Iguanadon

I'm happy to share information and I hope others get inspired to try expanding their hobby into something more, whether it's woodworking or anything else. Now that I have my LLC I'm tracking my costs, etc more closely this year, but yes, I operate very much in the black. Some things to be sure to take into account if you do decide to start doing this to make money, think about ALL of your actual costs... The easy stuff is wood, blades, etc, but also keep close tabs on your booth rental fees cuz they add up quickly. For example booth fees I've paid for so far in 2018 for several events coming up total $1,930 and I still have a few more that haven't asked for payment yet. My estimated costs per puzzle off the top of my head are roughly: Wood $1.75 Blades, mineral oil, shelf liner, shrink wrap bags $0.25 Booth fees $1.50 Misc (gas, food, new tent every couple of years, new saw every 2 years, etc) $1.00 Round that up and it's approximately $5.00 per puzzle to cover "everything" except my time. I hope this information helps and feel free to ask any questions you have. Iggy

If only it could pay me enough at my current sales volume. :-) In order to make a living doing it, I'd have to sell over double what I do now and then it would feel like a job rather than the enjoyable hobby that it is now.

Three sizable events in a row coming up and I've been stockpiling all winter so that I won't feel crunched on a week to week basis from now thru December... Here's the inventory sheet as of 10 minutes ago... 560 duplicates on hand, then add to that the 140 that I display plus the 100 kids puzzles I also put out... 800 puzzles. Holy crap. LOL

I use "food grade mineral oil" but be aware that it never 100% completely "dries". You can't really notice it after a couple of days but if you were set it on a newspaper or paper towel you'd see some bleeding.

For the "ooh's and aaah's" of course! OH MY GOSH! IT'S A PUZZLE?!?!?! HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!?! WHAT LASER DO YOU USE?!?!?... *yawn*... it's all done by hand, be amazed! LOL I am doing some as non-puzzle to test in a couple of retail stores... maybe... I hate doing inside cuts and they're a real pain in the neck to do. ;-)

I currently don't seal them but have thought about spraying them with a coat of something. My puzzles "usually" end up on bookcase shelves versus being played with.

Yes, I water it down. A lot of water and "some" food coloring. It takes some experimenting to get it the way you want. Be sure to use distilled water since you'll likely have a batch of it sitting around, you don't want any mold/mildew growth.

I use RIT fabric dye for my brown bases. Making brown out of food coloring wasn't easy... I tried, but failed miserably. LOL

Ever seen green or red Christmas cookies? This is how the batter is colored. Next time you go to the grocery store, look in the aisle with cake mixes, cake decorations, etc. https://www.amazon.com/Spice-Supreme-Assorted-Colors-Yellow/dp/B00GNHIBZU/ref=sr_1_4_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1524504475&sr=1-4&keywords=food+coloring&dpID=516RHwMYqlL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

You're a funny guy Ray. :-) Food coloring usually comes in 4 tiny bottles of red, green, blue and yellow in the baking aisle at the grocery store used for coloring cookies and other baking items usually. But I buy mine from Amazon in 16oz bottles. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GURKRK0/ref=sxr_rr_xsim_1_s_it?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3513574162&pd_rd_wg=fxrEu&pf_rd_r=5MN6V2FDJ59R8QDS3TSK&pf_rd_s=desktop-rhs-carousels&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B00GURKRK0&pd_rd_w=5uVkb&pf_rd_i=food+coloring&pd_rd_r=2c90f2b9-00d1-44de-a1de-b73cc152fb43&ie=UTF8&qid=1524503399&sr=1

I use watered down food coloring for my puzzle bases. The more food coloring, the more vivid the color. Here is an example of mine. I dip it in the liquid, shake off the excess and set it aside to dry. I used to wipe off the excess afraid of swelling or bleeding, but the colors weren't as vivid so I tried not wiping off and they come out very nice. P.S. This is poplar.

I have events the next 3 Saturdays... is it possible for the weather to cooperate 3 in a row? The first Saturday looks fantastic with sunny skies and 70 degrees for my #1 one-day event up near Raleigh. Last year I sold 96 puzzles in 8 hours and I fully expect to match that again this year. The next Saturday is a local event, a Street Arts Festival and I expect to sell 50-60 that day as I showcase new local items (attached) that seem to be very popular based on feedback I've received on local Facebook pages. Then the following Saturday is WoofStock, a dog festival that was postponed last month due to rain. That should be a good day also and I hope to sell 40-50. We shall see! I'm excited that the season has really cranked up. Then I have my weekly farmers market starting up Memorial weekend. Iggy

Nicely cut and good suggestion!

Hey Les, You got it, I use a jigsaw to cut the 6' board into smaller pieces after the patterns are mounted, 2 or 3 animals per piece.

At my local Lowe's the poplar is next to the Oak and other hardwoods. I buy the 12" wide boards and it comes in either 4' or 6' lengths, about $5.33 per foot. 6' board costs me $32 and I get 18-20 animal puzzles out of it. Cost per puzzle is around $1.75.

Cut a couple of puzzle pieces out of some scrap and paint them as a test. Light coatings of paint shouldn't be a problem, but you're smart to test first.

Yep, no big deal and definitely happens when cutting pine, any tiny slip will cause an unplanned cut. ;-)

Nicely done. Other than the slight hiccup under the right horn, which most people wouldn't even notice, it looks fantastic. You're soon to be a puzzle zombie... ;-)

Kevin seems to have chimed in with the same info I recommend... I use Pegas MG #3 now when cutting from 3/4" poplar. I do use #5 for cutting the outline, for no real or particular reason other than there aren't many, if any tight turns to deal with. As I cut out each letter/puzzle piece I lay it off to the side in the order in which they go and peel off the shelf liner/pattern after the entire puzzle is done and reassemble as I go. You mention you're cutting out of pine... the Pegas MG will be very aggressive with soft pine, so be ready.

I wanted to have a couple more mythical creatures to display at events, so meet Bigfoot and Yeti. They're cousins and they constantly argue about which one is the good lookin' one.

I made the switch from Olson Mach Speed to Pegas Modified Geometry a few weeks ago and I won't go back. The Pegas are amazing. Funny folks mention "drift". I notice a slight drift when the blade I'm using starts to get dull and that's my warning it's time to put in a new blade.

Oh hell, new competition... I need to step up my game. You'll be a puzzle zombie before you know it... do the unicorn and it'll sell like crazy. :-)

I just received the patterns yesterday but one of my puzzle zombies cut them right away... Harvey out did himself this time with these designs.

I've been counting down the days since I read about it a few months ago. Here's info about it for those that aren't already aware. https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/signatures-soon-may-not-be-required.php P.S. - Hopefully Square doesn't choose to continue to require signatures when using their chip reading device. If you use the magnetic strip swipe device, signatures will still be required, just so you know.

Good start to the season, nice work. Yes, Square is a must. Depending on the event, 50% is about normal for credit card sales. My event for yesterday was rescheduled due to rain. I was disappointed.