BadBob

I started with a Dremel drill press and a Craftsman rotary tool. The Dremel drill press worked great for me until I started making larger projects where I could not drill holes where I needed them. I purchased a Grizzly G7943 - 14" Heavy-Duty Benchtop Drill Press used that worked but needed some TLC. I refurbished the drill press and swapped out the chuck for one that would hold my tiny wire gauge size bits. I am happy with this setup, and it will be my goto for drilling my scroll saw projects. When I got it all set up as a test loaded up my smallest bit and drilled holes in a toothpick. When I reach the point, if I ever do, where the 14-inch drill press will not work, I will use a router base with a Dremel. One of these: Stewart MacDonald Precision Router Base Veritas Plunge Base for Rotary Tools I lean heavily toward the Lee Valley tool due to its versatility.

I ship almost exclusively USPS first class unless the weight is over 16oz or the customer requests priority mail. They all have tracking numbers. I ship internationally. The only thing I have an issue with shipping internationally is that it can take a long time and tracking gets spotty once it leaves the country. Don't for get to include all your expenses. Tape, boxes, bubble wrap and transportation to the post office. I figure it costs me $4 to get it to the post office. I embed these cost in the price of the item I am selling just like I would materials. The customer sees $3.85 for first class shipping. To estimate shipping you need to know the packed weight and dimensions. Everyone uses dimensional weight now so the size of the box makes a difference in the price. When you know this go to USPS Click & Ship and fill out the form. You can do this without making a purchase but, you need an account. I use a scale I bought from Harbor Freight I bought for about $20. I let my customers choose any USPS shipping method they want and to date no one has asked for the more expensive shipping. If I have something heavy I use UPS. For example, about a year ago I shipped a six inch jointer. This big chunk of cast iron went out in a plywood crate and cost $80 to ship.

You might want to try Aniline Dyes mixed with alcohol. Denatured alcohol does not raise the grain like water. I make painted tray puzzles and only paint the top of the pieces.

The first thing I do with a new project is what ever it takes to get it into SVG format in the computer. Using Inkscape I can print patterns any size I want with sharp clear lines.

This is what I use. It's cheap and folds down into a small package. I wish I had bought a larger one but this works great for 95% of what I do.

I received a takedown notice for one of my Etsy listings. A Company in Germany owned a word that I used in my description. It was a pain, and I had to redo the listing. It cost me twenty cents and the hours to find and correct backlinks. After that, I went through all my listings and removed any words that look like they might be trademarks. When I emailed other toymakers, I know a warning about what happened to me I found that the same law firm had hit several of them. I sell internationally, and this happened after Etsy staged one of my listings on a server in Europe.

I shrink wrap my puzzles.

That is the wheel size I use.

I use 3M77 and keep my tips in mineral spirits. It keeps then clean and unclogged without any spiting. If the one I'm using gets gummed up I install a another clean one. I like 3M77 because it sticks and stays stuck. I get mine from amazon $9.98 for 16.75oz can.

I've made a lot of these and sell some. I shipped this one to Michigan a few days ago.

This is the first place I go. I've looked at every post.

I had a hard time deciding where to post this. I started to publish it in Bragging Rights and changed my mind because it is about something I sold. It sold Yesterday. The car is cut from a pine 2x4 and finished with amber shellac trimmed with red and black acrylic paint. These take a while to sell, but they do get sold. I have to wait for the right buyer to come along. I have different versions of my toys from Australia to Several countries in Europe.

I don't sell a lot yet. My best seller for 2019 was Christmas tree cutout. I was asked by someone Facebook if I could make them. No problem. We exchanged a few messages to figure out exactly what she wanted and I cut them. I always make extras just in case something goes wrong. I had one extra so I created a listing in my shop and it sold right away. I made two more and they sold quick. I made four more and sold those. In about three weeks from the custom order. Christmas tree cutouts became by best seller.

Inkscape is free open source software. https://inkscape.org. If you print patterns and you don't have this you need to install it learn to use it. Why anyone would want a pattern in a PDF or a bitmap format like jpg is beyond me. You can use Inkscape and svg to resize to any size you want and print sharp clear patterns no matter what size they are. You don't need to convert to another format to print them. Almost every new project I do starts with cleaning up the image and converting to svg.

An excellent read thank you.

In the beginning, I started with a little AMT cast iron scroll saw made in Taiwan. I cut out hundreds of animal shapes, reasoning that not only would I get practice with the saw, but I would have toys for the kids. I still have a lot of these. My grandson plays with them. It didn't take to long until I had modified the saw to use pinless blades and moved into cutting fretwork. I made a lot of shelves from pallet wood. I could get all the pallets I wanted for free, and it was the only hardwood I had access to at the time. I started making toys for my girls, nieces, and nephews. Not always using the scroll saw but incorporating it where it made sense. I sold a few and bough more tools. After a long dry spell, mostly due to my job, you don't do much woodworking when you're working 60 hour weeks. My grandson was born, and as soon as he started pushing things around the floor. I made him a car. I just sketched it out on a board and cut it. Odin, my grandson, was fascinated with helicopters, so I made one for him. He called them wop-wops. A progression of toys followed. I made small toys mostly and a rocking horse. Then one day, someone said, "You should sell these." I thought about it and decided that was what I wanted to do after my upcoming retirement from my job as a Linux Systems Programmer/Administrator. Today my shop is my fulltime job. I'm not making a profit yet, but It's coming.

I much prefer them.

I'm working on a series of small pocket size toy cars. Here is the latest toy car. I made this by enlarging the pattern to fit the wheels. The original pattern is here. https://toymakingplans.com/itty-bitty-scroll-saw-surprises/

Most 80% of my Etsy shop views are sent there by me using this method. Mostly from Pinterest. I do use other social media as well but nothing works as well for me as Pinterest. Twitter never produces anything. Facebook produces some and is increasing. To get this to work you need to post something somewhere everyday and keep at it. Learn about SEO and use it. Read the documentation for the sites you use.