BadBob

When you make the flat ornaments to sell, do you sell them bare or apply some kind of finish?

I have some 1/4-inch but I have not been able to locate any 1/8-inch Purebond plywood.

The first ones I propped up so air could circulate, and it took a couple of days for the smell to dissipate. Hanging them on a fan will eliminate the mineral spirits in a couple of hours.

I have been able to remove it if I am cautious. I have never been able to reposition it. My definition of repositioning is when I need to move the pattern just a tiny bit, and I can slide it to the position I want. I have some that do this, but I will not recommend these as the solvent in the glue soaks through the paper and will desolve my pattern.

Jorgensen Work Tables would probably work good for a mobile base.

Never Dull works great for cleaning aluminum.

Carnuba wax is hard. You would need to blend it with some softer waxes. Making your own, you can blend the waxes to match your needs perfectly.

There are others, but I like this so much that I bought every can I could find locally. You can make paste wax. It is wax dissolved in a solvent. Much like the beeswax and mineral oil that is so popular except that the oil is replaced with solvent.

I second this with a few additional suggestions. WD-40 with a Scotch-Brite pad is excellent for cleaning aluminum and cast iron metal surfaces. I have Shopsmith equipment and RBI Hawk, so I have aluminum tables all over my shop. The solvent in Johnson's Paste wax is Stoddard, a more refined version of mineral spirits. Clean your table with mineral spirits and wax and buff it according to the directions on the can. I would not use lacquer thinner because it can dissolve finishes and some plastics where mineral spirits is safe to use on most surfaces and it is cheaper. Johnson's Paste wax isn't made anymore.

I've done this many times and have Google alerts configured to search for my name and my shop name. I can easily find my photos in many places, but as long as they lead back to me somehow, I don't care. I once found someone on Etsy using my photos to sell their stuff. Etsy took care of that, and the shop is gone. There is a Firefox addon that lets you do image searches easy.

I have tried the rubber stamp. You can get anything you want. https://www.rubberstamps.net/ Ink bleeds on bare wood. It is challenging to get the stamp on neatly. They make ink that will stick to about anything, but it isn't cheap. I currently don't sign or mark or sign my work. I was not too fond of the idea of signing my work and ruining the piece in the process.

I think I have this figured out: I glue as many patterns as will fit on the flooring sample. Roughly cut them using a coarse blade designed for scrolling in thick wood. Tape the two layers together and cut the outside of the cross with a Pegas #3 MGT blade, taping as I go because if there are no pin nails, they will move. Find and remove any pin nails that I haven't hit already. Once the flooring is separated from the backing, I pop the tongue and groove joints apart, add glue and clap them together. At this point, I don't need the back piece, but I want to experiment with painting them, so I tape, drill, and cut like I would for any stack cut.

Did you contact Carter? They have them for the Shopsmith bandsaw, so I can't imagine they would not have one that fits a Grizzly.

Exactly what I want to do.

I looked at the10 Million Dollar Stick when they first came out with it. It makes me use my hand instead of properly clamping the piece. If you typically hold the wood on your miter saw with your hand, the 10 Million Dollar Stick probably looks like a good idea. My miter saw has a clamp for holding the wood in place. Using a couple of blocks and a hardwood stick, I can clamp anything I need to the saw, from a board to a 1/2-inch piece of wood. Smaller if I don't mind cutting into my hold down. At $27, I think it is a waste of money.

My volume is low, and I ship many different sizes and shapes. Having boxes on hand for every size and shape would be bad for me. I already have storage issues. While I will not say, I would never drive to the store and buy a box. I never have and don't plan to. A trip to the store to buy a box would eat all the profit and take much longer than making a box. Most of the boxes I make are for flat items like puzzles. Easy to do. For packing supplies, I save suitable boxes, padded envelopes, and other packaging materials that come in. Plus, my family and some friends save these for me. I keep a selection of small purchased boxes on hand and only use them when I don't have a suitable used box. 5x5x5 is the most common box size I use. I have a pile of USPS Priority mail boxes sitting here collecting dust. I just checked box prices and discovered that the boxes I paid less than $0.50 cost more than $1.00 today. Not that I need boxes. This discussion got me thinking about box prices.

For me, the weight isn't a problem. The miter saw's shape makes it very awkward to lift and carry. My primary cross-cutting watch is a 12-inch sliding compound miter saw by Hitachi. It is a bear to move and lives in the middle of my workbench. I do all of my cross-cutting and even ripping smaller pieces. I can cut small (less than 1-inch) pieces using proper clamping and a zero clearance insert. I originally bought this saw because I had a large project where I had to cut a lot of 4x4s. I have never regretted buying such a large saw. Ted Baldwin: Cutting Small Things Safely (00h:50m) https://youtu.be/knotpj60bsk

I have concluded that packing these crosses is not much different than packing a puzzle, except that I need to pack them with more padding.

@kmmcrafts The heavest so far is 3oz. Packing them and getting them under the USPS 16oz First Class Package limit should be no problem. I can make boxes if needed. I like using air pillows for padding. I wrap my item in air pillows that are taped together tightly. If there is room in the box, I fill it with more air pillows or some other lightweight material I have. The item itself is also wrapped with stretch wrap. Most of what I sell is irregular shapes, so this works well. When I am done packing, I can throw the box and not worry about breaking it. Crushing is my biggest concern. I had a package get run over once without damage to the contents. I'm thinking: stretch wrapping the cross sandwich it between double-layer corrugated paper pad it with air pillows or bubble wrap to fit the box weigh it and ship first class if it is light enough I don't care much about the insurance or the free (not free boxes). If something gets broken or damaged, my policy is to replace it or refund the purchase price. So far, I have never had anything lost or broken. I have a pile of priority mail boxes that I rarely use. The only time I use them is when I ship a large custom order. Not once have I had a customer request priority mail.

I would love to know if you find some 1/16-inch blades. The last time I looked about a year ago, none were available.

You don't say what capacity you need. This will be the driving force behind your purchase. Start with the smallest and work your way up until you find one that meets your needs and budget. Saws with more capacity and features are heavier.

Thanks for all the good suggestions.

8x10.5 inches as large as I could print the pattern. They are intended to be hung on the wall.

How would you package a delicate item for shipping? So far, the only thing I can come up with is to sandwich it between pieces I cut from a box with some bubble wrap on either side. For example: The painted cross is tempered hardboard, and the other is laminated hardwood flooring (plywood).

Yes, I thought of that.