Iguanadon

Thanks hawkeye. The butcher block oil I use is mineral oil based. I'd be afraid to "soak" the pieces in mineral oil (or anything else) for fear of absorbing too much, swelling and then not allowing the puzzle pieces to slide together and apart. It's something I could certainly test though and if it works, it would definitely be a big time saver. Thanks for the idea.

Hi, I'm Iggy and as a relative newbie I thought I'd share my process for making my animal puzzles since I've seen some folks recently talking about them and showing what they've been making. My current sales outlet is a weekly farmers market on Saturday's for five hours. I average selling 26 pieces each week and since this is only a hobby for me along with my full time job I've worked at becoming efficient in my cutting process to ensure I can restock for the following Saturday. I will spend the winter months stockpiling my top 12-15 selling items so that I won't be in this situation next year having to restock everything I sell on a weekly basis. So, here are my steps with corresponding photos. 1) Do a dry layout on the board doing my best to have minimal waste by aligning the various body shapes. I snap a picture with my phone, remove the patterns, adhere my clear shelf liner paper on the board and spray adhesive on the entire surface. Using the picture I took, I duplicate the layout, sticking the patterns in place. 2) I then cut the long board into manageable pieces usually with 3 or 4 animals in each piece. 3) I then cut the outline of each animal and stack 'em up. 4) Next is to drill holes in each animal as needed for eyes, closed loop letters, etc 5) And then it's time to start cutting each one into their puzzle pieces. I use compressed cans of air to blow the sawdust out of the fine detail cuts after removing the pattern. 6) After I've cut 20 of them I dip each one in the mineral oil fully assembled and lay them out on a drying rack to sit for a couple of days to soak in. 7) Tada! finished product. I display them, then when I sell a piece, I shrinkwrap it on the spot for the customer. When I first got started with these puzzles 3 months ago, each one took me an hour from beginning to end. I now have it down to 30 minutes each and that's probably about as efficient as I can get it as I don't want to rush through them. I enjoy cutting them and want to continue enjoying it. And you'll notice there is no mention of sanding or filing, I don't need to do either of those things. List of materials used: - Harvey Byler patterns purchased thru Wooden Teddy Bear (I now sell Harvey's patterns, so if you see a puzzle on my website, I have the pattern and can sell it to you for $2.50 each and I email them out right away at no extra cost) - 12" wide poplar - Duck Brand Peel N' Stick Laminate Adhesive Shelf Liner - 3M General Purpose 45 adhesive spray - #3 Mach Speed Olson blades - UltraSource Food Grade Mineral Oil (from Amazon, by the gallon) Total cost of materials for each puzzle is around $2.50 Anyway, not sure if this will be of interest to many of you, but I figured I'd toss it out here. Iggy (the pictures didn't upload in the correct order, but you'll get the idea) (Updated 4/4/17 with new oiling process I use)

For those of you that have an ecommerce website, what service do you use? I'm looking at Shopify and I'm leaning towards their lite version that works within Facebook. I have a Facebook page for my "business" already and if I can transform it so people can place orders for only $9.99 a month I see that as a bargain. https://www.shopify.com/lite A standard Shopify website can be done for $29.99 a month and if the lite version on Facebook doesn't do as well as I'd like I can always create a site from scratch and go that route. https://www.shopify.com/pricing Thanks for any insight or experiences you've had. Iggy

Good question, I'm not really sure how many puzzles I get out of each bottle of conditioner but it's a lot... 50-60 or more. The good thing about the poplar soaking up finishes is that in this case you want it to soak up the oil and it continues to look good.

I brush on a coat on all surfaces of each piece with a small brush. I usually sit and oil 10 of them at a time and then I let them sit overnight which allows most of the oil to soak in and saves time and effort wiping off excess. Here's the oil I use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KSV38NC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 And these small brushes: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006Z83W4M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Let me know if any other questions, I'm happy to offer my processes as I've tried various things over the past 3 months. Iggy

Nice work Nathan. My 2 cents... I use poplar and a butcher block mineral oil finish and that's it and I really like how they look. The oil brings out the wood color and grain. You can see mine at the link below in my signature.

Thanks, and agreed, but I have found my niche and my passion. Puzzles for the foreseeable future and if I do branch out, then I simply go back to the original card... which was designed prior to my puzzle passion being realized. And besides, cards are so inexpensive, it's easy to create a new one and get a box of 500 any time they're needed.

They will have seen my banner and I will have made my "pitch" to them... I say the same thing every time anyone steps towards the table... "... Everything you see is hand cut and everything is a puzzle..." It usually starts a conversation that includes "How long does it take you to make one?"... So on and so on... I wanted to keep the card simple. The picture of the Shepherd speaks volumes in my opinion. I appreciate you remembering my prior posts and making sure I stay on track. ;-)

I personally prefer Olson, the Precision Ground #5 are excellent. I wish they made a PG #3 but since they don't. so I use the Mach #3 and I buy them by the gross.

Hi Dick, I'll add the actual images here... new one has the dog puzzle on it.

So, I'm still a newbie overall and each week I learn something new and thought I'd share this weeks "a-ha" moment. I'm new to scrolling and new to selling and have had a booth at my local farmers market the past 8 Saturdays. I'm exceeding my expectations with sales and I'm happy overall with my setup as I've modified and added banners, etc as needed. I've had business cards and people take them on a regular basis. This is what they looked like. http://screencast.com/t/YVk3hEbf7N Well, yesterday I had someone grab one and then ask to borrow my pen so that she could write "puzzle guy" on the back. Lightbulb went off in my head... duh... people grab a dozen cards from various vendors as they're shopping, they get back home, look through them and when they get to my card they have no idea which vendor I was... Was this the guy that made tables out of old surf boards? Was he the one that made birdhouses?... So, here is the card I just designed and ordered which will be the ones I now have in card holders for people to take. I'll use the old ones to put in the shrinkwrap package of the items customers buy. http://screencast.com/t/M0ACzEmBLv I'd like to once again say THANK YOU to all of the members of SSV for your input, feedback and assistance as I've had a lot of questions since joining and I honestly wouldn't have been as successful with my "hobby" without all of you. Iggy PS, I plan on having an actual website created this winter.

I'm counting down, 2 weeks from tomorrow til we close on the new workshop, I mean the new house... I can't wait to get setup and start buying new toys to fill all the space I'll have.

I'm still a newbie, Country Girl. I started cutting the dog puzzles 2 months ago and as luck would have it I live 3 blocks from a weekly farmers market that has local artists set up tents and sell on Saturdays from 8am to 1pm. And I'm in a tourist beach town so it's a whole new batch of potential customers every week. I've done much better than I expected, averaging 23 items each Saturday. My worst was 14 and my best was 35 so far in the 7 weeks I've done it. I am meeting fellow vendors and am learning about other events in the area and I'm signing up for them as I hear about them. Other than that, I have a Facebook page (see link in my signature below). This is all just a hobby for me. I work full time (from home).

I had a similar issue with 1/8" pirate flags I was cutting in black walnut. I finally found these... they work very well. I pre-drill small holes in order to insert the clips. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XHO6PU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I wish I was that artistic. The patterns are by Harvey Byler and his animal puzzle patterns can be purchased from Wooden Teddy Bear http://www.woodenteddybearonline.com/ (look under PATTERNS and PUZZLES) Interesting story actually... He's Amish and lives in Ohio... Long story short, I'm now in communication with him and he made me a couple of custom patterns last week that I requested as well as supplying the musical instrument patterns and he has offered his expertise so that I can now offer my customers the option of having their dog's name in the body rather than the breed. He's going to charge me $20 for each one that I'll pass to the customer without any additional upcharge from me. Mr. Byler will make the pattern, mail it to me and I'll cut it. I made these 2 yesterday as soon as I received the patterns. Pepper the Poodle... http://screencast.com/t/vo9iUnmqNtrb Joey the Cattle Dog... http://screencast.com/t/7mhKIeMT

Thanks everyone. I look forward to the festival. Even if I don't sell much I get 2 days of music. ;-)

I had previously mentioned that I've signed up to do a Seafood, Jazz and Blues Festival in October and was looking for special items for that event. I was able to find these patterns, done by the same gentleman who does all of the animals that I normally do. I'll have my usual set-up, but simply adding these items. I have one more to do, a Fiddle. The saxophone was a royal pain in the rump... Not difficult, just more detailed than most things I do... I'll be charging a premium price for that one. The festival is also a full 2 day event which will be a new experience for me. So far I've only done my local farmers market which is 5 hours every Saturday.

Outstanding work and rightfully honored.

Scott, I'm not fluent with Inkscape, so I may be off base here, but take a look at trying this... Go to PRINT and then click on PREFERENCES, you can select your paper size, etc, then you should see this tab... http://screencast.com/t/C6q00PyA FIT TO PAGE in theory should work... Good luck.

I'm cheap and because I use so much of it, instead of using blue painters tape, I use this... common shelf paper, then spray adhesive to adhere the pattern to it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002AS9NC6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Nice work Todd. See my facebook page link below, I do animal puzzles and sell them at a local farmers market. I charge $25 and $5 of that goes to a dog rescue that my wife and I are members of, so in essence, I sell for $20. Mine are made from Poplar with a butcher block oil finish. There is a woman on Etsy that sells them and only charges $12.49. She uses plywood, just like you do. I'm happy to answer any other questions you may have. Iggy

Nice work John. I personally donate $5 of each piece I sell to a dog rescue that my wife and I are associated with. I make a donation monthly based on my sales and I post the receipt on my Facebook page so that everyone sees that it's for real. I'm only a beginner, just started with a booth at the local farmers market 5 weeks ago. I mention the donation as soon as people ask what my prices are "$25 and five of that goes to the Australian Cattle Dog Rescue..."

I'm rather excited about it and wish the next 30 days would fly by... other than having to pack and move... Ugh. Days like today when it's 94 degrees with a heat index of 111 and it's 96 in my garden shed and I can't get near it until after the sun goes down makes me want to be in the new garage workshop NOW! The wishlist is already beginning... Definitely need a table saw.

Is this what you're looking for? Upload a photo and it turns it into a stencil/pattern. http://online.rapidresizer.com/photograph-to-pattern.php

It's not a done deal yet, but it's close... buying a new house just 3 blocks from current one. Three reasons we're moving... My wife needs a space for a home office, the dogs need more yard space (our real dogs, not the ones I cut out of poplar) and Iggy needs a real workshop area. I've been working in a garden shed and have less than half of it designated for workshop space. The new house has a 2 1/2 car garage with so much space I almost cried a little when I saw it. ;-) Pictures of my current setup and a picture of the new space (with the current owners stuff still in it). If all goes as scheduled, will be moving in the last week of August. Counting down the days.