Iguanadon

Hey kids, it's been a while... I hope everyone is doing well. I stepped into my shop yesterday for the first time since September. It felt good to get back into the groove again. Finished up 7 puzzles and a couple of key/leash racks this morning. I received acceptance to my best 1 day event each year which is at the end of April so I need to get 100-150 puzzles and racks cut to be ready. Iggy

Hello Puzzle Zombies, I hope that everyone is doing well. I got curious about my cutting time these days. I set things up and just shot a video. Much faster than I thought or guessed. Speed should never be a goal, I was just curious and went at my normal pace but was very surprised when done. Who wants to compare times just for kicks? Cut one and report back to us.

Hi All, The last 2 years have been a bit rough, a lot going on in my personal life, but I'm about to jump back into things in a big way. I found out Saturday that I was accepted to a mega-event (Merlefest)... it's a 4 day music festival with a hundred or so craft vendors. I've had friends tell me I need to sign up for it and now that I live closer to it, I did. My last event was in September and it was my best 1 day event ever. My inventory is depleted and now I need to focus on making at least 500 puzzles in the next 11 weeks to be prepared for it. I'm diving in and got my first 25 or so puzzles cut of display items that I sold at my last event. After I get caught up on display items I'll begin working on duplicates of all of the most popular items. I also ordered a Seyco saw and look forward to receiving it in the coming weeks. Iggy

Hey everyone! It's been a while and I'm glad to see some familiar names and a whole bunch of new ones! A couple of months ago I had a dog related retail shop reach out to me asking if I'd be interested in displaying some of my items for sale. I was very upfront with her, told that I've done it 3 times before and it simply didn't work out. Apparently my sales pitch and charm are what sell them at craft events. Seriously, in retail stores they've never done well. The puzzles need to be shrink wrapped so that pieces don't get scattered around and folks don't grasp and comprehend the concept of them. But... this time, some mild success as she has sold about 8 or 9 puzzles and a leash rack or two in the past month with holiday shoppers. Considering I sell 40-50 or more at a 1 day craft event, I won't be giving up that part of my fun. LOL I hope everyone is doing well, especially my beloved Puzzle Zombies.

Hello to my long lost SSV friends! It's been a wild 2 years for me and I won't bore everyone with the details, but we moved to a new city a year ago and I'm only doing my bigger events while trying to find new venues and events in the new city. I hope everyone is doing well. If any of you are on FB, I have an active group there. https://www.facebook.com/groups/scrollsawpuzzles I have a decent shop setup here at the new house, I just need to find the time to get in there and cut... My last event was in October and won't have another until April. Catch me up on what's happening? Iggy

Yes sir, all patterns are by Harvey Byler and I sell them for him. Over 1,000 animals and more. Big Foot, Sasquatch, Yeti... and real animals like Unicorns and Dragons too. By far, the dogs are the most popular, over 250 breeds drawn by the master. Go down to the PATTERNS area to browse... free immediate download upon purchase. www.WoodcraftByScott.com

There you go taking me out of context... I said what I was gonna do in 2023, then left 2024 open to whatever happens. "In years past I've done 20-25 craft events per year, this coming year I plan on only doing about 6 of my biggest and best events. We'll see what 2024 holds as I learn about local events here in the new home town. (Moved from Carolina Beach, NC to Winston-Salem, NC)"

Hey Charley, yep, adjusting to the weather changes. Lived in Raleigh/Durham for 50 years so not much different, just have to readjust after beach living. I attended a meeting of the local Carolina Scrollers group but haven't looked into NCWoodwork yet, but I will.

Hi, my name is Iggy and I'm new here... OK, not new, but been away a while and it's great to see familiar names and some new ones. Long story short, my wife had serious health issues the past 18 months, all is well now and she's back to 100%. And 2 months ago we moved (to be closer to family) and after 4 months of not cutting, I got my shop setup enough to start doing some scrolling. In years past I've done 20-25 craft events per year, this coming year I plan on only doing about 6 of my biggest and best events. We'll see what 2024 holds as I learn about local events here in the new home town. (Moved from Carolina Beach, NC to Winston-Salem, NC) One thing I'm excited about is a Big Foot Festival I'll be doing in May. Should be hilarious and fun. I plan on doing 50+ puzzles, 50+ wall racks, 10+ jumbo racks, a couple of desk clocks, maybe a couple sets of bookends... See what people like this first year and be better prepared for next year. My first cuttings this past weekend after 4 months of no cutting in the first photo... Big Foot and Sasquatch wall racks. And photos of finished products I've done before and will do more of for the festival.

I'm retiring from puzzle making. I hit a new record, and I know I'll never do it again, so I might was well retire. Just kidding... but it was an amazing, record breaking weekend. I just got home and I'm so exhausted I can't put it into words. Here's the stats and remember, THIS IS VERY UNUSUAL AND NOBODY SHOULD EXPECT ANYTHING NEAR THIS UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES!!! 2 day event, 330 vendors, over 50,000 attendees. Lazy Daze in Cary, NC My Sales: 85 dog puzzles 36 non-dog puzzles 55 wall racks 16 stick figures Grand Total Sales - $5,745 If I had a dozen extra Greyhounds, Husky's and Shihtzu's, I'd have sold another 20 puzzles easily. I am so screwed as I have a decent 1 day event next Saturday. Good thing I took the week off from the day job this coming week.

Hi Thurman, yes, here is the Maltese, however it is a bit "fru-fru". Harvey's only point of reference was the World Book Encyclopedia of Dogs and they are all show dogs.

Harvey has actually drawn 250 breeds/varieties... it's amazing!

In today's episode of "Why Does Scott Take 110 Breeds of Dog to Every Event?"... Yesterday I sold 13 puzzles and 4 leash holders. Of the 13 puzzles, 9 of them were dogs, and 4 of them were the "less popular breeds" but because I had them on hand, they were virtually a guaranteed sale as dog owners go crazy when you have their unusual breed as they never see them anywhere else. Some weeks I may not sell any oddballs, but over the course of a season it adds up to dozens of extra sales. Pointer Chessie Ridgeback Cattledog And I got asked for one I didn't have (which is rare) but next week I'll have 111 breeds with me when I add the Keeshond to my herd.

When I stop enjoying it, I'll stop doing it. So far, after 6 years, I still love every minute at my saw and every hour at whatever craft event I'm at. And if it puts a spare $20,000 in my pocket each year after expenses that I can have fun with and enjoy with the family, even better. My full time day job is stressful, but also allows me the luxury of sneaking into the garage some times in between conference calls and cut a puzzle or two. My "free" mental therapy." I could never come close to what I make at the day job with my little hobby business, believe me I've tried crunching the numbers, but not just the paycheck, but the health insurance, etc, makes it impossible. If I'm still doing this in 8 or 9 years when I retire, great... some added retirement income as well. I enjoy staying busy and knowing that I could stop at any time if I need a break.

This photo memory popped up on my phone this morning as I was setting up for my weekly market. 6 years ago today compared to today. Amazing the evolution. That was my 5th market ever, had just gotten started. Setup in almost the exact same spot...

You're absolutely correct and my insurance broker is the one that brings it up. LOL She'll nail me down on it one day.

Hey Kev, yep, some other little costs there for sure, thanks. 1) No business insurance currently, but something I keep meaning to look at in case my inventory gets destroyed in my garage. If cost is $400 as you mention, that would add 50 cents per item sold. 2) I have a row for travel costs already in the spreadsheet. 23 of my 30 events are literally within 1 mile of my house. So the travel costs shown cover the other 7. 3) Yes, I could add about 30 cents to each piece to cover credit card fees on the 60% of sales paid for by credit card. And as I've said, Anything above my material costs is pure profit for me, I don't care about the hourly "wage" or pay, it's my leisure and fun time.

Thanks RJ. The only reason I keep my website is because of selling patterns for Harvey. I keep a small portion of each pattern sold and that covers the website, so no out of pocket expenses for me.

Just cuz I love playing with numbers... I sat down and created the spreadsheet below to look at my material costs and in theory how much I make "per hour" based on 2 scenarios. I have 2 types of "Typical 1 day event". My weekly market which is 5 hours every Saturday during the summer and I average $775. And other festivals and other type events that are generally 8-9 hours and I average around $1550. (Believe me, I've done some dud events, but over the past 6 years I know which events are worth doing and that's what I stick with). I do some multi-day events as well, and they average around $1500 per day, so this covers everything nicely. I tried to think of all my costs, but please let me know if you notice anything missing or bad calculations, etc. I'm glad I did this as I didn't realize that booth fees were my second highest cost. I'm just so used to writing the checks when I register for the events. REMINDER TO THE NEWBIES!!! I've been doing this for 6 years and I have busted my ass perfecting my setup, my sales pitch, my products AND I live at the beach with an abundance of markets and events to choose from every year. I do 25-30 events a year. I still have my day job, this is a side hustle that I enjoy more than I can say.

Griffin, our Pit BULL - SHIHTzu mix...

Thank you. I do them as all one piece. In this case I thought about doing the dogs separate and attaching but I decided to stick to one solid.

The first Saturday at my local weekly market for the year was yesterday and sales were very good. I got a custom request for a triple dog leash rack. I've done several 2 dog versions, but this is the first triple. I definitely didn't charge enough. LOL Step 1 - Design, sizing, layout - DONE Step 2 - Outline cut - DONE Step 3 - Holes drilled - DONE Step 4 - Finished the most tedious of the 3 dogs... two more to go. Last photo is a sample of a 2 dog version I've done, I get requests for those now and again.

Ha!, I display about 100 different puzzles and wall racks and then have probably another 150-200 unusual breeds, other animals and duplicates of popular items... Let's call it 300 just for kicks... I can cut 3 per hour. When customers ask me how long it takes to make one I say "I have an hour invested in each one" which is about right when taking into account printing the pattern, mounting the patterns, cutting, oiling, shrink wrapping, sorting, packing for events and time spent at events.

Hey Melanie, sorry for the delay. For my weekly market I take extras of about 8 or 9 breeds that I occasionally sell more than 1 of (I take 6 Dachshunds, then 1 or 2 of the Aussie, Black Lab, Doodle, Labrador, Frenchie, Pit Bull, Pug, Retriever). For my bigger events, I'll take duplicates of a couple dozen different ones. I simply hate it when I run out of anything and have to tell customers I've sold out of what they're asking for. They will rarely place an order, purely impulse buy.

Well, just for kicks, I decided to do an inventory of all the dog breeds that I take to events in puzzle form. I display 47 and have another 63 less popular breeds in a bin to show when asked. I enjoy saying "Yep, I have 100 breeds with me today." And now I can start saying 110 since I now know exactly how many I do have. With the exception of maybe 3 or 4, I have sold at least one of every one. It's worth it as I get asked at virtually every event for an unusual breed and 9 times out of 10, the person is ecstatic to see their breed and will buy it.