Iguanadon

I'll have about 25 new breeds on hand for the dog show this weekend. Here are a few done so far...

Just got back from the monthly meeting of the Kennel Club that is hosting the show this weekend. There were maybe 8 members there... I sold 3 puzzles on the spot. LOL I took some examples to show and needless to say they were well received. I'll be one of only about 3 "vendors" at the show. This is going to be a very interesting event. Not really sure what to expect. :-)

Dog show weekend coming up. First time doing the event and while I'd expect it to be a great one, I have no idea what reality will be. But, last week I found a list of the 110 breeds and 600 dogs participating in the show and found about 30 breeds that I didn't already have in my herd. So, I had Harvey send me the patterns and I started cuttin'... Got a dozen drying on the rack right now. A couple of them are just different variations such as a long haired Dachshund and a long haired Chihuahua. One doesn't seem to belong... :-) The Kennel Club that is putting on the show happens to be having their monthly meeting this evening and I'm going to attend so that I can meet the organizer of the event. I'm taking some samples with me to show him and any of the other members that may be interested.

Here you go... http://www.dndsawbladesonline.com/page/79818204

After cutting 4 puzzles on the Hawk this morning and it performing flawlessly I decided to try out the "aggressiveness" setting on the blade. I couldn't tell much if any difference in the cutting speed or quality, so I set it back to where I had it. I have to admit I'm ecstatic that I was able to cut 4 complete puzzles and didn't have anything get out of whack. One thing that really pisses me off is getting 3/4 of the way through a puzzle, cut a letter out and it doesn't slide in and out both ways... Very difficult to "fix", if not impossible, and end up having to throw away the entire puzzle because I'm so picky. Now I just need the saw to keep performing like this for another 700-800 puzzles. ;-)

Side note... the Pegas blades are thinner so I'm happy using the #5 Pegas whereas I usually use the #3 Olson Mach Speed. The #5 Pegas is stronger and I haven't had one snap while using the Hawk, but sometimes I do have the #3 Pegas snap... and when a blade snaps on the Hawk, it'll startle the crap out of ya.

I like the Pegas Modified Geometry #3 and #5 on my Hawk but sticking with the Olson Mach Speed #3 on my DeWalt after tying the Pegas but didn't like them for some reason. Cutting 3/4" poplar

That bizarre wobble I showed in videos ended up being simply because the blade wasn't perfectly vertical. I had the table tilted about a full degree to one side in order to get the blade perpendicular to the table. What I should have realized was the blade wasn't aligned well and when the saw was running it was causing the weird wobble as well as a good amount of the vibration I was experiencing. Using the set screws in the blade top and bottom blade holders to properly align the blade is all it took. My table is now set at 0 and the wobble only happens at the highest speed which I don't need to be running anyway and the vibration is virtually gone. I look forward to cutting some actual puzzle pieces tomorrow and see how it goes. The real test will be if things stay aligned and accurate as the weeks and months of cutting start to add up.

Don't give it a second thought man, no way you could have known and as they say... shit happens and I'm very used to it happening to me. ;-) I greatly appreciate all of the information, ideas and recommendations you've made as I've worked on the beast. It really seems to be close to running right at this point.

There's way too much history to recap, but I wanted to let those that have been following the saga know that I finally got up the nerve to try using the Hawk again after @kmmcrafts and others provided some feedback and ideas about my issues with vibration and blade wobble. I just finished cutting 5 outlines of puzzle animals and the saw worked well. No blade wobble, virtually no vibration... I'm not getting overly excited yet as I need to cut actual puzzle pieces, but things look very promising. I'd been so disgusted with things that I hadn't touched the Hawk in a few weeks. If I'd still had the box that it came in, I'd have shipped it back weeks ago. So, maybe this is an omen and I end up a happy Hawk user. We'll see, but I wanted to let everyone know I'm still trying to get it to work out. If I feel brave tomorrow, I'll cut some complete puzzles. Iggy

Yep, they're great. Amazon has them in various sizes as well. With and without casters. https://www.amazon.com/Seville-Classics-5-Tier-UltraZinc-Shelving/dp/B00CL9204C/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1507059500&sr=8-5&keywords=metal+shelving

If you've never seen the movie "Best In Show", you need to, it's HILARIOUS... Comedy/spoof of the dog show circuit. One of our favorite flicks. I could see myself traveling the circuit. LOL!

I have an event coming up the weekend after next, first time doing it... a dog show, here in my county. It's something like the 72nd annual event and I had no idea what to expect... Well, I just saw the "ring assignments"... It appears that there are about 560 dogs entering twice (both Saturday and then Sunday). And the list of about 112 different breeds participating is mind boggling. I take 63 breeds of dog puzzles with me normally and I'm going to have to expand that to try to cover as many as I can. There are several listed that I don't have patterns for, and some I've never even heard of. LOL This is going to be a wild one... http://www.hanoverkennelclub.net/2017_show_schedule_and_ring_assignments

And by the way, while Friday night at this event was a total waste, it's not that I'm disappointed in a bad show overall this weekend, I'm simply saying I can stick close to home with my weekly farmers market and be happier than traveling 90 minutes each way to sell only a few more puzzles than I average at my farmers market. No reason to stray far away when I don't have to.

Very cute, and a great little item. Folks like "cute" and "cheap". I like it.

Nice Kevin, I looked at the one you linked to and then saw these which could work very well for me. Thanks https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017XQ88FC/ref=pd_luc_rh_bxgy_02_03_t_img_lh?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Len, you always crack me up... I do have the boxes labeled on the side, but when they're stacked 5 or 6 high and the one I need is on the bottom, I have to unstack and then restack them. I have no trouble knowing where the items are that I need, I just need easier access to them.

Good thought Randy. I get such great responses to my puzzles and I sell enough to keep me busy week to week restocking after each event. Once sales start dwindling, I'll look at venturing into other items. But right now, I'm happy overall. I've sold 1400 puzzles in 16 months (12 months of actual selling time). I have a pretty good little niche, I literally hear a couple dozen times a day "I've never seen anything like these!" Once I flood the market I'll look at branching out. And keeping in mind, I truly enjoy making them and it's very relaxing to me as I cut them. Every 30 minutes I have a finished product, and my personality needs that immediate gratification.

I agree, but they'll have to be proven, solid, mega-events. No more small town "festivals". I live at the beach, I prefer having new potential customers coming to me. ;-)

A couple more complete pictures of the setup with the new ornaments...

So, I'm home from my latest 2 day event... and I'm exhausted and burnt out... And I've come to the decision and conclusion that unless an event is here in my town (on the island), or is in Southport, NC or in Cary, NC... I'm simply not going to bother. I've experimented and tried various "festivals" and events and they just aren't worth the extra time, energy, effort and travel. Two weeks ago was a Summer Harvest event 45 minutes from home. Two days long. I did the first day and didn't do the 2nd day. Mediocre sales. 38 puzzles This weekend was a wine festival event almost 90 minutes from home. 1 1/2 days long. Friday night SUCKED (4 puzzles) and today, even with absolutely perfect weather, had mediocre sales. 33 puzzles. Both of those weekends, I could have done my local farmers market 4 blocks from my house and done my average 26 puzzles in just 5 hours and been home by 2pm. It runs from Memorial Day weekend thru the first week of October each year. It's been a trial and error, learning experience in my first 16 months of selling. I wanted to try various venues and see what the best shows are. But these random festivals, etc just aren't worth it and quite honestly the clientele tend to think my price is a bit high. I'm better off with tourists and mega-events. I'm not whining or complaining... I'm just worn out. LOL I've pushed myself and worked hard at this and it's catching up to me. I still have a full schedule thru early December, but no more long distance "festivals". I know I'm fortunate to live in a tourist area and I need to simply capitalize on that and ride the wave as they say. P.S. the new little ornaments did quite well today, I sold 7 of them and I went with a price of $7 each at this event, but I think I can get $10 everywhere else. (I counted 3 ornaments as equaling 1 puzzle in my tally. When I charge $10, I'll count 2 ornaments as equaling 1 puzzle)

Weather was very nice. Overcast, but no threat of rain. Another thing was once it got dark... it was dark in the vendor area. I'll be glad to be back during daylight tomorrow and it should be much better.

NC Muscadine Festival... Friday evening and all day Saturday. Saturday had better be damn good, cuz Friday night SUCKED! :-) http://www.ncmuscadinefestival.com/ Gates opened at 5pm, I sold my first puzzle at 5:15... good start... but there just wasn't a crowd there at all tonight. Supposed to run til 9pm, but at 8pm I shut down for the evening. I'll head back in the morning for the 10am starting time and hope that the beautiful, perfect weather brings the crowd in. Sold 4 puzzles this evening. Tomorrow had better make up for tonight or I'll be scratching this event off my list for future years. Can't win 'em all.

I have the boxes labeled, but then they're all stacked on top of each other and I'm constantly having to unstack and restack to get to the ones I need at any particular moment.

I just came across this and immediately thought this might be my solution for organizing my stockpile of puzzles. During the off-season and in anticipation of big events, I cut tons of extras of my popular items but have just kept them in a giant box, or in some smaller boxes mixed together, having to sort thru them constantly. This may be an ideal way to organize them and have easy access to them. If not this exact thing, something similar. https://www.amazon.com/Whitmor-Hanging-Shoe-Shelves-Section/dp/B00KQ2E666/ref=sr_1_15?s=storageorganization&ie=UTF8&qid=1506696875&sr=1-15&keywords=closet+shoe+organizer