An experiment of scroll saw business

[Joe W.]

First of all - Hats Off to all of you Women and Men who make and sell scroll saw items.

I thought I'd give it a try with some Christmas Ornaments.  So I bought me some 1/4" BB ply and a box of the Maple 1/4" Solid Core ply from HD and selected 20 ornament patterns.
Lessons learned:
1.  Everything takes longer than expected.
2.  BB ply and the HD plywood cut differently for me - I experienced blade drift when stack cutting  (3 1/4" pieces) with the BB but not with the HD Walnut ply.  
3.   Cutting the patterns out was just part of the process - I needed a display for them, so manufactured a spinney thing (lazy susan type) with scrap plywood, wooden dowels, a broomstick and a couple pieces of PVC pipe connectors.  Plus a rattle can of green paint.  Long story longer - thinking that up and making it took more time than I will admit to.
4.  A garage already full of stuff will greatly slow down the manufacturing process.  A proper woodworking shop is essential to make the most efficient use of time. 

Now to see if they sell.

Here's a couple photos.     

Edited October 31, 2021 by Joe W.
mispelling

[kmmcrafts]

Looks great to me!! Like the lazy Susan contraptions.. The few times I did in person selling.. ornaments was about all I sold but I also didn't have much back them other than a few portraits.. Christmas season ornaments do very well.. My display rack thing was some sort of shoe rack that the individual rack levels spun.. and it was 6 foot tall with several levels.. also wire rack that was meant to hold photos sort of like a photo tree.. the ribbons from the ornaments works well on that..

I used to cut ornaments from 1/4" but learned that I can stack double the amount with 1/8".. I started out with solid wood rather than ply.. but most are now 1/8 BBply and a small amount of them are 1/4 cherry or oak ply.. learned early on that the dark colors of walnut and other dark color wood on a Christmas tree do not show up the best.. which is a big reason for using BBply now..  

Good luck and let us all know how it goes..

[Dak0ta52]

I think you did a great job, Joe. And your creativity shows in the stand you made.

[dgman]

Nice work Joe! I make a lot of ornaments each year. I prefer using hardwoods. I buy rough sawn hardwoods that I resaw to the thickness I need for my regular projects. That usually leaves me with some thin woods. I’ll plane these boards to 3/16”. Then I’ll stack three boards to make a stack of 9/16”.  As a display, I use  4’ artificial lighted trees. It takes a lot of room, but it sure attracts the customers! I’ll post picture of my setup next weekend.

[Tomanydogs]

Looks like you’re all ready. Great ornaments and the stand is a great idea. Good luck  with sales and have fun. 

[Puzzleguy]

Joe, they look great.

This business side has many plus's and down falls - My wife and i have learned the hard way

about our business ( we are not experts - we make mistakes all the time ) I started out making 

small cutouts of animals out of exotic wood -making both pins and kitchen magnets -we sold them for 2-3 dollars ( the 1980's )

What i learned from that experience is that i made to much of the wrong thing -stuff I liked ,didnt mean anyone else would like 

it - basically i lacked experience and was a know it all - thou on the other hand - Theirs more to this than that

but that was lesson # 1 for me . 

Edited November 7, 2021 by Puzzleguy

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, Puzzleguy said:

Joe, they look great.

This business side has many plus's and down falls - My wife and i have learned the hard way

about our business ( we are not experts - we make mistakes all the time ) I started out making 

small cutouts of animals out of exotic wood -making both pins and kitchen magnets -we sold them for 2-3 dollars ( the 1980's )

What i learned from that experience is that i made to much of the wrong thing -stuff I liked ,didnt mean anyone else would like 

it - basically i lacked experience and was a know it all - thou on the other hand - Theirs more to this than that

but that was lesson # 1 for me . 

It's trial and error throughout the whole life of the business.. while you do get experience and comfortable with what you need to charge and making what people might want.. it always has a customer that gives you something new to try.. a odd experience or business rules change.. doesn't matter what the case might be.. you can't make your top seller be the top seller for the life of your career.. peoples wants, likes etc. change so it's is a constant battle.. what sells out and can't keep up with orders will all of a sudden drop to selling none of them and something new is your top seller. 

[BadBob]

18 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

it always has a customer that gives you something new to try.

Ideas I got from customers have made me the most money.

[kmmcrafts]

2 hours ago, BadBob said:

Ideas I got from customers have made me the most money.

Same here.. from an individual standpoint. Many of my best sellers were custom requested items that I worked with the customer to make their wish a reality.. then added it to my inventory and boom.. selling like hotcakes.. LOL

A lot of my biggest money makers are the custom personalized ornament orders I get wholesale orders for. I get a a few companies that reach out to me for a ornament themed to their company and they buy bulk to either give to their customers OR give out to employees or both.. I normally sell ornaments at $16 - 20 each.. I started pricing them high like that ( can make decent money selling at $8-10 but I was getting wholesale request and wanting a discount. So I raised prices in order to lower them for my "normal" price for those that want to wholesale pricing.  Just did a order for a tow truck company in FL last week.. 150 of these..  Lowered the price by 25%.. took 3 days to make them.. payout was $2100..  I still get normal buyers buying them at my regular pricing so it all works out well for me.  These was done with the laser.. but it's not any faster than scroll sawing them as my small laser can only cut one at a time and that is about 8 minutes.. I can stack cut this same design 5 at a time in 20 - 25 minutes.. They would have been done on the scroll saw if they didn't have it customized with an engraved business name on them.. I get quite a few orders like this every holiday season.. and that's where the money is at.. I know a lot of folks say they never lower their price and they wouldn't do bulk orders etc.. but for me.. that's where the money is.. plus instead of multiple orders I package one or two boxes for one large order, LOL  

[BadBob]

22 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I know a lot of folks say they never lower their price and they wouldn't do bulk orders etc.. but for me.. that's where the money is.

I'm not selling whole sale now, but this year so far the largest part of my revenue is from large custom orders. I'm not getting your kind of money, but getting order for $200 is a big deal for. The same customer three times now.

You are making me drool over having a laser.

 

[Heli_av8tor]

I've ruined several good hobbies in my life by turning them into a business. 

Not going to let it happen again!

[kmmcrafts]

5 hours ago, BadBob said:

I'm not selling whole sale now, but this year so far the largest part of my revenue is from large custom orders. I'm not getting your kind of money, but getting order for $200 is a big deal for. The same customer three times now.

You are making me drool over having a laser.

 

The laser is a really nice addition to the business.. But really need a larger format one to make it a production type machine..

[kmmcrafts]

3 hours ago, Heli_av8tor said:

I've ruined several good hobbies in my life by turning them into a business. 

Not going to let it happen again!

I've ruined a lot of business's thinking I could run them as a hobby.. Charging prices as if I was a hobby or trying to undercut competition... it just don't work out that way.. Everyone has to do what they love.. I've works some really decent paying jobs that I quit because the work or boss or? sucked.. For me it's not about the money but doing what you love to do.. I've been in this business now for around 13 years.. best one I've done and stuck with because I love doing it.. Years ago I started a autobody shop because I liked working / restoring cars, trucks, and old tractors.. But it is a lot of work.. then trying to keep the EPA happy with disposing leftover toxic paint supply's and the air quality police making sure you're filtering your air from your paint room before it goes out into the outside world, LOL.. I didn't ruin the hobby.. but it was a lot of work that I didn't realize when I first started.. I still hobby restore things from time to time.. I also started a landscaping business because I enjoy working outside and it was enjoyable for a few years.. Didn't ruin the hobby but ruined the business because I didn't know how to charge properly.. 

Going into business isn't for everyone otherwise we'd have nobody to hire for help. LOL Most hobby turned business's are ruined by lack of business knowledge and underpricing.. When you get paid a decent amount of money for doing what you love you'll keep doing it until you need a change.. Some people go to school for a life long career and after paying all the money for education feel obligated to work that job the rest of their years even though they hate it.. 

When I get tired of scroll sawing, I'll move on to build another business or as I'm doing now.. setting myself up with laser and cnc machines to move into something different but can still grow into my current business.. I doubt I'll start a new one because this current one can branch off into " other things " and beats working for less than I'm worth to a boss or company that feels I'm just another body ( robot ) .. Rather be poor and happy than rich and miserable.. But everyone has to do themselves..

[rjweb]

I agree you have to work a long time in life, you better love what you do then it doesn’t become a job, RJ