Iguanadon

A few months ago I had asked for suggestions of alternative finishes for my puzzles. I currently use mineral oil which never 100% "dries". There were a couple of suggestions about using BLO and mixing with mineral spirits. Sorry, I can't remembre who suggested or what ratio. I'd appreciate feedback on BLO/Mineral Spirits as to ratio or any other thoughts. As a reminder, my goal is to be able to dip the finished puzzles in and place on drying rack. Quick and simple. I have bought the two items and am ready to test them out. Thanks for your input. Iggy

Nicely done! One of my least favorite breeds to cut. LOL

Thanks Ralph, The day job is keeping me very busy and the other side business is prime time right now producing the map and the guide in advance of beach season.

I should! There's apparently good money in it! LOL I'm spending $22k on printing for the maps and our guides this year.

Harvey has drawn both a BIGFOOT and a YETI... The Yeti seems to be a favorite so that's what I display at events.

First time cutting... in over 2 months... Hi, my name is Iggy and I cut silly little puzzles... How did I do? Just wanted to pop in and say hello to everyone. Seriously, I hadn't touched my saw in over 2 months and finally may have a chance to start cutting again. It felt good cutting these two just now. I have a new Pegas saw on pre-order. Look forward to receiving it in a month or so. See how it works for me. I need to cut 400-500 puzzles by the end of April... anyone want to come help? LOL I hope everyone is having a pleasant winter and able to make piles of sawdust. Iggy

I put down a deposit for the new Pegas. They're expected to make landfall here in the US in late Feb or early Mar at which point I'll be notified and will pay the balance and then receive the saw. We shall see... I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Well, guess who just placed a pre-order... Yep, this guy (said with 2 thumbs pointing back at me) LOL Discounted pre-order price was enticing. I'll give it a shot. If it lasts 2 years for me, at this price, it saves me a little money compared to wearing out a DW every 12-15 months. We shall see. I guess I won't see the saw for about 6 weeks. No rush... heck, I haven't cut a single puzzle in 2 months due to being so busy with day job and other business.

Hi JT, they are my own design. They don't break down or fold down. I have 3 of them (different lengths) that I take to events and I can stack them in a way so they don't take up much space. Nothing fancy. Attached is my "design" with pictures included. Let me know if any questions and any suggestions to improve them are always welcome. Iggy Puzzle Display Stands by Scott.pdf

This just popped up on my Facebook feed... Hey! That's me! LOL

Funny thing just happened... was getting a package delivered to my doorstep and as the dogs were barking I went over to calm them down and say hello to the postman. He says to me through the door "I'd like to pick your brain some time." I step outside and he says he just got a scroll saw and is figuring out what he wants to make with it. He had seen the various catalogs I receive and of course envelopes on a regular basis from Harvey "Byler Scroll Saw". I asked him if he had a minute right now and invited him into my shop and showed him my puzzle factory. I suggested he visit Wooden Teddy Bear and check out the millions of patterns and ideas out there and told him to email me and I'd point him to other information and ideas (Steve Good for instance). And we thought Facebook knew everything about us... the postal carriers were way ahead of FB on gathering information. LOL He's a total newbie so I'll enjoy answering his questions and helping him out any way that I can.

But, but, but I need to cut 500 puzzles by the end of March in advance of the 2019 season!!!!

I had someone order 11 custom names in animals last week and another single order... I received the patterns from Harvey yesterday and got them cut today... I AM DONE FOR 2018!!! Speaking of custom names, one of my zombies has taken order for at least 80 custom name puzzles in the past month. Amazing. And keeping poor Harvey busy drawing every single day.

Excellent work. Congrats on the orders.

Well, unfortunately it appears my final event of the year is going to be rained out tomorrow. My show 2 weeks ago was also rained out. These two rained out events going to cost me a ton of money (140 puzzles expected to have sold at these 2 events). Fortunately this is just a side "hobby" for me as I have a full time day job whereas other local arts & craft vendors I know depend on these events for a living. But, it's just a fitting end to a very wet year here in Mayberry Beach. Average rainfall 57 inches a year. Previous all time record from 1877 was 85 inches... we're about to hit 100 inches possibly this week... total of 8 events missed due to rain or due to Hurricane Florence and others shortened or lowered attendance due to rain during events. Only ended up able to do 20 events this year. Below are my stats for the year for those curious. Stats for 2018: Total puzzles sold = 1112 Average 55 sold per event Worst event 17 puzzles sold Best event 178 puzzles sold (2 day event) 172 different animals/dog breeds sold Top 30 items (listed below) accounted for 50% of all sold Top 10 items accounted for 25% of all sold Top 30 in order: (CB and Topsail items are local specialty items) Unicorn Dachshund Mermaid Shark Dragon Rescue Elephant Golden Giraffe T-Rex Sea Turtle Beagle Yeti Black Lab CB Mermaid Labrador Shepherd Topsail Turtle Aussie KittyKitty Buffalo Manatee Pelican Pitbull Topsail Mermaid CB Pelican Chihuahua Corgi Doodle Retriever Time to start stockpiling for 2019 based on above list. Iggy

Thanks Irene, The artist is Harvey Byler and I sell his patterns if you're ever interested in trying any out. Go to my website and scroll down to the patterns area.

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately, right now, it looks like Saturday is a rain out. Hoping for a change in forecast but amazingly enough the forecasters have been nailing things lately even a full week out. We'll see.

That was the first time I'd made it and a little girl came running up yesterday and just had to have it... her favorite animal. I'll definitely keep those on hand.

Last time I counted, I had 65 breeds of dog and then another 65 other critters that I display at events. Next Saturday I plan on having a Discount Table to thin things down a little. Get rid of items that I haven't sold any of or maybe just 1 or 2 of all year long. I kind of hate to do it cuz sometimes I'll get someone that walks up and says "Do you happen to have a polar bear?" And I like reaching over and grabbing it.

Next to last event of the year was today. Threat of rain in the forecast all week and this morning I decided to attend even though it looked like rain around 1pm. Beautiful weather until the rain came at 1:30. Packed up a little early (3pm scheduled ending) and had a good day... One more event next Saturday, then DONE for the year and I'm ready. Even though fewer events this year due a very rainy summer and Hurricane Florence I'm still ready to take a break and just stockpile puzzles during the winter. Sold 52 puzzles today which was decent. Last Saturday was a rain-out. After my event next Saturday I'll compile all my stats for 2018 and share them for those who are curious.

I recently snagged an unusual and unique board of poplar shown in picture next to a typical looking boring board that I typically find here in NC. I've finished 6 of the 18 patterns I laid out on it, here they are, side by side with some custom ones I cut out of the typical board this week. The exotic board is perfect for the Unicorn, Dragon and Yeti, but I don't think it would be so great for most of the other puzzles I do (dogs and sea creatures), but I do love how these are looking and I think customers will as well.

I think you need to plan a vacation to the beach and bring your saw and let me try it out. I'll gladly buy a Hegner once I know it matches my cutting style and speed.

If I can find someone nearby with a Hegner that I can play with and cut on for a day, I'd love to try one out. But after buying the Hawk "blind", I won't do that again. I'd very much like to find a more durable saw. It's a pain in the ass to have to set up, swap out attachments and fine tune a new saw each year. I've thought about the Excalibur or similar. They cost about double, but I have no way of knowing if they'll last twice as long as the DW or not so I'm simply sticking with what I know and am comfortable with.

I do all my cutting in a plastic enclosed "room" so the wife won't yell at me about sawdust everywhere.

Oh, and to your suggestion about learning how to fix them... I had all intentions of doing that, I bought all the bearings and bushings needed to refurbish one... I tried it and when I was done, it ran worse than when I started! Nope, not gonna try that again. I have one of my puzzle zombies coming to pick up my two fried ones and he is going to learn how to reburbish them and will donate one and keep one for himself.