orangeman

I get a 5'x5' sheet of 1/8 Baltic Birch for around $16. Works out to $0.64/sq ft. BUT I have to drive 50 miles to get it; 100 miles RT I think IRS allows in the neighborhood of $.50/mile for a vehicle. You probably have the better deal. bb

3M's "77" product for a good permanent bond! Elmer's for patterns I need to remove. In fact, I buy Elmer's by the case from Blick's bb

scroll saws are like toilet paper. you need to keep extras under the sink. bb

LarryEA, Bingo, you nailed it! It hit a nerve too. One of my last remaining. We won't stay with one of sons and family when we visit. Always a hotel. The damn dog is undisciplined: jumps on folks and licks them which I detest! And the kids are the bosses! The wife was overheard once saying "it's easier to give the kids what they want". Our son was not raised like that!!! The kids even have a say in what house they select to live in. Undamnbelieveable! bb bb

My philosophy is to stay away from outfits where shipping/handling is a profit center!

We did a show last weekend in Franklin, TN. It was an OK show, not great. I expected more sales considering the crowds. I expected a better jury process as well; some friends did not get into the show that had quality handmade wood products after doing the show last year. They encouraged us to apply and we were accepted. But they juried in cheap bows and arrows, marshmallow shooters, and those cheap marionette thingys from China! The show was well organized. Set up unfortunately was after 8PM on Friday night and early Sat. Take down was OK if you could dodge the garbage trucks to get to your stuff. They had music if you could call it that. Volume and bass was turned up so loud I got a headache and our booth was over 500' from the stage. But here is where I have to VENT. The kids that came into our booth were the most misbehaved and obnoxious kids I have seen in doing shows for 8 years now. And the parents just stood there and didn't say anything. 2 examples: one kid about 6 comes in and immediately dumps one of our more intricate puzzles on the table and attempts to put it back together. of course he can't. Dad comes over and spends 10 minutes and can't get it together despite being given the cheat sheet - the pattern. They leave without a word of regret. Another kid about 12 comes in and tips up our masterpiece puzzle of 100 puzzle pieces at a 45 degree angle as if to tip it over. I literally yelled at him: NO - NO - NO!!!! There are more examples but you get the picture. We won't be going back there again anytime soon for another show. Too stressful as we literally had to watch the kids all the time. This experience is drastically different from a show we did in Fairhope, AL mid March. Kids there were a delight! In fact rather impressive with regard to their behavior and manners. bb

Good advice from MrsN! I had the same dilemma some time ago and finally figured out in Word you can enter length and width and BINGO you have the most beautiful oval I have ever seen ! I tried "Paint" but it came out kinda fuzzy on larger ovals. bb

Very nice boxes. Did you design? bb

I recently donated a ladder fire truck puzzle to our community volunteer department's fundraiser. They had an auction and it brought $65! And I received an order for another one as a result of folks seeing it at the auction. bb

The topography seems out of whack on the states. bb

Monti, That is good to know about that lube!!!! Do you think it would work on band saw blades as well? bb

Ralph, What brand of #5 reverse tooth? There are #5 reverse tooth blades and there are #5 reverse tooth blades. Not all are equal. My go to blade for really hard hardwoods is the Pegas Modified Geometry #5 reverse tooth blade. Available at your local Woodcraft store. Or by mail order from a number of sources. bb

Be careful on the logo . I didn't realize this until just recently but a lawyer told me that even the SOUND of a Harley is patented! bb

For what it is worth: I recently bought an image (not a puzzle pattern) for $10 that gave me the right to use it commercially. The image lent itself to a puzzle with little modification. So I cut the puzzle with an oval frame and backing. I sent the finished puzzle to the company I purchased it from and asked if I could submit it to a magazine for publication. The magazine always copyrights the images and patterns. Answer: Absolutely NOT. The original artist of the image would have to do the submitting and agree to the terms of the magazine. I thought it was a dynamite puzzle but it did not sell at $20 at a recent craft show. Now I'm giving them away.

I've seen some scroll work masterpieces but this one takes the cake! Can you please tell us more? saw? blades? wood? finish? Very nice! bb

Alexey, Beautiful. You have taken puzzle cutting to a very high level. Keep up the excellent work. bb

The 1/4" and 1/8" Baltic Birch that I buy only comes in 5' x 5' sheets. bb

I remember that guitar puzzle What do you price it at? I price my cherry guitar at $22 and sell many. bb

For $82 you can get the cutter and the rest of what you need at WalMart! Features include a 32-inch cutting capacity board, fixed guardrail, mat guide for border widths from 3/4 to 4-1/4" This Logan mat cutter works with standard thickness mat board only (4ply/1.4mm) This package contains one cutting board, mat guide, push-style bevel cutter, straight cut knife, instructional DVD and five blades

Alexey, The image I bought is rather unique. I did little modification to create the puzzle out of wood. I thought the $10 I paid was very reasonable to use the image.

As I said previously the puzzle did not sell. Someone recommended I make a combination music box/puzzle. You can buy those thingys that come in greeting cards for less than a buck. Then record a song. "The little grass shack" by Don Ho has humuhumunukunukuapoa in the song as does a song from High School Musical. But then there are copyright issues there! Oh well.

Alexey, Thank you for the explanation of downshifting. I understand now. Makes perfect sense. But the next question: You are an engineer. What are you downshifting to? More questions later . bb

Hi Alexey! Glad you arrived to this forum. Hope to see you back again and again. I have always admired your work - skillfully done and beautiful. You are a great addition here! Can you please explain "downshifting"? Here in the USA downshifting means going from 4th gear to 3rd gear or from 3 rd gear to 2nd gear etc in a manual transmission automobile. It has to mean something else in Russian Welcome aboard. Regards, Brian

I took the trigger fish puzzle to an art/craft show last weekend. High end show and sold a ton of puzzles. But I didn't sell a single trigger fish puzzle! priced it at $20. No interest whatsoever. Not a single comment! It's one of my favorites however. bb

I took the puzzle to my first craft show of the Spring in Fairhope, AL this past weekend. It was a hit and I sold all I took at $22 each. bb