Iguanadon

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.

Snapshot of the first test batch. Going with 1/8" for several reasons. Labrador's. @Sam777 did a great job I'll share pictures of the others when I receive them and now I need to build something to display them on.

I'm trying to make the most of my hobby by maximizing my potential sales by offering things I think customers would like. If I'm at an event, why not sell whatever people will be interested in buying. I'm there anyway, I might as well bring home more $$$. I won't be quitting my day job, they're foolish enough to pay me way too much. ;-) But if they were to ever boot me out, I'd like to have the option of doing this full time.

Hi Len, yep, I took into account having to pay the cutter and I can still make plenty of profit selling them for $10 each. I'm in a tourist/beach community and have no trouble selling my puzzles for $25 and this will be a nice inexpensive alternative enjoyed by the animal lovers especially with the holidays coming up. It may end up being a seasonal offering. I'm just trying a couple of different things. I average a very decent amount in sales per event currently in my first 15 months of doing this. If I can bump it up a little, great. Otherwise I'm happy with my current business model. But why not try to find other revenue streams. I have come up with my top 10 dog breeds and top 10 non-dog animals as a test run, doing 5 of each. If these 100 ornaments don't do well, so be it, but it's something I'd like to try. And it will also let me know if it's something I should take the time to cut myself or continue to have someone else cut them for me. I'm pretty much maxed out right now cutting puzzles considering I have a full time day job.

I got a couple of quick responses and am working with one SSV member on a test stack. I'll let everyone know if I end up needing additional assistance. Thanks!

I would love to be able to offer animal ornaments along with the puzzles I sell but quite frankly I don't have the time... nor the experience cutting them... nor the right wood, or blades, etc, etc. So... The latest Iggy idea... Does anyone want to be my ornament maker? I'm imagining starting with my top 10 selling dog breeds, which Harvey already has patterns for (and I'd provide of course) and also I'd modify 6 to 10 existing patterns, shrink them down, for all the other popular items I sell... Sea Turtle, Dolphin, Mermaids, Unicorn, Dragon, Elephant, etc, etc. Attached is a sample pattern set from Harvey along with his recommended "instructions". I'm thinking of just doing the outline version, no lettering as that could get quite tedious and time consuming unless it's something you'd be interested in doing. Anyone experienced with doing ornaments and/or work with 1/4" wood interested? If so, message me and we can discuss compensation, etc. You would tell me how many you're comfortable stack cutting, and I'd order them in that quantity, for instance if you say you can do 5 at a time, I'd order in multiples of 5 for each animal so that you'd be maximizing your output rather than doing 1 or 2 at a time. Let me know your thoughts... I'd enjoy giving someone here some work if you could use the income or are looking for something to do. Iggy _Ornament Instructions.pdf

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

Sure, a glimpse... here are her hands making me a delicious item called a Bacon Explosion a few years ago...

As always, nicely cut Duke. There are a total of 3 brand new Fairy puzzles that Harvey Byler just sent to me. I haven't had a chance to cut them, so I'll let Duke display them for me and then you can buy the patterns from my site if interested. :-)

The fall is our favorite time of year down here... Watch the weather and if it looks good, hop in the car and come down to say hello!

Funny, I literally just finished ordering 10 rolls online to be delivered to me. Maybe they'll grab 6 of the rolls from your store.

Good thought Kevin. I haven't tried making the ornaments yet. I guess now would be a good time. If I have time to tackle it between now and the Ribfest, I'll do it. I'm pretty booked up though. Maybe a rainout or two will allow me the time to pump some out.

LOL I'll double shrink wrap them. And I plan on offering to hold purchases until they plan on leaving so they don't have to carry them around.

Port City RibFest is moving from the big city nearby (Wilmington), to my little beach town (Carolina Beach) this year. This is their 5th annual. Big shindig, BBQ festival, music, vendors, etc, etc. https://www.portcityribfest.net/ It was just approved by the town council a couple of weeks ago and is being held November 10, 11, 12. Big 3 days. I glanced at their site and started looking at their information pertaining to being a vendor. Expensive... $250 for the 3 days. But I literally live 4 blocks from the venue so Mrs. Iggy and I discussed it and figured "Why not?" Give it a try. Then we looked at the layout map and had concerns about the main vendor area at the bottom. It's kind of "away" from the food with the music stage in between. Then I noticed that booths 3 and 4 had not been rented yet in the main food area... So I emailed the coordinator of the event and asked him if either of those spaces was still available I'd like one, otherwise I wouldn't sign up. He responded to me and said he'd hold one of them for me if I got my application and check to him right away. I dropped a check in the mail today. So... It's risky in that this is the first year it's being held here, but in years past they've had 10,000-12,000 people attend and it's been very successful. And risky that I'll be a crafts vendor in the midst of a bunch of rib eating drunks. LOL But, I've already called Harvey Byler and asked him for 4 custom puzzles... Pig saying RIBFEST and another saying BBQ, and a Cow saying the same things. Oh, and while I was ordering, I asked him for a Pig that says BACON. That one is for me. :-) But I also think a number of folks will enjoy it.... everyone loves bacon. I have Mrs. Iggy working her magic with the new name plate patterns, making one for each of the BBQ vendors that I'll ask them to place on the shelf where people place their orders. Not many vendors have signed up yet, and that was another reason I didn't want to be in that big area at the bottom... what if there are only 10 or 12 vendors... it would be horrible. At least where I'll be I'm guaranteed all the foot traffic. Sell 10 puzzles and I break even. No worries there, just wondering if I'll hit 75-100 puzzles as I'd expect to for 3 days of sales. I may even put a small Christmas tree up at the outside corner of my tent to remind folks that Christmas is just around the corner. P.S. The boardwalk and the ocean are just feet away to the right on that map. Cross your fingers

So... I said I'd never do a 2 day event again unless it's a mega event... and what do I do? I sign up this morning for a THREE day event. LOL This one is 4 blocks from my house and it's a pretty sizable event. Port City Ribfest. This will be the first time our town is hosting it so it's a bit of a crapshoot, but they typically get 10,000-12,000 visitors for it and maybe since it's happening at the beach, maybe it'll draw even more people.

Ha! Good point. Maybe if they word it nicely... "Due to movement during shipping, some settings on your new precision machine may require checking and/or adjusting. This is normal and we encourage you to use this checklist before beginning cutting."

Thanks Dale, I checked that one and it seems to be OK. Now I just need to find the other 82 hidden screws and adjustable things. ;-)

Nice. It was my grand-daughter that got me started scrolling (the kids dinosaurs). Funny story, Mrs. Iggy and I took the little one to lunch one day and we're entertaining her while we wait for our food to be delivered. She was 3 at the time... Grandma is drawing shapes on a piece of paper and asking her what they are... Circle! Square! Diamond! Triangle! Grandma decided then to be a smartass and drew a shape... Wren yells out OCTAGON!!!! She was right... It totally blew us away.