Bad Day Or Good Day.. Can’t Decide

[kmmcrafts]

First thing this morning packing orders this happens. Guess I should hold onto stuff better .. I have two custom orders I’m working on and two made to order jobs going on. With this breaking puts me a little behind schedule. 

 

So I’m out sawing a new one and my phone keeps chirping with alerts of new orders both Etsy and amazon. You know when the phone makes a order sound I’ve just gotta check to see what the purchased item is...several orders came in today and one of the orders is for 53 ornaments. Lucky me I anticipated this and already had 32 made. Probably a record money making day for me. Not uncommon to do a few hundred a day this time of year but well into the four digits is not something that happens for me anyway. 

So anyway mad about the broken clock first thing in the morning but getting these orders is kinda making a sour day a little bit better. 

Now.. gotta get to work. If I’m a little scarce around here, just know I’m probably knee deep in sawdust. Or tangled up in bubble wrap and packing tape and stuck to a box.

Edited November 14, 2018 by kmmcrafts

[OCtoolguy]

4 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

First thing this morning packing orders this happens. Guess I should hold onto stuff better .. I have two custom orders I’m working on and two made to order jobs going on. With this breaking puts me a little behind schedule. 

 

So I’m out sawing a new one and my phone keeps chirping with alerts of new orders both Etsy and amazon. You know when the phone makes a order sound I’ve just gotta check to see what the purchased item is...several orders came in today and one of the orders is for 53 ornaments. Lucky me I anticipated this and already had 32 made. Probably a record money making day for me. Not uncommon to do a few hundred a day this time of year but well into the four digits is not something that happens for me anyway. 

So anyway mad about the broken clock first thing in the morning but getting these orders is kinda making a sour day a little bit better. 

Now.. gotta get to work. If I’m a little scarce around here, just know I’m probably knee deep in sawdust.

Things happen for a reason. You just have to figure out what it is.

 

[meflick]

Good news is you have several saws, bad news is there is only one of you to use them.  perhaps you need to train some of those kids and put them to work at least with the packing.  sorry you had the breakage, glad you are getting lots of orders. Will help pay for that new table saw .

[Tomanydogs]

Sorry Kevin regarding the breakage. Yeah Kevin regarding the order. 

1 hour ago, octoolguy said:

Things happen for a reason. You just have to figure out what it is.

 

This is my philosophy as well. 

Irene

[lawson56]

So sorry about the broken clockBut a Great Big Congrats on a Big Order

[rjweb]

Kevin, sorry about the broken piece, but congrads on the orders, RJ

[kmmcrafts]

3 hours ago, octoolguy said:

Things happen for a reason. You just have to figure out what it is.

 

That's exactly how I always think about things.. 

[kmmcrafts]

You know... I talked about this on another site ( not a scroll saw site but a online sellers group ) and it just made me sick what many others said.. 

They said to package it and ship it that way with insurance and then when the customer complains of a broken item claim it on the insurance get paid for that one and another by the insurance claim... 

Just sad how many dishonest people are out there like that.. You know.. I like getting a bargain as much as anyone else does... but I like mine to be honest deals... Yeah every now and then i like to tell some tall stories etc.. but when it comes right down to dealing and doing business.. honesty is the only way.. at least for me.. Probably why shipping prices are so high.. all the people scamming the shipping companies...

A couple years ago I ordered a laptop charge cable on eBay.. the seller sent the wrong one.. after I contacted them they commented that they sent out the correct one right away and when I receive it told me to carefully open the box and switch the cables out and carefully tape the box back up then mark it return to sender... This way nobody has to pay extra for the mistake.. well except the postal company.. that comes out of their profit.. needles to say.. I just packed it up and bought a shipping label... I'm not getting caught up in some other person fraud just to save $5

 

[kmmcrafts]

5 hours ago, octoolguy said:

Things happen for a reason. You just have to figure out what it is.

 

I just figured it out... looking at the picture I realize that I had a priority mail box to package this in.. but these boxes are for shipping in the USA only... This clock goes across the big pond.. They would have refused to ship it in this box.. I had the wrong box.. Duh..  Can't tell you how many times I've almost packaged international orders in the wrong style box.. in fact.. I have done it before and realized it as I was about to attach the shipping label.. LOL

[wombatie]

Butter fingers.  Hope there are enough hours in the day for your cutting.  But it seems like a nice problem to have. 

Marg

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

You seem to sell alot of ornaments. Is there a particular style that gets called for most??  This big order of ornaments are they all the same or a mix??  When you say you had some done already, do you make a certain amount of each ornament for stock?? Seems like the selling season is starting off well for you. Good luck as it progresses. It will keep you busy. 

[SCROLLSAW703]

Howdy Mr. Kevin, 

Sorry to hear about your car project, my friend. Looks like it may have turned out for the best as it were anyway, huh? Somebody was trying to tell ya that ya had the wrong pkg'ing, brother, & you just didn't hear the voice.;)

Awesome to see your ornament sales are off to a fantastic start for you, My friend! I was talkin' to a friend of mine on the East Coast last night about a craft show he is preparing for the first week of December. He asked me to do some scroll saw ornaments, some tea lights, and a couple crosses for him for his booth. He is going to have quite a bit of his lathe work involved in it. I hope it does well for him! This is the first craft show he has ever done. 

Enjoy your day, Mr. Kevin!

Sawdust703(Brad)

[kmmcrafts]

10 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

You seem to sell alot of ornaments. Is there a particular style that gets called for most??  This big order of ornaments are they all the same or a mix??  When you say you had some done already, do you make a certain amount of each ornament for stock?? Seems like the selling season is starting off well for you. Good luck as it progresses. It will keep you busy. 

Yes, Ornaments is what really makes the business profitable.. selling clocks is just a filler for the "off" season which also helps business.. but really.. the ornaments is the bread and butter for making money.... for me anyway.. 

The big order is for a company that will be handing them out to the employees at their Christmas party.. so yes they are all the same style ( pictured below ).. Another company last year ordered this same ornament and ordered just over 100 of them.. quick easy to make.. I made the pattern myself per request of the company. This year I've already sold 60 of this same design to a different company last month.. and a few to individuals..

I do make at least 20 ornaments per style throughout the summer.. some I make more of than others due to demand.. I try ( but fail ) to get all stocked up for this time of year so I can take on the task of personalized ornaments and custom request.. Had 8 custom request orders yesterday and so far a couple today.. I don't always get the orders and some I turn down.. I use to custom cut personal ornaments.. but not much anymore.. a couple years ago I bought a cheap wood burning pen to just woodburn the desired name date etc on existing ornaments.. this is quick and simple to do.. and I typically add $5-10 to the price depending on what is added.. 

A lot of the ornaments I make ( themed ornaments ) may not do well for the craft show scene .. I focus on the themed ornaments because I market them to small companies that may need to find cheap unique themed gifts for the employees.. Also market male themed ornament where their are women looking for that special gift for the male friends and family that are hard to buy for.. 

My construction themed ornaments sell quite well as do the nurse themed ornaments.. Hottest nurse themed one is the flight nurse with the helicopter.. I tend to get a lot of orders for those from either other nurses or managers to give out to their co-workers.. not uncommon to sell 20-50 of those at one time.. some will have them personalized with the hospital name  right below the chopper.. 

Edited November 15, 2018 by kmmcrafts

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Nice ornament but that is a hanger. Too delicate for me. Do you supply the box also??  The BB will help it for stability. Doing that many ornaments is a test of patients for sure. Good luck and continued good sales. Hopefully sale have increased all over due to an uptick in the economy. 

[kmmcrafts]

17 minutes ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Nice ornament but that is a hanger. Too delicate for me. Do you supply the box also??  The BB will help it for stability. Doing that many ornaments is a test of patients for sure. Good luck and continued good sales. Hopefully sale have increased all over due to an uptick in the economy. 

JT, The construction themed ornaments might do well with your themed clocks you been doing... Many themed ornaments I sell are of Sue Meys design from scrollsawartist website.. She has some awesome ornament designs.. and they seem to sell really well for me.. I'm just not sure how these would do in a craft show type setting... takes the right person looking for that unique gift for someone.. and marketing unique gifts online is much easier than trying to sell odd things at a show.. At least I think.. I could be wrong

[OCtoolguy]

Kevin, when you make ornaments like the one pictured, I know you stack cut them but using 1/8" BB, how many do you stack at a time? I've only stack cut once and it was with 1/4" poplar. Mine came out great but I was just wondering about yours. Thanks for any info.

 

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, octoolguy said:

Kevin, when you make ornaments like the one pictured, I know you stack cut them but using 1/8" BB, how many do you stack at a time? I've only stack cut once and it was with 1/4" poplar. Mine came out great but I was just wondering about yours. Thanks for any info.

 

BBply can be some tough cutting when you get too many layers. I typically cut 4 at a time but sometimes as many as 6. I find that cutting slows up quite drastically after 4 pieces. Also depends upon the complexity of the ornament I’m cutting. Today I set up to cut a stack of 5 and have 5 patterns stuck onto the 5 blanks. I typically cut my plywood in blanks about 7x7 inch.

[OCtoolguy]

39 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

BBply can be some tough cutting when you get too many layers. I typically cut 4 at a time but sometimes as many as 6. I find that cutting slows up quite drastically after 4 pieces. Also depends upon the complexity of the ornament I’m cutting. Today I set up to cut a stack of 5 and have 5 patterns stuck onto the 5 blanks. I typically cut my plywood in blanks about 7x7 inch.

Do I take to mean that you have 5 stacks of 5? A pattern glued to each stack?

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

5 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

JT, The construction themed ornaments might do well with your themed clocks you been doing... Many themed ornaments I sell are of Sue Meys design from scrollsawartist website.. She has some awesome ornament designs.. and they seem to sell really well for me.. I'm just not sure how these would do in a craft show type setting... takes the right person looking for that unique gift for someone.. and marketing unique gifts online is much easier than trying to sell odd things at a show.. At least I think.. I could be wrong

Yes Kevin I have Sue Meys construction patterns that can be converted to many different things. What I have found over the years women have a hard time buying things for men. That is why I have always had many items geared toward men. Women do the shopping. Rarely do you see a guy buying a gift for a women. Women will buy for themselves so I have those items as well. This year I am trying to expand the occupational clock theme and see where that takes me and have to say I like my results of the products I am putting together. But like all things you never know how they are received. I have a ton more ideas for next year too. My clocks are bit more involved and can not really be mass produced. I have tried ornaments but too mundane for me. I like challenges and creations. My ornaments now are turned birdhouse ornaments which I will expand more turned ornaments next year.

That statement is not true. When doing shows it is all about odd things and that is why people go to craft shows to find those things that can not be bought in stores. This is what we crafters rely on and stress when selling at shows. You have no way on line to convey that idea and just are hoping the people see something they like. That is why doing craft shows is a different venue and takes that certain person to be able to sell. You may find out being you said you want to try again next year. Continued success with your business venture. Seems like you have a handle on it. 

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, octoolguy said:

Do I take to mean that you have 5 stacks of 5? A pattern glued to each stack?

 

I just came in from cutting the 25 ornaments.. I did a video of cutting one of the ornaments also you'll get a glimps of the shop since I wanted to show what time it was and what time it was when I finished cutting all the 25 ornaments.. cutting on the Excalibur this time.. LOL anyway.. took me about 1.5 hours to cut the 25.. I've gotta eat my dinner now.. but hopefully I can remember how to upload a video again.. been about a year I think.. LOL

But in the meantime.. yes I have 5 blanks of BBply.. blank size is roughly 7 x 7 all pre sanded and shelf liner on and then packing tape to hold the 5 pieces together.. drilled pilot holes and sanded the back before cutting..  Each pattern place (5 patterns) on the 7x7 stack of blanks.. 5x5 was 25 the last time I checked.. 1.5 hours cutting.. $15.97 each ornament.. not bad income for overall prep work and finishing will have me at about 2.5 hours..for that 25.. 

[OCtoolguy]

8 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I just came in from cutting the 25 ornaments.. I did a video of cutting one of the ornaments also you'll get a glimps of the shop since I wanted to show what time it was and what time it was when I finished cutting all the 25 ornaments.. cutting on the Excalibur this time.. LOL anyway.. took me about 1.5 hours to cut the 25.. I've gotta eat my dinner now.. but hopefully I can remember how to upload a video again.. been about a year I think.. LOL

But in the meantime.. yes I have 5 blanks of BBply.. blank size is roughly 7 x 7 all pre sanded and shelf liner on and then packing tape to hold the 5 pieces together.. drilled pilot holes and sanded the back before cutting..  Each pattern place (5 patterns) on the 7x7 stack of blanks.. 5x5 was 25 the last time I checked.. 1.5 hours cutting.. $15.97 each ornament.. not bad income for overall prep work and finishing will have me at about 2.5 hours..for that 25.. 

11

That sounds like good money once you get where you can cut them quickly. I'm still too slow. It even takes me a while just to get the patterns in place. And, I can't seem to remember to sand first and then cut. This project that I'm getting ready to do is going to require me to wet the wood and try to flatten the boards out before I can do anything. I ordered the red oak and it came in 4 foot long pieces 5 inches wide. All 5 boards are a quarter inch thick and they are all slightly cupped. I'm going to try wetting them and clamping them down to my workbench which is very flat. Oh, and I already cut them into the 9 1/4" lengths so I'll be working with shorter pieces. I'm hoping that they will flatten out. Only about a sixteenth at the most. Pray for me.

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

42 minutes ago, octoolguy said:

That sounds like good money once you get where you can cut them quickly. I'm still too slow. It even takes me a while just to get the patterns in place. And, I can't seem to remember to sand first and then cut. This project that I'm getting ready to do is going to require me to wet the wood and try to flatten the boards out before I can do anything. I ordered the red oak and it came in 4 foot long pieces 5 inches wide. All 5 boards are a quarter inch thick and they are all slightly cupped. I'm going to try wetting them and clamping them down to my workbench which is very flat. Oh, and I already cut them into the 9 1/4" lengths so I'll be working with shorter pieces. I'm hoping that they will flatten out. Only about a sixteenth at the most. Pray for me.

 

Ray you say the wood is cupping. is it cupping on the 5 inch  wide side??? What are you planing on doing with it?? I ask because if that wood is cupping now it will always want to cup. you maybe able to flatten some and hopefully when you do the fret work it will take out some of the tension and keep it straight. But who knows. Be careful wetting oak because it will turn black. Good luck and keep us posted.

[tomsteve]

16 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

BBply can be some tough cutting when you get too many layers. I typically cut 4 at a time but sometimes as many as 6. I find that cutting slows up quite drastically after 4 pieces. Also depends upon the complexity of the ornament I’m cutting. Today I set up to cut a stack of 5 and have 5 patterns stuck onto the 5 blanks. I typically cut my plywood in blanks about 7x7 inch.

i noticed that when i go above 4 at a time the blades dont seem to last as long- they dull out quicker. could just be me,though trying to be super fast super sawer.

[kmmcrafts]

Well since I’m not a video techy and it was a large video in size I couldn’t upload it. Then I downloaded a app to compress the video which worked great but... the app saves the video in a different format that won’t work on YouTube. And apparently won’t work on my phone now either so I can’t even play it on my phone. Thankfully I did snap a picture of the stack before doing the video. And was able to grab a screenshot of the stack after cutting. 

 

[kmmcrafts]

2 minutes ago, tomsteve said:

i noticed that when i go above 4 at a time the blades dont seem to last as long- they dull out quicker. could just be me,though trying to be super fast super sawer.

Yeah, this issue with getting too many layers is that each layer does slow the sawing speed down.. and there is a fine line where you ask yourself.. is it worth lowing down a bit or cut another stack.. both take extra time... but you have to saw at a comfortable rate too.. I like cutting faster.. I find cutting several stacks going too slow and I tend to push too much on the wood.. which will burn through blades faster..

I typically cut 4 at a time.. in this case I needed 25 more and I'd have had to cut it a couple more times had I went my usual 4 at a time.. I figured it was worth a couple extra blades to get them all cut on this one set of 7x7 blanks.. and not have to set up sand and prep another stack for just a couple more ornament I would have needed..