Making it thrugh another year, '24-'25

[Old Greenhorn]

I kept forgetting in the last few posts to say Thank You to John for the suggestion in the first place. I know I said they are stupid, and frankly, they are. But as others have pointed out, it only matters what the buyer thinks, not me. If nothing else, it may serve as a gimmick to draw folks into the booth.
I'll go back through the kindling box again today and see if I have any long enough for a standard wine bottle. BTW Doc, they don't use natural corks anymore, they use plastic because of concerns with bacteria, so no longer a need to keep it wet.

P.S. to Twar: These things won't work if the bottle is empty, so I am afraid your position will be 'surplused' before you even start. Sorry man.

[doc henderson]

there are some that do, but that was the original "rational" but now they just look cool.  all the wine refrigerators, still have them lying down.  Nostalgia.

[aigheadish]

It'll be funny when you have a set of them on display and they all domino over. 

Well, it'd be funny to me. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well it wouldn't be funny to me. But if I do this next show, I don't know that I would even have room for more than one or two. I'll keep the rest in a box under the table. I peeled some more ERC slabs today and figured out where to put the hole for standard wine bottles. I'll work on those later. I have too much stuff on the benches now.

[SawyerTed]

For whatever it's worth, there were over 15 million Chia Pets sold last year.  

[doc henderson]

I know you do not have an engraver, but you can make these from a scrap 3.5 x 12 inches by drilling three holes in a board, and then opening the outside 2 holes with a funnel oening with a jig saw.  1/8th inch round over, finish and donw.  I keep the blanks around and then make them as wedding gifts.  I engrave the glasses as a keepsake also.  



The wine is from the local winery owned and operated by retired ortho doc Jim Lairmore.  He was also in my woodworking buddies' thread.  i think it is an inch and an eighth hole.  

[tule peak timber]

Nice idea. Looks expandable for additional glasses also.

[doc henderson]

I have made them to hold 4 glasses like for 2 couples.  these are typical wedding gifts.  If made un engraved, the end used can get that done, or you can collaborate with a local person if they exist.  seems you may have found someone there.  Cheers Rob!  Godspeed Tom!

[WV Sawmiller]

   You could also make some "Hooey sticks". That is what we always called them. A notched stick with a propeller. Vibrate another stick on the notches and the propeller spins. Say the magic word (Hooey or Hoodoo) and the propeller reverses directions.

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+make+a+hooey+stick&rlz=1C1JJTC_enUS1025US1025&oq=how+to+make+a+hooey+stick&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORiABDINCAEQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAIQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAMQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAQQABiGAxiABBiKBTIKCAUQABiABBiiBDIKCAYQABiABBiiBDIKCAcQABiABBiiBDIKCAgQABiABBiiBNIBCDg5NDhqMGo0qAIAsAIB&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:5d871597,vid:NYmSP_gOPTc,st:167

[doc henderson]

Tom if the typical big spender is around 50 then they have grand kids.  for higher money, consider things like children's benches or even rustic rocking chairs.  you can make the joints with your tenon cutter and Forstner bit.  Grandmas cannot resist stuff for the little ones.

[doc henderson]

[doc henderson]

I did not make this, and it is an adult chair.  a child one could be simpler, (fewer stringers ect.) and I would use half logs for the arms back and seat.  or even a solid seat.

[SwampDonkey]

We had a rocking chair like that one     but with bark on the seat and back. I think my great grandfather made that and that was a mighty long time ago. It was originally up at the fish camps, he and grandfather were guides and ran those camps. That was before hydro dams up here on the Tobique. The dam went in in ~'53.

[Old Greenhorn]

You guys are sure creating a lot of work for me.  I suppose I will try those bottle/glass holders at some point. But the chair would carry a pretty hefty price for the work and I think I would have a hard time aligning all those mortise holes. I can make some of these little thingies and see what sells, but I am running out of room on my tables pretty soon, for sure. But I need to find what sells reliably and I don't know if that is possible, every show is different.
 But I do firmly believe that P.T. Barnum was correct in his assessment of the buying public.

[doc henderson]

make one this winter and next year take it and put "not for sale" and see what a grandma tries to offer to buy it.  take orders.  Grandmas be crazy!!!

[Old Greenhorn]

Not a bad idea/tactic Doc, but I am going to pass on it for a while. Until I have a working bandsaw that I can cut the runners with, it's a not starter. Also, I would need branch stock that is dried and I don't have any of that either.
 Back around show number 3 or 4 I had a Grandma that asked for child sized rockers and I told her I lacked the proper equipment and materials, but as we talked I got the idea that she thought she could buy a pair of rockers for a little over $100 bucks since my stools were only $45 (at the time). I am sure if she saw $250 on a small rocker she would not even slow down as she passed by.
 I am getting the strong feeling that larger items which I carry to show after show are not worth it. The exception being the lower end finished rustic benches in the $150 range. I am going to try to knock out a pile of stools this winter from ERC slabs as soon as I can locate a supply of branch stock for legs. I have sold about 10 stools so far this summer I think.
 I think I will play with that stick thing that Howard suggested. I often get smaller kids looking to buy 'something' with the saved up money and that would be a good one for them. I have a 'Child's first toolbox' in my booth and a little boy saw it and got all excited and asked me if it "was only 25 cents?!" I burst his bubble when I told him it was $25. I would have loved to compromise, but that was a little far to go.

[teakwood]

And at 250$ for a chair you are loosing money, it will take you at least 1.5 days to make one, if you're a quick worker, then oil or paint it. make that 2 days. with the material costs, drying of the lumber forget that

[Old Greenhorn]

Agreed Ramon. My gut feeling for a chair like that is around $450. There is little chance I could make one in 2 days unless I had a bunch of jigs and tooling made up in advance to get the holes square and true so it assembles properly. I see it as  nightmare for a guy at my skill level, which means I may try it at some point, just because.  But I need my band saw operational and I sure would like a better way to make perfect tenons, like a lathe. I'd also likely have to buy a 1" tenon cutter. I have a lot of other stuff on the list ahead of it.

[doc henderson]

In school it was known that if you have a couch to get rid of and put a free sign on it, no one wants it.  put a 25-dollar sign, and someone will steal it.  people be crazy.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well unfortunately Doc that logic is not applying here.  In fact, polite and personable as I am, I am getting really tired of all the folks that tell me my stuff is 'beautiful' and that it is priced too low, but the very same folks almost never buy anything. The reasoning is stuff like 'We are downsizing', 'I have no place it would fit in my home', 'I live in an apartment that has no more room', etc. etc.

 Sticking with the 'get something done every day' ethic I went out and flocked up 5 more keepsake boxes. After no sales all season, I sold two at the last show. I had all the parts precut, so it was just glue, sand, and finish. It might be a 2-3 year supply. In any event the price is going up on these.


I am a little sore after setting up all the hardware for my wife's booth at her biggest and (hopefully) final show of the year. It took two hours just to set the canopies, shelves, racks, and tables up yesterday. She gets there at first light and begins the layout and merch setup today. My daughter helps with that. She does not prep her shows like I do mine and it drives me crazy which makes for a tough couple of hours dealing with it. I will do the reverse on Sunday to break it down and it will be dark when we get home. She's been doing this one for 20 years and paid nearly $300 for her booth space this year. There is usually a waiting list for new vendors at this one.

 So I may take the hour drive out to that distillery today and check it out. My ack feels slightly better than it has the last 3 days.

[doc henderson]

 "I went out and flocked up 5 more keepsake boxes."


Keeping it light Tom.  you know we all are rooting for you.  The boxes look great, I would not say you flocked them up at all.    also I like that green stuff you put on them! 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well those are definitely flocked up no matter how they look.  (Hence the green stuff  ). When they dry I gently brush all the flocked surfaces with a clean dry 1" paint brush to loosen and remove any loose flocking. They come out looking pretty nice if I do say so myself and I am surprised at how far these flocking materials go. I have done 10-12 boxes with this kit and not even close to needing more materials yet.
 After that last post I went and searched online for 'Cedar Keepsake Box" and found that most are between $100 and $300 for a slightly larger box. I was charging $20 for these, but I was going to adjust them to $30 now I am wondering if $30 is enough?
 I also noted a lot of these are sold with no finish on the inside, probably for the scent effect and wondering if I should try that, particularly on my urns. Finishing the inside, especially on a small box is a real pain and consumes a bunch of time. Now I am wondering if they are more appealing unfinished (inside)?

[doc henderson]

easy to check by leaving some unfinished.  and if you sell all the finished ones, you then finish the leftovers.  can you do a thread with more info on the flocking.  I may have done it as a kid with reference to material source etc.?  a step by step.  if and when you have time.  I have 6 jewelry boxes to finish for my buddy Frank, who passed away.
or a video if you still do those.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, If I had known a few hours ago, I may have only flocked up two of them.
 Just as, if I had known you wanted details a few hours ago it would have been easy to do. It's pretty simple, I got the kit from Klingspor's which is just the flocking, the flocking adhesive/paint, and the flocking dispenser.
 You paint the surfaces with the adhesive, place the thing in a plastic tub (to catch to overblow) and blow the flock onto the surfaces with the dispenser. No worry about using too much, just get good coverage all around. Then take a dry brush and wipe off the loose stuff from non flocked areas and allow to dry. The collect all the overblown stuff in the tub and save it back in the storage for the next time so there is no waste. When the paint is cured up, lightly brush the flocked surfaces to remove the loose stuff and it's done. Collect any loosened material for re-use if there is enough, usually not.

[beenthere]

OGH
Is  your wife's booth profitable for her invested time/$$ spent supplying and working it? Or pretty much a pit like yours has been?