Official 7-Day Test of Hawk BM-26 Saw

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Len I understand what you are saying and I agree Iggy does that for a living or at least part income and depends on it. All well and good. You know as well as I do there are people who turn pens for a living and they chase that golden dream of making it rich doing something they love. Great more power to them. At one time I too had those visions but realized I make more money in my day job and can not figure out the fickel market of buyers from year to year and to rely on this for family income is suicide. Health care, IRS taxes, doing shows and the wear and tear on your car as well as the body. Believe me, I have been there done that. It all goes away in time. He has a niche in puzzles. Not putting anyone's work down but if you want to make a project that is not time consuming and very forgiving then puzzles is the way to go and if if you do not finish them even faster. Hardly any pierce cutting with puzzles like he does so again time saved.  They sell well for him as well as others and this is all good. But when you push yourself in anything the body does wear down. As I said I hope he sells more than he has made and has orders for a ton more. Hope this year is his best and next year even better. Hope he has to hire some people to keep up. Maybe he needs to go on Shark Tank and get one of the Sharks to invest. Take it to the next level. 

Kevin and all others who do what they do for a living weather it is scrolling or turning or crocheting good luck to you all. It is a tough fight each and every day and I am thankful I do not have to do what you do. My hobbies are just that hobbies. If I wanted a job I would have stayed working. If you are around machinery or working with dusts and toxic fumes please take care and do not operate machinery when tired. Bad things happen. Take care of the eyes and lungs. You only get one set. Having fun is still part of the equation and when you lose that it maybe a sign to get out. 

I hope my original message did not get lost and it sounds like I am being hard on Iggy or anyone else. I am not just want to see him and others continue to post here over the next coming years. Numbers are just that numbers. Mean nothing in the big picture. As I said in this thread and others I could not do what some do here and that is make one thing. I would be bored out of my mind and maybe that is what happens to some and that is why they need goals. I have told the story before, I took on a customer order for 500 ornaments with great aspects of doing mayny more because she owned a couple stores. I did 200 and told her to find someone else. Not for me. We are all different have have different goals and one of mine is not to boar myself. I need variety in my hobbies. 

Again good luck to Iggy, Kevin and any others scrolling for pace this year. Hope 20018 is your all time best. Economy seems to be doing well so people are spending. I will be rooting you on. 

[Iguanadon]

1 hour ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Len I understand what you are saying and I agree Iggy does that for a living or at least part income and depends on it. All well and good. You know as well as I do there are people who turn pens for a living and they chase that golden dream of making it rich doing something they love. Great more power to them. At one time I too had those visions but realized I make more money in my day job and can not figure out the fickel market of buyers from year to year and to rely on this for family income is suicide. Health care, IRS taxes, doing shows and the wear and tear on your car as well as the body. Believe me, I have been there done that. It all goes away in time. He has a niche in puzzles. Not putting anyone's work down but if you want to make a project that is not time consuming and very forgiving then puzzles is the way to go and if if you do not finish them even faster. Hardly any pierce cutting with puzzles like he does so again time saved.  They sell well for him as well as others and this is all good. But when you push yourself in anything the body does wear down. As I said I hope he sells more than he has made and has orders for a ton more. Hope this year is his best and next year even better. Hope he has to hire some people to keep up. Maybe he needs to go on Shark Tank and get one of the Sharks to invest. Take it to the next level. 

Kevin and all others who do what they do for a living weather it is scrolling or turning or crocheting good luck to you all. It is a tough fight each and every day and I am thankful I do not have to do what you do. My hobbies are just that hobbies. If I wanted a job I would have stayed working. If you are around machinery or working with dusts and toxic fumes please take care and do not operate machinery when tired. Bad things happen. Take care of the eyes and lungs. You only get one set. Having fun is still part of the equation and when you lose that it maybe a sign to get out. 

I hope my original message did not get lost and it sounds like I am being hard on Iggy or anyone else. I am not just want to see him and others continue to post here over the next coming years. Numbers are just that numbers. Mean nothing in the big picture. As I said in this thread and others I could not do what some do here and that is make one thing. I would be bored out of my mind and maybe that is what happens to some and that is why they need goals. I have told the story before, I took on a customer order for 500 ornaments with great aspects of doing mayny more because she owned a couple stores. I did 200 and told her to find someone else. Not for me. We are all different have have different goals and one of mine is not to boar myself. I need variety in my hobbies. 

Again good luck to Iggy, Kevin and any others scrolling for pace this year. Hope 20018 is your all time best. Economy seems to be doing well so people are spending. I will be rooting you on. 

JT, I greatly appreciate you sharing your thoughts, just as I do everyone else here on the forum.  One thing, and I've stated this several times.  I do not count on the money I make from my puzzles for income.  I purposely don't talk about any of this in "money" form as I think that's just rude or sounds like bragging, but the $20,000 I made in 2017 from scrolling is purely spending money for me.  It's spent on fun stuff, things my wife and I want to do around the house, etc.  My full time job pays me many times that amount per year and I appreciate every dollar I earn whether it's from my job, my "hobby" or my new tourist map business I'm starting up.

I share my experiences so that others can see what I make, the fact that I am able to sell them and if others want to follow suit, so be it.  If people don't like my posts or comments, by all means, skip over anything you see with my name on it.  But I personally know of half a dozen scrollers who sell these puzzles, some longer than I have, and others who have started since seeing my work and hearing about my experience and they're enjoying it just as much as I am.

I'll admit, I have a sweet little thing going.  My wife and I moved to the beach 3 years ago after decades of hard work and we both still work full time and I have found something that I feel passionate about, scrolling animal puzzles.  I enjoy every single moment I'm cutting as well as going to all of the events that I sell them at.  And yes, I enjoy coming home with a pocket full of money.  But I don't feel pressured or driven to make and sell them.  If I have to miss an event due to weather or other commitments, so be it.

Everyone scrolls for a reason... they enjoy it.  Some enjoy it for different reasons than others.  Same as with any other hobby.  I'll keep sharing, and those that are interested will keep reading.  And by all means, continue to chime in.  Don't misunderstand any of this as me being upset.  I don't get upset about things.  I'm too easy going and I actually enjoy deeper discussions.  I just wanted to be sure to make it very clear.  I don't force myself to make 5 puzzles a day.  I enjoy those 2 hours I spend hearing the hum of the saw and seeing the end product laying on my drying rack.

Merry Christmas to all and everyone cheer me on to hit 1600 sales in 2018.  ;-)

Iggy

Edited December 24, 2017 by Iguanadon

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Good for you Iggy. One thing you said and I feel the exact same way.  " I purposely don't talk about any of this in "money" form as I think that's just rude or sounds like bragging," I agree with this statement because so many factors go into making money and selling. We all do not live in the same area and we all do not put the same effort or same purpose into selling. Many just make for giving away and that is fine. We all scroll for different reasons. I am glad the topic spurred on some conversation. Makes for more interesting reading.

 

May all have a very Merry Christmas and may the New Year bring good health and good fortunes to all.  

[kmmcrafts]

 I try not to talk about it money wise.. and I don't believe I've ever posted how much I make.. I do talk orders.. but that is a deceiving number simply because a order can have at least one item or as many as a million+ LOL..... In my mind it's none of anyone's business how many ornaments etc I sell / have sold etc etc.. or what the best selling items are.. as stated... everyone's location etc will be different. 

The biggest thing that hit's a nerve for me is one telling another that it can't be done.. nothing like shooting down the confidence of someone thinking they want to start a business doing crafts.. everyone is wired different and wouldn't know whether they could do it or not until they TRY.. I do make it clear that it's a lot of work and discipline and certainly not for anyone that has little motivation.. I never say they cannot do it..

BTW.. JT you mentioned Health care insurance a few times in some post about business expenses and how one just may not be able to make it on their own relying on this as income.. Just for the record.. Etsy actually offers a group insurance plan for those self employed.. I don't know much about it as my wife works a regular job with insurance benefits.. so at this point I don't have a need for that.. but it's there if I chose to do so..  

[Lucky2]

I used to cut to sell, and I could and did earn around $400.00 per week. It was a fair amount of work, and running around to earn that amount though. I did enjoy my time at the saw while doing this, but I don't know how long I could have kept it up. I have great respect for anyone who can earn a living from scrolling, and I envy them also. I would love to be able to make a living from scrolling, at least I would be working at something I enjoy doing. The only reason I originally chimed in here on this discussion, was because I wasn't sure that John was aware of Iggy's success with selling puzzles. If I had known that John was as aware of Iggy's success as he is, I would not have replied to this posting.

Len

[OCtoolguy]

I originally gave a lot of thought to what Scott is doing and how he is doing it. But, I must admit, I'm a "one shot wonder". I love to make stuff but I very seldom make more than one of something unless required to. 

Ray

 

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, octoolguy said:

I originally gave a lot of thought to what Scott is doing and how he is doing it. But, I must admit, I'm a "one shot wonder". I love to make stuff but I very seldom make more than one of something unless required to. 

Ray

 

While I wouldn't like cutting the exact same thing day in and day out... but.. I really do enjoy cutting the same things for a few repetitions.. I enjoy challenging myself in cutting it faster.. I have some designs that I'm so used to cutting.. I probably could almost do it blindfolded, LOL .. but in reality I find that I do get quite a lot of variety with the various items I sell.. It's not always cutting desk clocks or wall clocks.. or ornaments etc etc.. then I've always got a customer asking for a custom or personalized spin off of a current design.. I find it very interesting what some of the "customers" ideas are and many of them are very cool ideas that I will sometimes offer on my site.. 

It seems like doing just puzzles would be boring.. but what's the difference of doing just clocks.. I'm sure iggy get some odd request with either custom names or just different types of animals etc etc.. Is it more fun designing and cutting something completely new? Yeah sure it is.. I do quite a lot of "New" items throughout the year and add them to the inventory.. something nice about online selling.. I don't have to cut all this stock.. and I rarely get customer after customer ordering the exact same item several times in a row... yes.. I do have the "popular" items that I make 4-5 of every month.. again.. not usually ordered one right after the other.. I can also control this.. simply by not relisting the item when it sells out.. so I can have a break from it for a week or so if needed.. I do this type of stuff during very busy holiday seasons at times..    

 

[OCtoolguy]

33 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

While I wouldn't like cutting the exact same thing day in and day out... but.. I really do enjoy cutting the same things for a few repetitions.. I enjoy challenging myself in cutting it faster.. I have some designs that I'm so used to cutting.. I probably could almost do it blindfolded, LOL .. but in reality I find that I do get quite a lot of variety with the various items I sell.. It's not always cutting desk clocks or wall clocks.. or ornaments etc etc.. then I've always got a customer asking for a custom or personalized spin off of a current design.. I find it very interesting what some of the "customers" ideas are and many of them are very cool ideas that I will sometimes offer on my site.. 

It seems like doing just puzzles would be boring.. but what's the difference of doing just clocks.. I'm sure iggy get some odd request with either custom names or just different types of animals etc etc.. Is it more fun designing and cutting something completely new? Yeah sure it is.. I do quite a lot of "New" items throughout the year and add them to the inventory.. something nice about online selling.. I don't have to cut all this stock.. and I rarely get customer after customer ordering the exact same item several times in a row... yes.. I do have the "popular" items that I make 4-5 of every month.. again.. not usually ordered one right after the other.. I can also control this.. simply by not relisting the item when it sells out.. so I can have a break from it for a week or so if needed.. I do this type of stuff during very busy holiday seasons at times..    

 

I guess once you have built up a following and get custom orders from your folks, it might be different. But to have to be under the pressure to have "inventory" to take to a show or fair, I'm just not sure I want to get that involved. But, once I develop the skills to do it fast enough, I might change my mind. Right now, I'm caught up in trying to fix up my saw and my shop so that when I DO decide to sit down for long periods of cutting, it will be FUN and not in an atmosphere where I'm not comfortable. In my tiny little shop, I want to try to get it laid out in some way that everything is where it needs to be. And that is not easy. 

Ray

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

It seems like doing just puzzles would be boring.. but what's the difference of doing just clocks.  Seriously???? Not sure what type clocks you do but no way am I doing 1600 clocks. Each clock I make is a different theme or design. I will make duplicates of 3 maybe 4 if they are a seller. Just had to post to this comment. Please do not group me with a puzzle maker. I am a clockmaker. Not too many people here focus on one thing from what I gather from reading past posts here. Have to do what makes you happy.  

[kmmcrafts]

34 minutes ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

It seems like doing just puzzles would be boring.. but what's the difference of doing just clocks.  Seriously???? Not sure what type clocks you do but no way am I doing 1600 clocks. Each clock I make is a different theme or design. I will make duplicates of 3 maybe 4 if they are a seller. Just had to post to this comment. Please do not group me with a puzzle maker. I am a clockmaker. Not too many people here focus on one thing from what I gather from reading past posts here. Have to do what makes you happy.  

1600 clocks is not really unreasonable number of the fretwork style clocks that I make.. I have around 150 different styles of clocks to choose from.. 1600 clocks is only about 5 a day with a few days off to work on cutting ornaments and other projects.. I need to see how many clocks I've actually made this year.. don't seem like many.. but after looking at the purchase receipts of the clocks parts I use.. I think I've sold a lot more than I first thought.. I order 100 at a time.. doing some bookkeeping today I've order 3 times since Nov. 1st and I have 2 clocks left..  and I know I've order several other times throughout the year..

Been working with a new supplier and placed another order of 100 a few nights ago.. now these was a good deal.. I wish now I had ordered the 500 for a better price.. I just didn't realize I had done that much business..

I plan on adding some puzzles to the site this year.. Maybe I should set a goal for 5 clocks and 5 puzzles per day then with my leftover time cutout a few ornaments.. that way I wont be cutting the same type of work all the time..

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

25 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

1600 clocks is not really unreasonable number of the fretwork style clocks that I make.. I have around 150 different styles of clocks to choose from.. 1600 clocks is only about 5 a day with a few days off to work on cutting ornaments and other projects.. I need to see how many clocks I've actually made this year.. don't seem like many.. but after looking at the purchase receipts of the clocks parts I use.. I think I've sold a lot more than I first thought.. I order 100 at a time.. doing some bookkeeping today I've order 3 times since Nov. 1st and I have 2 clocks left..  and I know I've order several other times throughout the year..

Been working with a new supplier and placed another order of 100 a few nights ago.. now these was a good deal.. I wish now I had ordered the 500 for a better price.. I just didn't realize I had done that much business..

I plan on adding some puzzles to the site this year.. Maybe I should set a goal for 5 clocks and 5 puzzles per day then with my leftover time cutout a few ornaments.. that way I wont be cutting the same type of work all the time..

Kevin I can not compete with you guys so I better just shut up and get out of this thread. If you consider doing clocks is the same as cutting puzzles I am not going to convince you any different. I hope you too make 2000 clocks and 2000 puzzles and 2000 ornaments and sell completely out for the year 2018. That means economy is doing great and the stock market is rising where I will make my money  Happy scrolling. May 2018 be your best year ever. 

Edited December 27, 2017 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[Rolf]

Boy did this thread go off topic! Now getting back to my favorite part of this topic. Anymore discoveries regarding the Hawk.?

[Iguanadon]

1 hour ago, Rolf said:

Boy did this thread go off topic! Now getting back to my favorite part of this topic. Anymore discoveries regarding the Hawk.?

I made a giant bowl of popcorn and just sat back to read everything as this thread went wildly off track.  LOL  That's ok, it keeps things interesting.

The last of the family members just left after the holiday visit, now I can do some cutting for the first time in 2 days.  To answer your question, 3 solid days of cutting plus a 1/2 day making some last minute orders and the saw is working perfectly.  I'll report back if anything changes, otherwise assume that I'm using the Hawk full time now.

[Bpardue]

On 12/23/2017 at 8:12 AM, Iguanadon said:

Hey Brian, interesting that you feel that the Hawk cuts more aggressively.  My son lives in Winston-Salem, next time we go up to visit I may contact you to see if I can swing by and check out your Hawk.  I may do a drug test on it also as it must be on steroids.  ;-)

just let me know and you can come on by. Just remember I have a "real" job.