BadBob

Funny, I had the same issue.

I like to keep patterns ready for small shapes that fit into more significant projects' waste areas. I have an extensive collection of these. I cut a dragon clock months ago and have not made a base. I also have several toy Hot Rod bodies. I cut all the parts for a toy airplane and never assembled it. I was going to put it together, and now I can't find it. I am sure there are more that I can't remember.

Half-inch-thick pieces will stand on their own. You could stack three half-inch-thick woods of different species to get a three-color puzzle. You might be able to cut four, but be careful where you put your fingers. I have never been successful at cutting the pieces individually from separate boards and getting them to fit well.

It is what it is. I can't store 500 items. I have 450 now and have at least 100 I haven't listed. As an experiment, I took five toy trucks that had never sold and listed them with color and finish options priced according to how difficult the finish was, and they started selling. Of course, they were all made to order. I have eleven options and plan to add another.

I have used shipping labels, and they work. I have lots of paper and spray adhesives that I need to use, and out of habit, I default to using them. I spray on a flattened box with a magazine on top. If there is too much buildup, I turn the page. When I spray, I first ensure the nozzle is pointed in the same direction as my finger, then spray in short bursts until I get a light coating. A can of 3M77 lasts me a long time. I have minimal issues with overspray. I have watched YouTube videos where they spray their patterns using what I think of as the fire hose technique. They jam the nozzle and wave it around like they are trying to extinguish a fire. Half or more of the adhesive does not get on the paper. If you don't like getting glue on your fingers, try using hemostats. They are cheap and one of my most used tools. If I collected them all in one place, I would have more than ten sizes, from three to twelve inches.

I'm slowly moving in that direction, with many items already listed as made-to-order. For example, I make a toy, photograph it, list it as made-to-order, and give it to the grandkids. It gets rid of storage and inventory problems. I don't go to shows, so I don't need inventory. In the last two years, I have had several custom orders, and people have contacted me to ask if I can make something for them. I recently shipped eight toy trucks made to size and color, and I'm waiting for drawings from another potential customer today.

I get it, but your situation is not the same as mine. I'm not trying to make a living at this, but it would be nice to make some money. Promotion-wise, I'm not doing anything for Goimagine that I wasn't doing for Etsy, except I am a lot better at it than when I started. I'm not doing any more work besides getting all the listings posted.

From looking at the photo/video, I would not pay more than $100 for that saw. Depending on its actual condition, you could wind up spending $100 or more on parts. Not to mention time and labor to clean up that mess.

I am struggling to break even on Etsy most months, with zero sales in some months this year and last year, and all the stats in steady decline. Goimagine has been paying its way and making money without promotion for the last several months, even though the site hasn't been fully functional for a year. I'm not dumping Etsy, but I have been cutting back on the listings except for during Christmas. I'm sharing my experiences and not trying to sell anyone on Goimagine.

They look great. I assume you know coconut oil will go rancid after about three years.

I had some problems with two listings in Google Merchant Center. The listing status was changed to disapproved, and the links returned 404 errors. I went back and forth with Goimagine support, but they could not figure it out. I solved the mystery myself and fixed the problem. I posted a warning in the Official Facebook group and was told by one of the admins that I would have to live with it. After I posted an angry icon, that comment got deleted. I proceeded to document my testing. I posted this documentation on every official group and forum and sent it to support. They are working on the issue now. The test listing is still available. If someone wants to buy a toy car for $1000 with a 1000lb shipping weight, I will gladly sell it to them. The following is what I sent: ========================== I previously posted a warning in the Facebook group about this, but it was disregarded. I was told I should not modify URLs, yet the New Dashboard will adjust the link to a listing whenever you change the title. If you have a custom URL you created in the old dashboard and you change anything and click save, your custom URL is broken. I found this problem when I changed the pricing on two listings, and the Google Market Center changed their status to disapproved. It took a couple of weeks to figure it out. I have 451 listings in the Google Merchant Center, everyone with a custom URL, which means I can't use the new dashboard for anything without the listing status changing to disapproved. I promoted heavily on social media for weeks. This issue will also break these links. Hopefully, the following will explain why this is important. Here is a title to one of my Etsy listings. "Wooden Dragon Figurine Handmade From Select Grade Contrasting Hardwoods And Hand-Finished With A Custom Mixture Of Mineral Oil And Waxes" Here is the link to this listing generated by Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/981122546/wooden-dragon-figurine-handmade-from If I change the listing title, Etsy will change the link. In this link, I changed the word Handmade to Made. https://www.etsy.com/listing/981122546/wooden-dragon-figurine-made-from The number in the link is the listing ID number. I can link to the listing using only this number, ignoring any changes in the title. Both of these links work. https://www.etsy.com/listing/981122546/ https://odinstoyfactory.etsy.com/listing/981122546/ No matter what I do to the title, these links always work. The only way they get broken is if the listing is removed. So, why is this important? I have been on Etsy since 2016 and have used these shortened links in thousands of links I have used to promote my shop. They all still work. I did some testing using the new dashboard. I created a new listing. As expected, the link it created matched the title. https://odinstoyfactory.com/this-is-a-test-listing/ Then I changed the title, and the new dashboard changed the link again. https://odinstoyfactory.com/test-for-link-name-change/ Now, the previous link returns a 404 error. Why is this important? If you promote any of your listings and change the listing's title, all of your promotional links will be broken. Pinterest links are perpetual; people will click on them years after you post there. Blogs are the same. The new desktop breaking these links is a severe problem that needs to be addressed immediately.

Now that my Goimagine shop has accumulated enough data in Google Analytics, I was able to determine that more than 99% of my pageviews from Google came from Google Merchant Center free ads.

I was going to say something like that but decided someone might take it the wrong way.

I have found blade charts useless except for the ones that list the blade dimensions or drill bit sizes to use for internal cuts. There are too many variables to include blade selection in a chart. Get a sample pack from @Denny Knappen and try each of the blades on similar projects using the same wood. For me, Pagas blades are the best. They cut straighter, faster, and last longer than anything I have used. I would use a Pegas #3 MGT for the projects in your photos. I cut a lot of 3/4-inch and thicker wood, usually poplar or pine.

I have seen this on occasion on my desktop. I am using Firefox on Fedora 40 Linux. Refresh clears it.

The rule says that if you sell what you make, you must make multiples. I get it after making hundreds or maybe a thousand toy pickup trucks.

The tall stand was one of the things I liked about my Hawk. I enjoyed cutting standing up.

It does that good. I cut a 1.5-inch wood lot with mine and only resort to my band saw if I need to cut thicker wood.

I have been on the internet since the early 80s when it was text-only, and web browsers did not exist. My first floppy disk drive was a single-sided 5.25 inch that stored 180KB. The other day it occurred to me that 99% of my photos would not fit on the largest floppy disk drive ever made. I bought my first digital camera in 2003. It was a cheap one to see what it was all about. It died within a year, and I bought a second cheap camera that didn't die, but the photos got worse and worse until it was unusable. Next, I bought a Kodak digital camera. It took good photos, but the thing with batteries was that if you had to change batteries, it lost all of its settings, and you had to start over again. Next came a Nikon E5700. The Nikon was an excellent camera, and I eventually had two. Some of the best photos I have ever taken were taken with those cameras. Next came a Panasonic DMC-ZS7 because I wanted a camera I could always carry. I still have it. It is sitting right next to me while I write this. I experimented a lot and still do. The light tent works well for me but is too small for some things. I shoot my product photos on the dining room table and switched out the lighting to daylight LEDs. I use two LED flood lights on stands set tight against the tent. I also have several other lighting options if I need them. There is lots of cheap photo equipment available on Amazon. You might want to check out some of them.

I'm hoping the ornament stand will let me center the ornament on the turntable. If I don't like the results, I'll try the spinner. I'm working off the rule that says to do the cheap, easy stuff first. For still shots, I have been using a dowel on top of two pieces of 2x4.

The product photography threw me in a loop, and I spent far more money trying to figure it out than I should have, but I enjoyed the process. With my other cameras, depth of field gave me fits because I could not easily control the aperture. This means I had photos where some parts were out of focus while others were crystal clear. This is what pushed me to buy my DSLR. Now, it is easy. If all I need to do is set up and shoot, I can finish it in 15-20 minutes. I have settled on an 18-135 mm zoom lens for photographing listings. In fact, that is my favorite lens overall. I'm not a photographer. I am self-taught. There is lots of help on the internet.

I ordered one of those wire ornament stands to try. It seems to be the best bet.

Don't I know it? That was about what I spent on my Canon and lenses in 2018. It's one of the cheaper (cheapest ?) models, but it works great. No nerve damage here. Just having a conversation.

I have spent more than $1000 on my current setup, which includes a camera, lenses, lighting, photo tents, stands, remote flash, backdrops, camera mounts, and assorted other accessories. Is that enough? I was not asking for help. I was sharing my experience with anyone considering shooting a video on a turntable. If I needed help with photography or videography, Steve Good would be one of the last places I would go. I have been on his mailing list for years, and most of the projects have computer-generated photos and/or animations.

If I count correctly, I have ten guitars. Some were gifts, some I bought, and one I have had since my teens. It is not much of a guitar, but it is an antique, and I love to open the case and smell it. One of those memory triggers.