kmmcrafts

Thank you JT for the response.. I have in the past dipped with danish oil and then sprayed lacquer over a few weeks later... But I thought I had ready not to do this.. so I stopped doing that.. always thought they came out great.. but when I thought I'd read about not top coating it.. I thought maybe it was a bad thing for long term for some reason... So that said.. I believe I'll use my tried and true Danish oil and then top coat in a few weeks.. Yes it's a wall clock.. I made a few last year testing to see how they might sell.. and they do great... maybe better than the deck clocks because I only have a few wall clocks and I sold quite a few last year with the 15 or so I had.. vrs. the 120 ish desk clocks I have.. so.. I thought I'd add more this year.. nice thing about the wall clocks is I can stack cut and use a backer.. Guess I could with some of the desk clocks to but I seen someone a few years ago doing that and they really didn't look all that great.. Just being production minded here, LOL Wanting to go with solid wood ones so I can carve out the back for the movement on the ones I use a movement on so they hang closer to the wall.. just a nicer look.. I'll switch over the current ones I sell to this method too as most are sold out from last year anyway.. Again, Thank you,

What advantage does BLO vrs the mix 50/50 BLO and mineral spirits have? Dry times? I did the mix thing last year and I liked the results.. I top coated with lacquer after a couple weeks drying time.. The BLO without the mix seemed quite thick to use by dipping the piece in.. Maybe better as a rubbing / polishing type finish? I've read two things about BLO or at least the mix. and on one hand some say it needs a top coat.. while others have said it has drying agents in it if it's BLO.. If it's just LO then it does need a top coat? I realize a lot of mis-information out there that people spread because they are mis informed in the first place.. seems to be a lot of confusion with these oil finishes as to whether they are a finish or just an enhancer before finishing.. This is why I haven't really messed to much with finishing.. because I sell my items and I don't want someones purchase to look like crap in a year or two because the oil dried out or whatever..

Doing something a little different from my normal. I’m stepping up a notch with my clocks. Normally I use plywood backers but I don’t like the cheap looks the plywood edges give. So I’m working with real walnut and cherry here. Stack cut 3 of these from BBply with the solid wood backer. I have a 2-3/4 ( I think ) clock insert that I’ll be drilling out yet for. Picture with just the clock resting on the top to give visual idea. Anyway, I'm hoping for a rich deep looking sheen but not glossy. Was thinking about BLO mix and top coat with lacquer. Or Danish oil as I’m out of BLO at the moment. Anyway I’m not much of a finisher other than Danish oil or mineral oil and beeswax mix. Which the beeswax mix does give the finish look like I want. But I’m not sure really how durable a finish that is. What’s tung oil? Is it a oil similar to the BLO? Since I’ll likely have to buy whatever I finish with except the Danish oil or beeswax mix. Maybe time to experiment with something else. Anyway throw me some ideas.

By looking at the website and reading it over, I'd say they are pushing the engraving business more than the RBI side of things.. Turn around time on engraved parts says 10 days.. at least they care enough to put that info in there.. Another thing, the website looks much more professional and kept updated as opposed to the woodworking site where they have been saying pictures coming soon for 2-3 years now, LOL.. I'm guessing the woodworking business is slow for them.. so they picked up the other two business's.. They also have a pop corn popper business.

Yeah they seem to have their hands in a lot of different things.. How do you find this stuff out? They also do machining to make aluminum valve covers for engines etc if I remember correctly? Edit: that's what that page you link to was.. I thought it was stickers..

A lot of these reasons is exactly why I bought the Hawk in the first place.. and.. why I haven't canceled out my order.. I've run a few different business's and many times the struggle is real... I do wish they could communicate a little better than they do.. but.. that said.. they are always there to answer the phone with any questions one has.. not something you typically get with Excalibur or most any other brands. Typically calling Dewalt you'll get a recording to press 1 for English or... you get the idea there.. When you call Bushton you get a person.. and that person is part owner.. I might have a bigger attitude about this if I was in dire need of the saw.. I primarily went with a Hawk because they are small business... They do make a great saw... They are made in the USA.. while not very part is USA but they are a USA company trying to make it in this tough world.. I have the New Excalibur and with the price of the Hawk.. I could have bought 2 more of those.. But I was also trying to do my small part to make America Great Again, LOL... Now... it's up to Hawk to do their part and deliver on a awesome saw that'll put a smile on my face... We'll see how it all pans out in the end.. When I talked to Nicole.. the she said they was all pulling their hair out just trying to deliver on a " precision" scroll saw that the customers have ordered..They have the parts that they could have used and sent out the saw.. but they are .003 off and caused the saw to vibrate a little more than it should.. they decided to hold off sending them out to deliver a quality saw.. At least it seems like they are not trying to push off a less than perfect saw.. Those other companies would probably saw send them out.. they work.. and we'll deal with it later as we need our production numbers for our bonus, LOL Just my .02 and why I decided to wait yet another 3 weeks or so and see where that lands me..

Yes the credit card is charged immediately when you order online, I assume the same way when you call the order in.. My opinion is they should say something about a timeline on the web page about whether the saws are in stock or back ordered etc.. but they have a pretty poor website.. They have items on there that have been saying " Pictures coming soon " for the 2-3 years I've been dealing with them.. LOL

Yeah, I agree.. not many people pay for stuff before they bring it home.. Shopping 12 years ago for the last car I bought. the dealer kept taking about the car only being $250 a month.. I asked how much the car was.. I don't honestly think he knew the price.. he had to get a manager to give me the actual cash price for the car.. That there tells you not many people actually buy their cars..

It’s real difficult to “really” know what a business is wealthy or not. A lot of people talked about my brothers lumber mill when one of his buildings burned down. The news reported that the business did 2 million in revenue a year. People thought my brother was a rich guy in disguise,. Yeah he runs 2 million in revenue through the business but most of that goes right through his hands and into expenses to keep the place running. Same deal with my crafts I sell, family and friends hear how much I did in sales and they think I’m making bank, but after expenses I’m actually almost making minimum wage earnings with two times the hours lol.

I wonder how many saws they actually sell a year... I'm betting it's not too many.. and as Les said.. they'd need pretty deep pockets to have several saws made up in advance.. that may not even sell.. sitting on inventory for a long time is hard to do.. I'm not in any hurry for the saw.. and I do understand their situation.. My biggest issue with it is the communication.. nobody has reached out to me on the fact it's been 8 weeks and probably will be another 3-4 weeks.. and no one has said a word to me.. They have my phone number.. and email.. I'm totally okay with the length of time that it's taking.. but a update or a projected time frame would be nice.. Now that I know a machine is broke.. and it's probably going to be another 3 weeks.. I have some sort of answer.. placing an order 8 weeks ago and not hearing anything at all is just unacceptable to me.. Me having to call them to find out where the heck my saw or my money is.. that just makes a customer feel as though they could care less about them..

For the most part.. about the only thing one needs for these is the bearings.. blade clamps and those wedges.. there is very little that goes wrong on these saws.. They may not be in business by the time I might need a part.. but then.. any machine shop should be able to make any specialty part I might run up on needing too.. My neighbor is a manager of a local BIG machine shop and he has made me many parts over the years.. yes even some parts for the old Delta saw I had that the part (Upper Arm ) was NLA.. and also have three family members who are machinist.. I think one way or another I can get a part should I need it.. much of the stuff on these I can make my self.. honestly.. I could probably do it my self on my own CNC LOL.. might cost me some cutter bits but hey.. gotta do what you have too sometimes..

This is what I have.. they probably work about as good as those round ones before they got a few shots of over spray on them.. they used to be quite grippe when they was new.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Work-Bench-Cookies-Puck-Non-Slip-Tri-grip-Hold-Down-Grip-Pad-Mat-Router-Sander/122101089137?hash=item1c6dcac371:g:lAsAAOSwHoFXv8sg

So.. I ordered my Hawk on Dec.23rd.. I called on Jan.4th to ask about machining the arms on my old 220VS where the wedge pivot is ( BTW they get $23 for this plus any parts ).. anyway I mentioned my order which she acknowledged and said they was working on a batch of orders they got at Christmas time..but never said anything about a timeline of when they'd ship out or anything.. Called again on Feb 8th to simply inquire about my order.. I talked to a different lady ( do not recall her name but I usually get Nicole when I call and she is awesome knowledgeable on all aspects of the saws ) and she mentioned they was one part away from having all of their Hawks ready to ship but they was having to repair a machine to set it up and she didn't act like she knew anything about what was really the problem.. I kinda took it as though they needed to just set up the machine and make the part.. Today I just got off the phone with Nicole.. Their CNC machine broke and is not making parts to the tolerance's it's supposed to be. and they had to call in some CNC repair person to diagnose the machine ( if I understood her correctly ).. Now they know the problem but are waiting on a back ordered part for their machine .. She said they was sending out emails to those that had ordered a saw to explain and she didn't understand why I never got my message.. She said the repair part for the CNC was shipped out to them but and the tracking number has said it's in Bushton or the USP closest to them but has been stuck saying that the last couple days.. she's hoping it comes today. The machine is in ( her words ) a million pieces scattered throughout the shop so it'll take some time to get it back up and running.. Mentioned that they hope to be able to get their saw orders finished up and ready to mail out in about 3 weeks... Oh I did ask about what part was needing made yet.. I'm not sure what she was talking about but she mentioned some sort of screws, LOL.. she also mentioned that they mailed out one saw for a customer and UPS dropped it.. the saw was damaged and the part that customer needs is also the part that was broken in that customers saw.. LOL She also mentioned that they had been trying to farm out the machining job to a local machine shop but they are also booked out for several weeks.. and I think she said they have this set up for them to do if their machine isn't repaired first.. So anyway, many people have been messaging me about my new Hawk.. because I haven't said anything about it.. Because it still hasn't showed up..LOL So anyway, that's the low down on my new Hawk I ordered, I'll hopefully update in 3-4 weeks.. with a tracking number or a new saw arrive, LOL.. I had thought strongly about canceling out my order... and would have long ago if I was really in need of the saw.. I have plenty of saws to work on so I'll wait it out a while longer..

I have some similar ( Craftsman ) but triangle shape.. They work pretty well for sanding etc.. but to be honest I only usually use them to spray my pieces with polyurethane or ?? so with the build up on them they aren't nearly as good as they once was.. That said... That was my sole purpose for buying them in the first place so they do what I want them to.. For sanding.. I buy anti slip drawer liner? from the dollar store which holds the piece very well while sanding with my Bosh random orbit sander.. The stuff comes in a roll and is about 12" wide.. not sure how long but I fold it up a couple times and as the spot wears I move the folds to a better spot. Link below is similar to what I'm talking about.. https://www.dollargeneral.com/magic-cover-non-slip-grip-shelf-liner-natural.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=1o2&scid=scplp01155401&sc_intid=01155401&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=PRODUCT_GROUP&utm_campaign=Mid_DGE_Shopping+-+SC_General&01155401&gclsrc=aw.ds&

Ground is quite frozen too..

Very nicely done.. Letters are IMO one of the hardest things to cut.. some of the fretwork that looks really complex was actually easier to cut than some of the signs and wordart I've done.. Your work looks top quality to me..

You did a very nice job on cutting that!! Looks great

Beautiful work!! I like that one too..

Nice job cutting this.. I love those crosses from Sue Mey. I've done a few of the themed crosses..

Those are very nice!! Great job cutting them..

I agree JT... I have a separate banking account for my online things than my personal things.. I keep minimal money in the account.. When I get a deposit I go get the money and bring it home and bury it in the yard.. I have several sealed burial containers throughout my yard.. Now.. I bet everyone is going to show up with a shovel

Nope, But either is ebay anymore.. eBay has their own payment processing account deal just like etsy and Amazon too.. They collect the funds.. then transfer it to your bank account on a schedule.. Amazon only pays out your money every two weeks.. and they put a hold on your money until the customer has received the item and a few days after to be sure the customer isn't going to make a return or complaint.. so.. sometimes the money I today.. I won't actually receive until 5-8 weeks from now.. Etsy pays out weekly.. every Monday for me.. unless of coarse it's a holiday such as today ( Presidents Day).. now I won't get paid until tomorrow.. most places pay before the holiday.. but I imagine they want the interest off my money for an extra day.. All of these places these days are just greedy about hanging on to your money as long as they can.. But... they also have websites with lots of traffic and people hungry to sell products to make some money.. I know a lot of sellers that won't sell on Amazon simply for the reason they need their money at the point / time of sale or very soon after.. I don't run my business on fumes like that... good way to run it out of business.. but whatever.. money management classes would be a good thing for a lot of money handlers these days.. Edit to add: Old etsy accounts still can use PayPal.. but any newer account they still can use PayPal but it is merged with etsy payments too so the Paypal money ends up in etsy's hands first until it transfers to your bank.. Mine is separate.. so if one purchased through PayPal then that money goes to my PayPal account.. about 90% just use etsy payment though.. At first it was a mess keeping track of what money was where for me and doing the bookkeeping.. but now I have it set up.. also closing 4 websites down made life a little easier too, LOL

I'm slow to the draw here since I've known about this since last Friday.. I just didn't think about others on here that also sell on Etsy.. They have had a glitch in the payment system and many peoples banks and or credit cards was improperly charged.. You may want to check your accounts before heading to the store to write some bounced checks.. I hope nobody here was affected by this mess.. I wasn't thankfully.. but anyway, I forgot we have several sellers here on the village and many do not keep up with the happenings with the sites they sell on like I do.. shame on me for not posting this news Friday when I found out.. https://boingboing.net/2019/02/17/etsy-sellers-say-their-bank-ac.html

.. I may have to limit it too just one picture though because some of the clocks that I offer more than one type material I use up all the photo slots and wish they offered more LOL.. but most of them I do have a couple empty slots.. That's one thing nice about having your own site rather than a template based site.. because then you can make it how you want.. some of the sites I sell on only allow four pictures while others I have 10 slots, LOL.. I can probably take a few shots and merge them into one photo with gimp or inkscape and make it work.. Great idea anyway thanks...

Thanks JT, Yeah I'm not too worried about it or loosing sleep.. as the percentage is really low.. That said.. I do try my best to offer the best I can to my customers and even with low percentage there is always a chance that I can improve it.. I try to give a product and customer service that I myself expect from others..