How Did You Get Here???

[amazingkevin]

My friends' new wife said whatever your not going to use in the next L6months throw out! I ended up with a lot of stuff and a 14"vibrating Dremel scroll saw.I had it years but when the recession(2004)

hit I was out of work and tried the saw and loved it!  I've worn out 2 dozen saws since.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

1 hour ago, amazingkevin said:

My friends' new wife said whatever your not going to use in the next L6months throw out! I ended up with a lot of stuff and a 14"vibrating Dremel scroll saw.I had it years but when the recession(2004)

hit I was out of work and tried the saw and loved it!  I've worn out 2 dozen saws since.

I have to say either you are the unluckiest person with a saw or you just are hard on them. I know you saw alot but I bet I have sawn just as much as  you over the years with the amount of projects I did. I started back around 1973 I started with a Dremel 2 speed and sold it when it was still working. I moved up to a Hegner 18" and then bought a RBI 220 and added a 226 and a Dewalt 788 (hardly ever use the Dewalt because of that stupid arm not staying up) basically fell into my lap but my go to and main saws have been my RBI saw and have scrolled the most projects on them. They are still running and never did any maintenance on them except for a worn out front tension lever on both. Never oiled anything lubed anything and they still are cutting like brand new. When do you need to get the message to realize Dewalt is just a mid saw player and move up to a real saw that will last. I hate putting it that way but 2 dozen saws you could have owned a few RBI saws. This summer my saws will be put through a very heavy work load because I am changing up inventory and I will be using mainly the 220 but will need the 226 for my mirrors and golfball racks. I have confidence they will do anything I throw at them. I cut all hardwoods and mainly oak. 2 dozen saws, man I would quit long time ago. 

[SCROLLSAW703]

how i got here? man JT, you ask a lot a questions.;) I was drivin' OTR for my Dad in the early '90's, & he was runnin' another driver & I to Corpus Christi, Texas & back to Colby, KS 3x a week haulin' sunflowers out of the field. We were tryin' to stay ahead of hurricane Katrina. We wound up gettin' caught at Orange Grove, TX when Katrina come ashore. Plenty of readin' time then. After we got out of there & headed home,  I came in one sunday evening, walked in the door, didn't even have my clothes bag on the floor yet. My bride looks at me & said you look like hell! It was good to see her, too! She loaded me in the pick up, & off to the ER we went. Luckily, our family Sawbones was on call. He gave me the once over. Proceeded to tell me what all was wrong, & told me if I didn't QUIT eatin', sleepin', thinkin', & breathin' trucks, there was goin' to be a small funeral here in town. Mine! My bride jumps up about that time & says he needs a hobby! I looked at her & asked what that was. She says how 'bout wood working? Well, not bein' around wood, ever, I didn't think she was givin' me much of a choice.;) Good thing I like to read, 'cause I done a lot of it! And still do.

Well, Bein' in the truckin' business all my life, I'd never been close to anything woodworking. Come to find out, my bride was workin' for a woman that her husband was in construction, & recently passed, & She was sellin' his tools. So, I wound up with a single speed Craftsman scroll saw, which I finally wore out, a ras, router, bits, & other odds & ends tools. And I made my share of customized firewood before anything even began to look somewhat like a pattern. Determination & perseverance set in. In my time at home, I spent tryin' to learn these dandy tools now in our possession. I left it alone for awhile. I went to drivin' for a different outfit, & was out 3 wks to 2 months at a time. In 2009, I had viral menangitis. A long stint in the hospital. Made a strong effort to go back on the road for about a year, then come 2 major back surgeries, 2 years apart, & my health & depression finally got the best of me in 2012. I've been scrollin' more & doing other wood working since. The saw calms me, lets me forget about the chronic pain & depression while i'm workin' on a project. Keeps my hands & mind busy. It has been a learning journey, & meeting new friends. In the 25 years of it, we've accumulated a full shop of equipment. i guess that's my .02 worth. 

Edited April 10, 2018 by SCROLLSAW703

[SCROLLSAW703]

i keep wonderin' when you're goin' to invest in a Hawk, Kevin. After all them saws, ya could of had a show room of Hawks, & money in the bank.

[KurtP]

I was never a woodworker, if i wanted something built from wood i would just ask my dad to make it.

I started woodworking when my wife wanted the words Live Love and Laugh to hang on the wall. She seen some in a store that were made in china and were $25 each. 

I said for $75 I could make some and they will look better then the one in the store. The first set of words i used a jig saw to cut them out but there was way too much sanding involved so after some research I found the scrollsaw. I made another set of the words with the scrollsaw and fell in love with scrolling

  

[MTCowpoke22]

I got started in my high school woods class. I had an amazing teacher who used to tinker with all things wood and metal (even ended inventing his own process for what he called Metarsia). He had our Woods 1 class each do an intarsia. I'm pretty sure he had us blow up pictures out of the Scroller magazine because he wasn't going to blow his budget on patterns. I continued through his woods classes, learning other types of woodworking as well. By my senior year, he had me design my own intarsia pattern. Fast forward a few years to college, I realized I could save a little time and money by making friends and family gifts, and crafting things to donate to the various fundraisers for the clubs I was in. So I got my very first Delta SS200 scroll saw and started work in my bedroom. I started looking into other types of scrolling from magazines and kept at it. Finally out of college, I really started to play around with fretwork during my nights and evenings with a shop set up in my basement. I started running out of space for the projects I hadn't given away or donated. So, I started asking local bar owners to display pieces for sale. It helped create conversations at the bars, but did nothing for sales. After I moved on from that job and house, my shop went into storage for a few years. I finally got it out again about 3-4 years ago, and with my wife's encouragement, have been going like gangbusters. That was about the time I found the Village. Since then, I've been selling at craft shows and getting my name out in the community. About a year ago, I finally retired the old Delta and replaced it with a Jet. I still do some intarsia, but also do quite a bit of fretwork and word art. I've also branched out into turning and some furniture making. I really enjoy watching a chunk of wood turn into something. Hoping to some day be able to expand and build a bigger shop for all the tools I've acquired over the years, and keep developing my abilities. I do all sorts of different woodworking, but scrolling is definitely still my favorite.

Edited April 7, 2018 by MTCowpoke22

[barb.j.enders]

My dad always tinkered in his shop in the basement. I took "shops" in junior high the first time it was offered for girls back in the mid '70's.  Didn't do much after that.  Wasn't afraid to try my hand at repairing things in the house.  Ended up taking a couple of woodworking classes in the evenings.  That was doing "bigger" items. Built some things for around the house - fence!!! My daughters bed & night stand using a book called 2x4 furniture.  Could only really do that during the summer and took over the garage.  Needed to find something to do in the winter so I found a used Craftsman.  It had pinned blades.  Didn't do much with it as it wasn't really working well.  Really got into it when hubby bought me the Dewalt 788 for Christmas about 4 years ago. For the first year or so, I felt that I went down to the workroom to cut out of obligation.  That has changed and now if I don't get down to the workroom weekly I miss it.  Guess I am hooked.

[Mimi]

Back in 2004 I went to an arts and craft show and saw some people making things on a scroll saw and thought it would be cool to do. I went and bought a harbor frieght saw and it vibrated so bad it scared me. I went to the new wood craft store and tried a Dewalt and fell in love with the saw and the hobby. This hobby has helped me in many ways. When I was going to school I would study for a while and then go and cut some things out and was able to write my papers and pass my classes. Now it is used as stress reliever and a side income. A lot of people i work with have ordered thing and I have upgraded to a Excalibur and I make Christmas ornaments for the  babies in the infant room  at the day care I work at. A lot has changed since I started scrolling and it has helped me in many ways and am glad I found this hobby. 

[tomsteve]

 

How Did You Get Here???

it was a dark and stormy night........

 

[RangerJay]

Both my grandfather and my father were skilled woodworkers - so I think my own interest in working with wood was a direct result of the example they set and the encouragement they gave me.  I was also lucky to have access to workshops from childhood on and have been able to have my own workshop my entire married life.  In the late 70's I started making replicas of antique wall and mantle clocks - maybe one or two a year for many, many years - don't really know why I settled on clocks - maybe because they looked so good - and wherever they went they became a family heirloom (with at least one family having a serious squabble over where that clock should end up when their parents passed on).  I first thought about scrolling shortly after retirement - despite the fun and the satisfaction of clockmaking it is a lot of money - the wood is expensive - the movements are ridiculously expensive (all mechanical movements) - and anything close to cost recovery is pretty much a very vague and distant notion  ......

So I guess you could say I got into scrolling because I'm cheap:

• the wood may still be expensive - but the work is labour intensive so you don't use a lot - so that makes it cheap.
• you can use scrap wood to make a lot of great stuff - that means the designer firewood bin is a LOT smaller.
• most projects don't take up a lot of space - so you can do multiple projects at a time without a whole lot of problem - and the workshop doesn't look like a major cyclone hit it (most of the time).
• projects generally take less time - so you get the satisfaction of seeing more done and more finished.

..... so I guess at the end of the day I still may not actually make any money - but I know I lose less money .....

Worth mentioning is that the saw has a rhythm about it that allows you to put your mind in neutral and just cut away to your hearts content ..... (or your back gets sore - whatever happens first ....)  ...... think in my old age I would call that therapeutic ...... in my younger days my teachers called it daydreaming ..... (or I seem to recall the term "wool-gatherer" appearing on my report cards .....)

There is one more thing that is really neat about the scrollsaw that, at least for me, has become maybe it's greatest attraction - that is - with the scrollsaw you can craft genuine pieces of art - not saying I'm an artist - but I still like doing those one-of-a-kind projects that become someones family heirloom .....

 

Jay

 

Edited April 7, 2018 by RangerJay

[Rockytime]

2 hours ago, tomsteve said:

 

How Did You Get Here???

it was a dark and stormy night........

 

Every mystery story should start with that! 

[OCtoolguy]

This has  been one of the best topics to come along. I have enjoyed reading everybody's story. The one thing that I have seen in common with many of them so far is it seems that we are all short of shop space. Very few of us have all the shop we would love to have. The other thing is that it seems that scrolling is very therapeutic for many of us. It is something that most folks can do even with some sort of injury or physical limitation. I'm very lucky in the respect. I am still very healthy at 75 and only have a weak back to contend with. Sitting at my computer is my main problem. I truly need to have a time controlled spring mechanism on the seat of my chair to "boost" me out of it every half hour or so. I have promised myself that I am going to get something accomplished this Spring/Summer season. Even if its just to clean out my shop. Anyway, thanks to the OP for starting this thread and I hope more stories are coming. I have already told mine too many times so I won't bore you with it again.

Ray

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Ray I am enjoying everyone"s story also. I see the same things you are. I also see that many times the story starts from parents, grandparents and the roots are deep. It is good to see that people continue to enjoy doing this. Most for the fun and hobby aspect but maybe picking up a few $$$ to support the habit. Therapy as some have put it is good. Ranger Jay brings up a great point about using found wood to make outstanding projects as well. 

 

Hope many others join in and share their journeys as to the path they took to get here behind the scrollsaw. 

[Buttkraken]

The scroll saw is so versitle.  It cuts wood plastic and metal. It makes flat stuff 3d stuff boxes gears etc. one saw has kept me busy cheaply for a year!

[blights69]

Ill keep it as short as I can I am an ex builder with back issues for many years forcing me to quit my chosen trade and onto another which was driving until my physical health said no more and the medication also stopped me from doing my job . I have 2 herniated discs that are high risk for repair and a likely outcome would be wheelchair bound due to the surrounding damage around the base of my spine. I have pain on back and legs 24/7 even with strong painkillers and was at a point where to be honest I was losing the fight. I was looking on the internet one day and a picture popped up in wood and I looked at it and thought how is that done this set me on a mission to watch and read as much as I could to find out how this is done. I then purchased a very old Axminster scroll saw so old in fact in was snapped in half at the base I fixed it to a board to hold it together and practised on that for a couple of months to see if I could get to grips with it and put up with the pain of sitting , the sitting side did not work out to well so I now sit stand sit stand like a lot of us do . I then thought you know what when I am scrolling my pain is there but I am not so focused on it as I am more focused on the cut and hey presto it is my best form of treatment I have found yet not just for the physical side of dealing with long term pain but also the mental side as well which is as equally as  bad as the physical. Since then I have moved onto a Hegner and am now trying the pattern making side out to so I can help others with their requests etc I am also dabbling with Pyrography kind of . How long have I been doing it now less than 2 years so compared to most on here I am a newbie but I like what I do and it has without doubt got me through a rough time. I just wish I had found it when I was a tad younger so I could of spent a lot longer at it when fully fit . The satisfaction you get from making something from nothing especially when it was wood destined for the chipper or burner still  drives me to pick up all scraps. I like to make as much as I can from reclaimed stock including as some may know Vinyl records I like to keep my options open on what to cut etc. That is my story of how I got to Scrolling and why I will carry on Scrolling. May I also say Thanks for all the encouragement from fellow scrollers without that I would not be as far forward as I am now 

[Roberta Moreton]

How I got here? When I was a child I asked my grandfather to teach me. He told me to go upstairs and have my grandmother teach me to cook and sew and stuff. When I was in Jr And High schools, I had to take home ec because girls weren’t allowed to take shop classes. (Girls weren’t allowed to wear pants until I was in high school!) 

My husband didn’t have any woodworking experience, but he did find a used craftsman Scroll saw and brought it home for me. He also started buying tools that he thought I should have. Tablesaw, jigsaw, planer, etc. I went to the library a lot!

When we retired and moved to NC I found a great group that not only has an on-line woodworking group, but a group that goes around the state to teach a little woodworking to others.  I wanted to do that. They put me on the scroll saw.  I loved it.  I practiced and found that it is my favorite type of woodworking! I still build other things but my scroll Saw is the best! Did I mention that I now teach Scroll Saw to others in the club? 

[Gonzo]

I'd have to say because of my Dad and my nephew. My Dad truly was a craftsman. And my nephew is also. My Dad had a AMT Scrollsaw.  He made many a intarsia with it. If you were to Google "hidden forest" and "new shoes", both designed by Judy G Roberts, you'd see the type of work that he did. Proof that you didn't need a top of the line saw to do that type of work. When he moved, he gave the saw to me. I struggled with the saw and didn't enjoy it at all. 

Fast forward to my nephew. He is what I call an old school wood worker, he prefers hand tools over power tools, and he does wonderful work. He taught me how to carve spoons by hand. he said he had a DeWalt Scrollsaw that he wasn't using and that I could "borrow it" until he wanted it back. What a difference the saw made  The rest is history.  I've been scrolling quite awhile and really enjoy it. I think I've found my niche.  

I have to agree with RangerJay about the rhythm of scrolling, and how therapeutic it is.  It's teaching me patience and that it CANNOT be rushed. Like Clowning, it helps me get away from the rat race.  

[meflick]

My story as how I got "here" - I have always been a "crafting" person.  I have done many types of work and projects over the years.  I have lots of tools for different hobbies.  I still have most of them because I enjoy doing many things. I made lots of things for my kiddos, their schools, their sports teams, etc. I usually say I am the "jack of many trades, but master of none."  As far as scroll saw work specifically, my husband had an Aunt who did beautiful tole painting pieces. I loved what she did.  I have many of them and treasure them and would be devastated to lose any of them same as my mother's cross stitch work she did (new Christmas ornament for each of us each year until she couldn't do it anymore.) When hubby and I first got married, my MIL and I took a tole painting class together. I knew my husband's Aunt's husband used a scroll saw to cut all the beautiful pieces that she did.  All of that was 33-35 years ago. Fast forward to probably to about 18- 20 years, we had small children at home and I had hubby buy a scroll saw for me to try and cut some things with.  I wanted to learn to cut my own pieces to paint like his Aunt did.  I quickly grew frustrated and couldn't figure out WHY I couldn't cut a straight line with that $#&*@ saw!  Hubby's uncle was deceased so couldn't ask him.  Nobody else i knew used a scroll saw, and no internet to research on.  Plus, did I mention I had small children at home - so I put that idea to rest, for then.  

Fast forward another 16-18 years until about two years ago.  Both of my kiddos were just off to college (it's true - time really does fly ), about the time they were off to college, I was helping my mom who was dealing with two types of dementia, Alzheimer's and Vascular Dementia (causes small mini-strokes).  She passed away two years ago last week.  Around about that same time maybe a couple of months before she passed away, my hubby's cousin had brought one of Judy Gale Robert's catalogs over to my MILs house.  I saw the catalog, saw she offered classes and said - I want to try that - I need to try that.  The good news for me is that she is somewhat local to me so I could do it fairly easily. She had a spot open, so I signed up to take her beginner's class.  She offered an intro to the saw class for 1/2 day before the Beginner class. I knew I still needed to get some what comfortable with the saw though even before that class so I went out to the shop and played with the saw some.  We now had the internet and Youtube so I did some research, I found Steve Good's site, Youtube videos, this forum and SSWC's forum, and looked around and read everything that I could.  Figured out WHY I couldn't cut a straight line before.  Worked on that.  Did some basic cutting and did some of JGR's projects from her beginner's book before her class. (Those will not ever see the light of day but I do have them! ) After signing up for the classes, my mom passed away shortly after signing up but before the class (I had already lost my dad to lung cancer many years before.) I found working with the saw therapeutic.  While at the saw, my mind was on something else, something enjoyable. If you have ever had to deal with a loved one with significant dementia issues, you know why I needed some therapeutic. It had been several long years watching my mother deteriorate.  I took JGR's Beginner's class a month after losing my mom.  I loved it.  I took her Intermediate class 5 months later.  I still loved it. At the same time, I became a regular here in the village, reading everything and every forum every day (and still do most every day!)  I have learned so much from everyone here.  I tried other things because of you guys and gals here.  While I primarily wanted to do Intarsia work, I have done several other things because of things I saw here that I wouldn't have tried but for you folks here in the forum.  I made compound cut Christmas ornaments for my sisters, their children and my children in honor of my mother and  her annual Christmas ornaments she always gave us.  I hope to do that every year until I am no longer able! I have done all these different types of work with the saw because I liked them and because I figured it would all help me get better on cutting on the lines something important with Intarsia work and fitting the pieces together.  It has.  I enjoy it all but am pretty sure detailed fretwork is not in my future plans!  You know, those some of you do with hundreds, if not thousands of drilled holes to cut!   I admire those of you who do it, but my patience is not there for that.  I have strayed a while from the intarsia work that drew me in, but it still is what I want to work at the most.  I have enjoyed doing other things and will do other things though for as I already noted, I tend to want to try new things.  I am signed up to take JGR's two advanced classes this year.  She will be switching the topic of her advanced class this Fall so I am taking one in May where it is a Giraffe and her baby (just their heads) and then will do something different in the Fall so I am signed up to do that one too.  I am looking forward to them both.  I do not do it thinking to make it into a business or into a way to make money. I do it for the enjoyment, for the fun, for seeing what comes from the wood.  Have i added new tools to the toy err tool box, most definitely, and there are more I would like. Good thing Hubby is the one who taught me that it is important to have the right tool for the job!   

Edited April 8, 2018 by meflick
Typos, but no doubt there are more i have yet to find

[Fish]

Dad started remodeling the house in 1991. He bought a single speed scroll saw at True Value Hardware to build a gazebo bird feeder.  I started playing with it then just messing around making small simple airplanes.  I was off awhile in 2013 and found a used DW788 on craigslist.  I then joined SSV a lot of great people and have stuck with it since. Thank you Travis for all you've done here it's the best forum for scroll sawing.

[WayneMahler]

I guess mine started out building sets for the local high school play. It was amazing to take a pile of wood and turn it into something beautiful. When I stopped I wanted to keep things up so I started wood working at home. My shop just grew from there.

[Scrappile]

I woke up one day and found I was sitting in front of a scroll saw..... I do no know how that happened!  Not really, my story is pretty much the same a most.  I have always love wood working of all types.  Now I have migrated to the scroll saw... may change someday.

[Jim McDonald]

I tried to cut Pinewood Derby cars blanks for my son with a jigsaw and everyone here can attest to the disaster that was.  I bought a like new single speed Delta in a pawn shop and blades at Sears.  Used that old Delta until parts got scarce and bought a Hitachi and when it came time to start the rebuild process on it, my wife said that with our anniversary and Fathers' Day just around the corner, I should just go ahead and get a new better saw.  So I ordered a DW788 and haven't looked back.  It has been to the DeWalt shop once and I have replaced a few parts, but otherwise it has served me well.

A few years ago, I had my hand on my wallet to buy an Excalibur at the SSWC show in Pennsylvania.  Wish now I had gone ahead and pulled the trigger on that--but I am still happy with what I have (little to no saw envy here) and Big Yeller and I have a good time out under the shade tree in the spring, summer and fall.

[GPscroller]

Much the same as most of the people here.  Dad was a registered carpenter so always was around wood and enjoyed working with it.  Jan moved in summer of '98 and that Christmas wanted to build something for her nieces.  My nephew's uncle had given him a maypole animal carousel as a present, so decided I would make three of them (two for the new nieces and one for me).  Had an old 15" Delta single speed scrollsaw in the shop (not sure where or why I bought it) and used it to cut the animals out.  At the same time, was in one of our local drugstores and saw a wolf (real weakness for wolf patterns) on the cover of a CWW&C magazine and thought I should try that.  That was the beginning and am still loving it.  It is my escape and gives me pleasure when projects are done.  Like many others, do a yearly Xmas ornament and people have asked for the years they have missed for one reason or another, makes one feel good.  We (or I should say Jan) gives more away than we ever sell, but not in it for the money.  I just keep cutting and the "inventory"  just keeps cluttering up the house.  Getting the first Excalibur really changed things, was cutting crazy projects with the old Delta, but the EX made it MUCH more enjoyable and easy.

Jeff

Edited April 8, 2018 by GPscroller

[dgman]

I was doing general woodworking and had general woodworking tools. I subscribed to all the general woodworking mags like WOOD, FINE WOODWORKING, POPULAR WOODWORKING and AMERICAN WOODWORKING. Evertime I saw a turning or scrolling project I would have to say to myself, nope, can't do that cause I don't have a lathe or I don't have a scroll saw. So over the years I asked Santa for these tools. One year I got a scroll saw and another year I got a midi lathe. At the time, my wife was a tole painter. In fact she had a group of friends that came over twice a week to paint. I started cutting  the wood blanks for these girls and soon was making enough money to finish equipping my shop like a jointer and planer and a drill press and of course turning tools and chucks and a sharping system and so on. 

To be continued.......... Sorry, had to break fo dinner!

i became proficient in both the lathe and scroll saw. I turned hundreds of pens, bottle stoppers and bowls, and tons of fret work, all of which were given away as gifts. About that time I was a member of a large woodworking club in Thousand Oaks, Ca. I became the clubs scroll saw mentor and did a lot of demos. It was at a meeting when the future owners of the new Woodcraft store came to look for people to teach woodworking classes. I offered up to teach scroll saw and they accepted. 

Other then the wood blanks I cut for the tole painters group, I had never thought about selling anything. The store wanted to do a Christmas Botique one year and asked if I would participate. I said I didn't have enough inventory to do a show, and I also thought no woodworker would want to buy somebody else's woodwork. They told me they were going to advertise to the general public and we're confident I could build enough inventory for the show. So, I agreed. It was a two day show with about twenty local wood crafters, and I made a killing! They did it the next year and I did even better. So, the next year, I built a large inventory only to be told the store wasn't going to do the Botique again. So I had all this inventory to get rid of, so I looked around and found two local shows I could do. I have been doing these two shows for about five years now, and each year I do better than the last.

 

i still work full time and teach about four classes a year. I have the weekends to cut when I'm not doing any Honey Do's. In the summer I will spend an hour or two in the shop after dinner. And when I have time, I visit the Village!

P.S. I don't turn anymore!

Edited April 9, 2018 by dgman

[OCtoolguy]

18 hours ago, dgman said:

I was doing general woodworking and had general woodworking tools. I subscribed to all the general woodworking mags like WOOD, FINE WOODWORKING, POPULAR WOODWORKING and AMERICAN WOODWORKING. Evertime I saw a turning or scrolling project I would have to say to myself, nope, can't do that cause I don't have a lathe or I don't have a scroll saw. So over the years I asked Santa for these tools. One year I got a scroll saw and another year I got a midi lathe. At the time, my wife was a tole painter. In fact she had a group of friends that came over twice a week to paint. I started cutting  the wood blanks for these girls and soon was making enough money to finish equipping my shop like a jointer and planer and a drill press and of course turning tools and chucks and a sharping system and so on. 

To be continued.......... Sorry, had to break fo dinner!

i became proficient in both the lathe and scroll saw. I turned hundreds of pens, bottle stoppers and bowls, and tons of fret work, all of which were given away as gifts. About that time I was a member of a large woodworking club in Thousand Oaks, Ca. I became the clubs scroll saw mentor and did a lot of demos. It was at a meeting when the future owners of the new Woodcraft store came to look for people to teach woodworking classes. I offered up to teach scroll saw and they accepted. 

Other then the wood blanks I cut for the tole painters group, I had never thought about selling anything. The store wanted to do a Christmas Botique one year and asked if I would participate. I said I didn't have enough inventory to do a show, and I also thought no woodworker would want to buy somebody else's woodwork. They told me they were going to advertise to the general public and we're confident I could build enough inventory for the show. So, I agreed. It was a two day show with about twenty local wood crafters, and I made a killing! They did it the next year and I did even better. So, the next year, I built a large inventory only to be told the store wasn't going to do the Botique again. So I had all this inventory to get rid of, so I looked around and found two local shows I could do. I have been doing these two shows for about five years now, and each year I do better than the last.

 

i still work full time and teach about four classes a year. I have the weekends to cut when I'm not doing any Honey Do's. In the summer I will spend an hour or two in the shop after dinner. And when I have time, I visit the Village!

P.S. I don't turn anymore!

Dan, we live close enough to each other that at some point in time, we should get together for coffee and get acquainted. I'd love to see some of your work and basically just get to know you.

Ray