Compliment Or Insult?

[kmmcrafts]

Customer left me this review.. On one hand it's nice to think that my work is as precise as a laser.. On the other hand it offends me because someone might think I'm advertising my items as handmade yet sending out laser cut ornaments, LOL  I don't think etsy has a spot for the sellers to respond so there is nothing to be done with it anyway.. 

I do have a laser and do offer laser engraved ornaments in a separate section of ornaments ( laser engraved ornaments ) LOL.. I knew at some point someone would do this..

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by kmmcrafts

[ike]

I have been ask several times the same question and I have to explain how to tell the difference,

IKE

[GrampaJim]

customers - I had one that said she loved it, but wished it was larger.  Huh???  I have the size clearly stated in the listing, if you would only look!  Or ask for a custom item like that only bigger.  Just can't please everybody.

[kmmcrafts]

9 minutes ago, GrampaJim said:

customers - I had one that said she loved it, but wished it was larger.  Huh???  I have the size clearly stated in the listing, if you would only look!  Or ask for a custom item like that only bigger.  Just can't please everybody.

Boy you have that right.. I had a customer buy the guitar clock from me about two weeks ago and she messaged me the other day that she would like to return it.. she admitted that she should have read the listing.. said it's way too small.. I told her she could return it but I don't pay return shipping.. haven't seen or heard from her since.. I don't mind returns.. as I do want the customer to be happy with what they purchased.. BUT, I'm not paying shipping for something that was neglected on their part.. 

I've only ever had return request a couple of times.. and both times it was just on a cheap ornament or something that I said I'd refund but they could just donate it or ? as it's not worth the hassle to do the return.. but when it comes to $100 items that are heavy ( pricey ) to ship etc.. I can't afford to not have it shipped back, LOL.. and neglect on their part I don't pay for.. 

[dgman]

There really isn’t anything you can do except include in the listing: Handcrafted using a scroll saw. I have that on most of my listings. There is a a button that lets you report the review. I’ve never used it so I don’t know how far you can take it.

[new2woodwrk]

Every Saturday, no less than 3 people remark about what CnC/Laser I'm using.

Even though my signs say Hand Crafted Hand Cut.

I'm not on Etsy or selling online, but if it were me I would "Report" the review with an explanation or would contact the purchaser and ask them to change it and explain why.

[kmmcrafts]

I honestly will probably just leave it as is.. If people that really care about "handmade" they know the difference or would ask.. If they don't know the difference and want to baulk at me about it then I don't need them as a customer anyway.. I have plenty of customers I don't think one review that is a mistake on the customers end is going to hurt my sales,  It's not a big deal really to me as i do have a laser and do sell some laser ornaments on the site.. They are just listed in the laser ornament section.. I'm not going to get all bent out of shape and make the customer feel bad over something they had no idea of.. Just not worth it to me.. Now if they was giving a poor rating and saying it was laser cut instead of hand cut.. then we'd have some issues.. 

[tomsteve]

that has to be frustrating. i dont think you can respond to the review but you can send a message to the customer. id be cordial and thank them for the review then explain how to tell the difference between laser cut, cnc cut, and scroll saw cut.

now a question on lasers- are they capable of making the real fine vein cuts like we run into with scrollsaw work? as in- is the laser cut a narrow cut the width of a scroll saw blade?

[Be_O_Be]

I would think that a laser cut item would leave the cut area darker than a saw blade, am I wrong in this thinking?

[kmmcrafts]

6 minutes ago, tomsteve said:

that has to be frustrating. i dont think you can respond to the review but you can send a message to the customer. id be cordial and thank them for the review then explain how to tell the difference between laser cut, cnc cut, and scroll saw cut.

now a question on lasers- are they capable of making the real fine vein cuts like we run into with scrollsaw work? as in- is the laser cut a narrow cut the width of a scroll saw blade?

This depends on the type of laser and the focal point of the beam.. if you laser on a thick board and you do not have a adjustable bed the focal point changes.. Not sure you ever played with a magnifying glass outside in the sun as a kid..  but getting the sun to shine through the magnifying glass and changing the distance could make a fine point of heat which you could set things on fire, LOL 

Anyway to answer the question.. my laser will a 2mm path of cut or engrave.. Think the smallest mechanical pensile lead refills are 5mm? I know they have a 5mm and a 7mm.. so yes this will do some real fine detail work.. A CNC router will not do the fine detail link a scroll saw will..

8 minutes ago, Be_O_Be said:

I would think that a laser cut item would leave the cut area darker than a saw blade, am I wrong in this thinking?

Yes the edges of the plywood are a dark caramel colored on laser cut stuff sometimes even kind of black color depending on the wood type and how hot you have the laser set at or how fast / slow running speed is.. so it can vary depending on the set-up.. I've seen folks get just the right setting and it's a light caramel color.. I haven't got mine narrowed down that good yet.. LOL 

[tomsteve]

thanks for the explaination.

yeeeaaahh- i dont think a cnc bit the size necessary would last very long. either that or cutting would be very slow.

[kmmcrafts]

 

Just as an example last summer playing around with a sue mey pattern to see how hard it would be to change a pattern into a laser file and also to compare times of cutting I cut this ornament on the laser. And to be honest I can cut on the scroll saw a stack of 5 in 20 min. Now I am still new to the laser and it’s settings etc. but I cut 4 of these that took 20 minutes. So time is not really much different. Though I do think with someone experience could probably cut the 4 on the laser in maybe 15 minutes with a better tuned cutter. This was straight out of the box and I was new at it, still am. Maybe with a better set up 10 minutes. I’m just running a cheap K40 40 watt co2 laser. About $350 on eBay. 
 

Anyway the spot below the helicopter landing the laser cut was two passes and a small sliver in between came out. So I think it’s probably a finer point of cut than a saw blade unless maybe you use a 0/3 or smaller   Last photo is of a scroll sawn one

Edited December 10, 2020 by kmmcrafts

[Scrappile]

I don't think it was intended as insult.  I run into a lot of people that don't know the difference.. Usually they are just not familiar wit woodworking..

[DME72]

i dont think they meant it as an insult, lots of people cant tell the difference between laser cut or scroll saw. i think they see the detail and just assume it was done with a laser because they have never seen a person cut stuff out on a scroll saw. lots of people now dont  know what hand made is anymore. remember most of this younger crowd does not even know what shop class or home economics.

doug

[Scrappile]

@kmmcrafts, Today I posted a picture on "Lumberjocks" of the Fiona Kingdon Entwined  tree that I finished cutting recently... I got this response from one of the members, "Could you share some info on how you set up your cnc carving (bits, feed rates, program used, etc) for this beautiful project?"  Did not offend me,,, I took it as a compliment.  

[kmmcrafts]

Yeah there are tons of people including woodworkers that just do not know how things are made.. I kinda took it as a compliment but yet I felt it was missleading to anyone reading my reviews on my " handmade" selling website, LOL To be honest.. most people could care less " how it's made " they just like the design and that it's a wood ornament rather than plastic or other material..