog jumping contests, demonstrations by the State Police, Fire Dept. Encon, Forest association, gun clubs, 2 bands, and a ton of other family stuff plus all the vendors. I did well there last year with just a 12x12 booth as my first large show ever. This year I popped for the 12x24 booth at $70.00. Last year I worked out of the truck and that was a bear of a job. This year I have the trailer. thought it would be a piece of cake.
 BUT, I made a mistake in my thought process. All the other shows I have done, I am on the fringe, meaning my trailer got snuggled in behind my booth and it works great. This show is in a park and they use every inch. a 12x24 booth is EXACTLY that and not an inch more. This means my trailer has to be inside those marks and cuts my display space considerably down to about 40%. I am kind of screwed and there is nothing I can do about it except make the best of it.
 Yes, I could unload the trailer and park it in the lot, but I cannot bring the trailer in and out once others set up. I can't unload today, weather is coming in overnight and I don't want to risk it, plus it's not secured.
 So I looked it over and decided all I can fit is one canopy directly behind the trailer, butted right up against it. That means when I fold down the back ramp, it fills most of the space under the canopy so I can't set up  with the door open. Along the side of the trailer facing the aisle I only have 1.5' where I could maybe put some benches, but it's not covered.
 This is not going to be easy. The weather has been forecast rain rain all day for a week now with a high of about 68°. But I have money invested and this should bring in some decent sales, given a decent crowd.
 My plan is to get there very early so that if I have to arrange the setup twice, I have the time. A 7am start would be nice. I'll get all the big stuff out of the trailer, close the back and set that stuff up, then see what smalls I can fit on a single table and also on my other tables that are for sale. I'll probably leave some stuff in the trailer as stock, keep an open mind, and deal with it the best I can. I am not seeing big activity on the weather radar, looks like an all day drizzle at this point with some heavier rain in the later afternoon. This show is 9am to 6pm, so a long day considering load in and load out. If I drive off the field by 9pm, I'll be surprised. The event runs well past 5pm including the fireworks at around 8pm. I am patient and just wait for other vendors to clear out so I can get in easy.
 Obviously, for next year I need a different plan for this show. I'll think about that as I sit in the rain watching my stuff get wet.  For this year, I'll be happy if I can cover my costs. This is a 'rain or shine' event. If they would have made Sunday the rain date, we would be a lot better off. But I gotta take it as it comes, right? I just hope it's not a bust.
OY VEY.

[Old Greenhorn]

A pretty long day yesterday and it started with a very poor night's sleep. Up at 5am, out the door by 6:15, on site before 7. Solid overcast and some very fine sprinkles in the air off and on.
 I figured out a setup that 'sort of' worked for the day, although not great.



I was on the end of the aisle and could stretch out a tad, but not a lot. There was no room to sit in the booth, so I kind of hung out on the left side leaning on the fence. Although the weather kept the crowds down, there was still a steady flow of traffic, mostly local folks smart enough to come in the morning. This is the one show I do where I see lots of familiar faces, friends, old and new, so I get to do a lot of visiting time through the day. One former co-worker buddy hung out for an hour while his wife shopped.
 The next two booths down the line were also wood products guys. One made fancy mailboxes and lawn art cutouts. No competition there, different stuff. But the other had some fairly nice slab end tables made from Red Elm, plus he had burl bowls. His prices were low with respect to his quality, and he sold a bunch of stuff and I am sure he did fine. The mailbox guy, did not do well. I was kind of in the middle, sales wise. Nothing until after noon. Around 1:30 I sold the park bench, which was a huge relief. I found the perfect buyer with a perfect spot on their covered front porch. For them it was a 'no brainer' buy. We loaded them and off it went. I sold one of my lesser stools I've been carrying all along for $25. and the lady tried to offer me $20. but I declined and she paid full price. It was already a 'knock down' to move it out and I wasn't giving it away for cost or below. I sold a little business card holder to a young lady and at the end of the day I sold one of the new design 8 pack carriers. The bench sale made the day 'OK' but nothing like last year. I had a woman (who smoked a pipe) thinking hard on the corner shelf that I would also like to move out. I knocked $25. off the price and she even had her check book out, but then decided to think some more and I didn't see her again.

 Around 3pm the skies finally opened up and it rained hard enough and long enough to clear out the majority of the crowd. The it sort of cleared up, but most folk were gone by 4pm. I wasn't in a hurry to close up because I had to wait until most of the others around me were gone before there was room to bring my truck in to get the trailer and get out. My daughter and SIL were there planning to help me pack, but much of my stuff was wet, really wet from the blowing rain. I figures I could pack in a normal hurry with everything wet, then take it all out to day to dry it, but I would still have to sit and wait to get out. Or I could take my time, wipe, dry, and pack stuff at a slower pace and have less to do today. I chose the latter and sent the kids home. Then I just poked along a bit at a time and it still went fairly quick and easy. I was still waiting for others folks to pack out so I had room to get it, and make the turns to get out. The timing worked out pretty perfect. I will still have to empty a bunch out today to get it really dry and clean.

 My chainsaw carving friend Hoppy, was back in his usual spot again. Most of his stuff is sold long before the show and folks come to pick it up and pay. He only had two pumpkins left at the end of the day. He brought a new piece that he just finished last week and my Daughter wanted a photo as they were leaving.



 It was a very popular item all day long and Hoppy had a crowd of folks constantly at his booth. Everybody knows him, or wants to.
 Here is a poor detail photo of the top section.


It's all one piece and stands at about 9' tall.
 Anyway, I got out and was leaving the site at 5:30 in a steady rain. When I got home I only took a few soaked moving blankets and some small pieces into the shop to dry that didn't have a hard finish on them. Left the trailer hooked up and came in for dinner. The show was supposed to be from 9am-6pm so I got home almost 3 hours earlier than expected. Still I would have preferred to stay and be selling for those 3 hours. It is my most expensive show and should have had the best results, but at least it wasn't a bust. I am very glad to have sold that park bench. Moving it in and out is/was a bear and I got my asking price.
 2 more to go and one is a bigger one IF weather weather is decent. Last year it was not. I have to print all new brochures this week, everything I had out got wet and destroyed.
 Time to get to work.

[Resonator]

Looks like you did good with what you had to work with... adapt, overcome, improvise!

Maybe Hoppy can give you a "good friend" price on the giant carving?  
It would be perfect advertising for: "Tom THE O.G. Mushroom Logger!"

[aigheadish]

I'd be intrigued if I saw your booth, wondering what was in the trailer. Looks like you had a very nice set up.

That Alice mushroom chair is incredible. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I like the sculpture, but would not know what to do with it. I watched them load that thing for the trip home and it took two men and a boy to get it on the trailer. Besides, I think the 'buddy price' would still have 3 of 4 zeros left of the decimal point.
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Funny story from yesterday I had nearly forgot about. So this guy comes by and is admiring my stuff and asks me where I get my wood. This is question number 16 of the hundred questions I answer several dozen times at most shows. So the conversation goes like this:
ME: I cut all al my trees, mill them, dry them,, decide what to make, design it, and build it myself.
Him: Really?! You have a sawmill? I just got one and we are hoping to mill our first log tomorrow. What kind of mill do you have?
ME: Well congratulations, I have a Hudson, but mostly I run a woodmizer LT50 for a friend of mine. 
HIM: Yeah, that's what I got too, an LT50, it takes a huge log!
ME: Yeah but the hydraulics make it pretty easy.
HIM: Oh, I don't have hydraulics, I have to push it by hand.
ME: (Very perplexed) Really, are you sure? And it's an LT50? Never heard of such a thing. How long did you have to wait for it?
HIM: Yeah, it's definitely and LT50, it came pretty quick, just about two weeks.
ME: (totally confused and getting more so) 2 WEEKS?! I thought they were still out many months on orders. What size engine is on it?
HIM: I forget if it's a 14 or a 19 HP. Here, I got a picture on my phone (begins searching for photo).
ME: well I would be really curious to se this mill. I can't imagine pushing and LT50 head down the track.
HIM: Here, I found it, oh wait, mine is an LX50 but that's probably about the same thing, right?
Me:(Trying not to spit coffee through my nose and suppressing the urge to laugh out loud). Um Well, no not really but hey! Best of luck with your new Mill it's an adventure I am sure you will enjoy.

 Then I asked what he had for drying sheds, skids, and handling equipment, waste management and he assured me he didn't have much but should be able to get by as he figures things out. I don't think the poor guy has any idea what he is in for, but I am sure he will have fun.

[SawyerTed]

Yep, lots of new guys out there without a clue...

Nothing wrong at all with a modest manual sawmill.   Being in the game is part of it!

 But the difference from LX to LT is larger than the average person might figure.  By the time an LX 50cuts a log, the LT 50 might have done 4 with lumber stacked and stickered.  

I ran across a fellow made the same error.  When I suggested an LT50 with 14 hp was a unicorn, I got a real funny look.  When I asked how the hydraulics performed, he said, "I didn't know it had hydraulics."  

I had to ask how many logs he's cut, turns out the mill is not put together yet. 

Coffee through the nose moment of my own. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Nothing wrong with it at all Ted, most of us started with the manual mills and I am still partly there. But maybe because I was distracted by the other folks in booth he really had me going trying to figure out how any man would be pushing the head on an LT50. I have had to manually move ours a few times and I needed more Advil. When I finally realized my folly I tried not to downplay his machine. I mentioned that we have an LX35 sitting new in the box for 3 years now that we haven't had time to assemble yet. He said "yeah, that's a hobby machine, too small for me, I got the BIG one, I got big logs". OK I thought, and changed to trying to give him some useful tips on getting started, but he cut me off and told me he already had it pretty much figured out. Then his wife called him and he walked off. 
 As he walked away I felt like a was looking at a lamb headed into the tall grass where the lions lay in wait.
 On reflection, he struck me as a 'new local' meaning he has recently bought property here and moved here either part of full time after a metropolitan career, basically "moving to the country". I wish him all the best, he should find lots of advice on facebook when he gets wavy cuts.

[SawyerTed]

y in wait.
I wish him all the best, he should find lots of advice on facebook when he gets wavy cuts.

FB and advice?!?

I've read that stuff!  

The Usual Suspects here are about the only ones on FB that seem to give any reasonable advice.  All others are a crap shoot!  

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, I know and agree, but my 'read' was where this guy will go to get some help. He just seemed to fit the profile and I have no personal prohibitions against profiling folks.