BadBob

Last I checked several years ago the only juried show in my area charged $100 minimum for a 10x10 spot.

Why would you do that? Just curious.

I don't do shows. There is only one juried show in my local area, and I'm not interested in farmers' or flea markets. Several years ago, I considered setting up for a show. However, when I did the math, the buy-in was more than $700 to start. I don't have any of the required equipment and would need to buy it all to set up for a two-day show. Then I would have to make stock for the show. When you sell online, you can make one, take photos, post your listing as made-to-order, and give the first one away if you like. I'm slowly switching to made-to-order because having lots of stock on hand is a major storage problem.

I now have 61 listings in my GoImagine shop, with more coming. I'm adding a few every day. In no way are they an exact match for Etsy, and in some cases, the listings are very different. I have several Etsy listings that have options for different sizes. FoImaging options do not have a way to track inventory for each size that I have been able to discover, so I had to split the sizes into individual listings. This would not be an issue if these were made to order.

You can't get much cheaper than a laser printer. Printer Type Black and White Color Laser 2-5 cents per page 15 cents per page Inkjet 5-10 cents per page 15-25 cents per page Brother laser printers are great. I have been using them for years. My first one got killed in a lightning strike. I now have a Brother HL-3170CDW I purchased on November 26, 2015. I print all my patterns on this printer. If the pattern is 3-1/8 x 4-1/4 inches in Inkscape, it prints that size precisely. I'm using third-party toner cartridges in it, and I'm on the third black one and a second set of color cartridges. If it died today, I would not hesitate to buy another Brother printer and would not consider anything else. I am 100% Fedora Linux OS here and never use any Microsoft products.

I have some items that I rarely sell. When I first listed them, it was two years before I had a sale and one person bought four of them at $35 each plus shipping. One place I get into trouble is when I will list something new and it sells right away, so I make several and then nothing.

The reports only show sales. I haven't had any yet, so for me it is blank.

No, I haven't seen any stats, but I'll ask.

I only sell online. You're asking a tough question. I keep items in my shop that don't sell but get many views. It gets potential customers into my shop, and they may buy something else. I don't have any hard evidence of this. I have tried lowering prices to move slow items, which has never worked. My sales have been in a steady decline since February 2021. Two months since then I have not sold enough to pay the fees. The only thing that is selling for me now is very low-priced items.

Holiday Ornaments for the Scroll Saw Rick Longabaugh & Karen Longabaugh isbn:1565232763

I cut this cross from the same wood as the previous cross. For some reason, it was more difficult than the first one. It took me about three hours to make it. The first one took about two hours. I really should time myself.

Mine too, when I first installed the chuck I drilled a hole in a toothpick as a test.

I have bits so small I can barely see them without some very bright light.

I cut this last night from a piece of 1/8-inch mystery wood. I have a bin full of short, thin pieces of wood that I have collected, and I decided that rather than wait for a project to fit the wood, I would make a pattern that fits the size wood I have. I cut it on my Pegas scrolls saw using a Pegas Modified Geometry 1R blade. I slowed the saw to control it better while cutting the thin wood. Drilling the holes was the hardest part. My bit was almost as large as some of the internal cuts. After removing the pattern with mineral spirits, I sanded it with 240 grit sandpaper on my Shopsmit belt sander and then hit it with the sanding mop to smooth the corners.

I have the Veritas Plunge Base for Rotary Tools. Actually, I have the whole kit for it. It works great for my purposes. I opted for the Veritas over the Stewmac because of its versatility.

You can use the internet to find more paper books. January 1, 1983, is the official birth date of the internet. There were no web browsers. We used things like Gopher, FTP, and Veronica.

About forty years ago, I started with an AMT scroll saw and learned how to use it, cutting small animal cutouts in one of Patric Speilman's books. I cut them from almost anything, but mostly I used pallet wood as I had access to more hardwood pallets than I could use. The ones in the photo were made for my kids, and now my grandkids have them. They are also being passed down from nieces to their children. Does this make them heirlooms? These books are available used cheap ($5) on eBay and Amazon. These are in "Scroll Saw Pattern Book" by Patrick Spielman & Pamela Tubby.

That is what I do. I shake the package hard, and it gets more padding if anything moves. A customer sent me a photo of a package with a tire track on it. The contents were fine.

I have a large plastic bottle I put sharp things in. I'm very careful with anything that might get stuck in a tire or foot. Pretty much any sharp thing goes in that bottle. The magnetic tray holds them until I decide that it needs to be emptied.

These are physically on my saws today. Next week there might be something different. You may notice that there are a lot of magnets. I love magnets and have them all over my shop. The blades you see stuck to the magnets are used but not dull. All of my accessory lights are magnetic. Most of my tools are within two or three steps of the saw. I always have the remote control for the vacuum clipped somewhere on me. If I have my shop apron on, I'll have an assortment of pens and pencils, and small tools in the apron pockets. A square for checking my blade. Spring Clamps are used when cutting 3D Pieces that need to be held together. I use a pin vice and drill bit to clean out drilled holes when the blade does not go through. It is also handy for pushing out tiny pieces of wood that sometimes get wedges in the cut. This is a tool I made for loosening blade clamps when they get stuck and/or my fingers get sore. I should add a magnet to this. When I made it two years ago I did not think it would last long. I use a magnetic tray for storing worn and broken blades and other small bits pieces. I don't put sharp pointy things in the trash.

I noticed that when I shipped a package a couple of days ago. In the past, I have shipped almost everything with no insurance figuring that if I had to replace something, it would be cheaper than paying the insurance. So far, I have not had a single package get lost or broken. The only packages that had insurance were sent priority mail.

The labels I have, leave a sticky residue that I need to clean off with solvent.

You're doing a fine job.

I have tried spraying mineral spirits, and it always eats up the o-rings in the sprayer. Another method I use to apply mineral sprites to patterns is a wash bottle.

Depends on your situation. How much ventilation do you have, and how big is the shop?