Iguanadon

FYI - Quick update. I picked up some spray clear finish and I like how easy and quick it was and how quickly it dried on my painted bases (using watered down food coloring). I'm also testing spraying the bottoms of the feet of all of my puzzles. As many of you know, I use mineral oil to dip my puzzles in to bring out the color of the wood but it of course never fully dries and while I have never had anyone mention or complain about the oil, I've always been slightly concerned about it being set on a piece of raw wood/furniture. I did a quick test of 2 puzzles I recently cut and oiled. I sprayed the bottom of the feet on one and not the other and then sat them both on a paper towel. The test went very well. No bleeding from the one sprayed. I'm still open to any other suggestions or comments. Thanks to all who have provided info so far. Iggy

Hey Kevin, Personally, I'd bought over 150 of Harvey's patterns from Wooden Teddy Bear at $3.00 each plus shipping ($4.95 per order or .50cents each to have them emailed), prior to me working with him directly. I'm offering them for $2.50 each with no shipping costs. There really isn't any more room for discounting without taking money out of Harvey's pocket. Yes, woodimals are out there, but quite frankly they aren't nearly as good a quality as Harvey's work, but that's a call each scroller has to make as to what they want to offer their customers, it's certainly an option. As to the "most popular", that would vary based on region of the country, or the country you're in (I'm selling the patterns all over the world lately). Specific dogs tend to be more popular than others in different places. My top sellers are of course the sea and beach creatures... etc. I'll think about coming up with a bundle of popular 15 patterns for $30 and I'll simply forfeit the tiny amount that I keep from each one (50 cents) Iggy

Hi Terry, funny you ask, but Harvey just drew a custom pattern for someone that is the Fairy Tale of the Bremen City Musicians. If you email me, I can provide the email of the person that purchased it and I believe she is offering it to those who are interested. [email protected]

Oh... and my latest batches of watered down food coloring, I've been making darker and actually happy with the color. But I guess I could just maybe spray lacquer or sealant of some sort to keep it from fading and also give it a bit of shine?

Keep the comments and ideas coming... including the jokes. ;-) Doing some searches on Amazon, came across this... has anyone used it before? I also need green and figure I could make my own by mixing blue and yellow. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J2NO2OA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATXQXNB6MHBOF&psc=1

I need to find a new/better method of "painting" the bases of some of the animal puzzles that I make. My method, while simple, just isn't good enough (watered down food coloring). It fades over time and I'd like more vibrant colors. I know several of you do various coloring of puzzles and other projects and I'd like to hear what you do, how you do it, what it needs to be mixed with, etc. In speaking with Harvey Byler this morning, I asked what he uses and he said Aniline Dye. How about others? Please share with me what you use, how you use it, what it needs to be mixed with, how you apply it. Keep in mind, I'm lazy and I want the simplest method possible. :-) Harvey said with the Aniline Dye, he dunks the pieces in and lets them dry, just as I do with my current method and process. Thank you in advance. I look forward to learning some options so that I can test them out this winter once selling season is over. Iggy

Eerie... Harvey just called me and one of the things he wanted to discuss was the fact that he has over 1500 custom/personalized patterns on file that he's done over the years and he wondered if there would be interest in some of them at the usual price of $2.50 since they're already drawn. You'd need someone with a kid named Ethan who is into Elephants though as just one example, so it would be a very tiny possibility on a pattern by pattern basis, but you never know. I had an example one I kept on display that was a Poodle named Pepper, and someone came up and said "Wow, that's my dog!" and she ended up buying the display puzzle. The tough part is, 1500 of them... and they aren't currently cataloged or listed anywhere, so creating a master list (by hand since he's Amish) would be quite an undertaking. He and I will continue to discuss the possibility. P.S. Mrs. Iggy and I plan on doing a roadtrip, probably in May and the primary destination along the way is so that I can visit and meet Harvey. I just want to meet him, see his shop and shake his hand. He's been fun and great to work with.

Yep, passed on to the customer... I charge $25 for my puzzles "as is", or you can customize with a personalized name for an extra $20. Obviously not everyone is willing to pay $45, but many people are, and if they aren't, more times than not they end up buying the regular puzzle "as is", so it's no harm to me. The $20 goes straight to Harvey, I don't take a cut or add anything more to it. Over the past year, I've probably done 100-125 customs. I have 2 examples on display at events to show people that ask about personalizing.

$20. Custom name, hand drawn for an individual, one time use. Top image shows 4 examples of ones I've ordered and made. The standard animal pattern with the breed/type of animal are $2.50. The bottom image shows the standard patterns. Customers like to personalize with their pet name or the name of a child or grandchild.

You're exactly right Roly... I just added this statement near the beginning... ..."I hope this proves beneficial to you in some way. Some items may seem obvious or common sense, but in the whirlwind of getting started, sometimes you forget or get sidetracked from the obvious as you focus on the many tasks ahead of you."

Hi Gang, For those of you buying Harvey Byler's patterns from me, and even if you aren't, I wanted to be sure everyone knows you can take advantage of Harvey's amazing artwork by requesting custom names within any dog breed or animal. I get a custom order or two every event that I do and if you are selling these puzzles or are thinking about it, you'll get requests also. I created a new category on my website for ordering. Harvey charges a flat $20 for each one. Allow 1 week for him to draw it, mail it to me and then I'll scan and email it to you. https://woodcraftbyscott.com/collections/all-puzzles/products/custom-animal-puzzle-names Thanks and let me know if you have any questions. Iggy

Excellent, Rob, enjoy your first outdoor event and I hope it goes well. Dog lovers go nuts for the wooden versions.

Yep, I had figured I'd sell 10. I sold 22 Saturday at my 5 hour farmers market, so, combined in 8 hours, I sold 34. Very pleased. Goal is to do double that at the wine festival next weekend. It's Friday evening and all day Saturday.

Feeling older every day Paul. ;-) I'm 53. Here's a recent snapshot I took because my day job boss wanted to be sure we still existed (we all work remotely). Event coming up this weekend is a wine festival. Perfect weather, so, worst case, enjoy the day and the wine...

A local brewpub, literally 2 blocks from my house had a little crafts event at their place this afternoon, free of charge for vendors, so I decided to do it. Only 3 hours long. No tent, just a couple of tables, nowhere to put my giant banner, very barebones, but a nice venue, relaxing afternoon and I actually sold 12 puzzles, so I was happy. Here I am, along with Mrs. Ig as well.

Nicely done. Let us know how sales of them go.

I recently signed up to be a vendor at a local RibFest event and I had Harvey draw me up 4 custom patterns specifically for it, and while I was at it, I had him make this one for me... I have a feeling it will be popular. :-)

Hey Len, I haven't had a chance to figure out how to box it back up to ship back and in the meantime, some discussions here on the forum have led me to make a couple of adjustments that seem to have helped my situation. So, I'd like to try to get the saw to where it will work properly for me if at all possible. I hope to do some testing in the next couple of weeks.

I've had a couple of people ask questions about my setup at events and how I do certain things. I've also had someone suggest I write a "guide"... so... two days ago I started typing. Attached is what I have so far. My wife hasn't even proofread it yet to correct all of my horrible grammatical errors, so keep that in mind and suffer through my massacre of the english language. :-) I'd appreciate your thoughts and feedback and especially any suggestions. Or, you can tell me it's the worst thing you've ever read and figure nobody would be interested. I can handle it. It's still a work in progress. I hope that I properly explain the reason and the content in my introduction. This isn't about scrolling, it's about deciding if you want to start selling whatever product it is that you make. Thanks in advance for your feedback. Iggy Woodcraft By Scott eBook.pdf

"Iggy, have you talked to BM about replacing your saw? I would think they would want to." Hey Paul, the one I have is already a replacement for the original one I received that was really messed up. I'm slowly getting this one operational. I hope to have time to tinker with it some more in the next couple of weeks. Busy with events over the next 2 months.

As long as Duke is around, I'll always be the #2 puzzle guy. Great work.

Outstanding, great to hear Brian. As far as the blade holders... Personally, I never remove them. I feed the blade into the bottom one thru the hole in the table, then into the top holder, just as I do with my DeWalt. It takes a little practice, but it beats having to insert the lower holder either blindly or having to bend over and eyeball it. The practice part is being sure the blade is at 90 degrees from each holder once clamped.

Meet my newest creature. I've had to create a new category on my website for Mythical Creatures for this one, the Dragon, the Unicorn, the Mermaids and soon the Fairies once I get a chance to cut them.

Fabulous work Duke. I'm envious of your use of colors. And great modification moving the butterfly.

RJ, that was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten... Sliced on a biscuit... it was heavenly...