MisterDrow Posted July 18, 2016 Report Share Posted July 18, 2016 Looking at making some little gift boxes, tabletop game accessories, etc and selling them on the side (preferably online). Is Etsy the best outlet for something like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Probably. Crags List might work too. There are other sites geared toward selling woodwork / craft stuff, but most seem to be aimed at getting commissions, as opposed to selling stuff you already made. If you do any good, please let me in on the secret!? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MisterDrow Posted July 19, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Ha! I just figure if I'm going to make stuff and build my skills, I might as well try to help the hobby pay for itself. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxerjoe04 Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 I started to sell stuff on etsy a little while after starting to woodwork, sold simple stuff since my skills weren't amazing and didn't want to get over my head. Haven't made a ton of money on there but have made enough to justify the time to post stuff every now and then. Of course I get busy with other things and forget to post items that are just sitting on my shelves which isn't that smart. Sold something this past weekend, forgot I had stuff even posted in my store haha. I stick with easy small stuff that can be shipped in flat rate boxes and things that I can make and have on hand so I can ship it out quick. I sold pallet wine racks(don't laught), but those sold pretty frequently, but shipping them was hell, used cardboard and formed the "boxes" around them. They looked awful shipping wise, but never had a complaint(knock on wood), I stopped making them because shipping was a pain and I hate pallets haha. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterDrow Posted July 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 My stuff will be pretty niche targeted... being a gaming nerd myself I know that when you spend a lot of money on cards for a high-end deck of Magic: The Gathering cards for tournament play, you want something fancy to put them in: both for protection and the look. I've got a pretty reasonable source of Spanish Cedar here in town so I can make them with that and they will be somewhat climate-controlled like a humidor. To an outsider, that sounds like a lot for a simple deck of cards but some of these guys have decks worth hundreds or thousands of dollars and don't mind dropping $30-50 or even $100+ on a nice box to put them in. From there I'll expand and make other gaming-related items. I've even got a friend who owns a local game store who said he'd put some of them in his shop to sell if I want. My hope is simply to build my skills, be able to buy more/better tools, and supplement the household income a bit. Even if I only get $50-100 extra each month, that's better than a kick in the pants! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 FYI, Spanish cedar isn't traditionally used for humidors because it "controls climate," it's used because it tolerates humidity well, both in terms of movement and rot resistance, and because it doesn't impart a nasty odor to the cigars like some other species will. All that to say, you don't gain anything by using Spanish cedar for that specific project, but you will pay more for your material, which isn't a great thing if you're trying to make a buck. If the SC that you have available to you isn't fairly expensive, I'd be skeptical that it's actually SC. It's about $12/bf at my yard. That might be a little higher than average but I don't think by much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterDrow Posted July 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 It's $6.84/bf here... at least the last time I bought it for my wife's bathtub caddy. I've got scrap laying around from that project that will suffice for a couple boxes to start with. Lots of the research I found on Spanish Cedar said that it helped to maintain humidity inside of boxes made from it and that was the primary reason for making humidors out of it. I guess you are right, though... that's different from 'climate control'. Terminology fail. I'll make these things out of lots of different types of wood, though, and price them accordingly. Probably only a few at a time so I don't end up with an abudance of them just laying around. I've got a spreadsheet built to calculate my costs (materials, overhead, selling costs/fees, etc) so that I can price them properly and know what to expect in profits on each item sold ahead of time. I will also need to make certain that I am pricing them to be competitive. Who knows... this whole venture may fail... and that's okay. If nothing else, I'll gain some skills I didn't have previously and will be able to translate those to other projects. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 1 hour ago, Eric. said: It's about $12/bf at my yard. That might be a little higher than average but I don't think by much. This is a little dated (9/15), but a few months ago Spanish Cedar was $8.5/bd ft from the retail yard here. I doubt it has moved that much since then, but maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Well I guess my boy is a little high then. The stock is primo, though...all wide and perfectly clear flawless, 15/16 S2S. Maybe that's why. It's one of the slowest movers in the whole yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterDrow Posted July 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Yeah, the stuff I've got access to is about 8" wide on average and 15/16 S2S as well. That's the tough part about wood... depending on where you live, the pricing can vary widely. I have a supplier that I can use through the place I work at with phenomenal prices compared to everyone else around here (I get the company discount!) but they don't stock Spanish Cedar. I'll be using them for other types of wood, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 I wish these guys sold their 4/4 stock at 15/16". Instead they surface it down to 3/4", which does not leave much room for further flattening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeautysBeast Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 Mike, here is the prices of Kettle Moraine. A bit more than yours, but it is good stock. Just over the Illinois/Wisconsin border. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 Thanks man, I will check it out next time I need some non-Walnut domestics. I think their walnut is all steamed (as is Owl's) and I know this ruffles some feathers, but unsteamed KD walnut is the bomb and I have good sources for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeautysBeast Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 I hate when places don't put their prices online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 It's odd that they don't offer any FAS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 22 hours ago, Eric. said: It's odd that they don't offer any FAS. Well in that case Owl's prices are much better, because it is all FAS, unless otherwise noted. I think Kettle Morraine mills and dries their own domestics. The two other mills I buy from also offer two grades: "Select and Better" and "Rustic" (i.e. everything else). I guess it is just easier when manually grading to create two stacks. I don't have the standards in front of me, but I think the difference between FAS and S&B is minimum board width/legth (just looked... EDIT: Select and Better = FAS 1 Face, so it is FAS on a single face and 1 com the bad side). Eric, I know you know all this... this is more for other members. My understanding (from Don, RIP) is that larger operations have automated grading - the boards are computer scanned and sorted for grade and color. In most species color (i.e. sap vs. heart) doesn't figure into grade (see page 6), but for species like cherry and maple (where all heart and all sap are desired, respectively) it does behoove a distributor to bin based on color. http://www.esf.edu/wus/documents/IllustratedGradingGuide.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 My dealer doesn't treat sapwood as a defect in cherry either...I thought that was normal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 2 hours ago, JosephThomas said: My dealer doesn't treat sapwood as a defect in cherry either...I thought that was normal? It is normal. Sapwood is not a defect and a FAS board can have unlimited sap. But commercial distributors will sell all heart cherry or all sap maple because 1) the industry demands it and 2) they can get a higher price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 They also started selling steamed cherry at my place as well in the last couple months... Not sure I like it or not Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 23 minutes ago, JosephThomas said: They also started selling steamed cherry at my place as well in the last couple months... Not sure I like it or not Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk You don't. trust me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 6 hours ago, Mike. said: It is normal. Sapwood is not a defect and a FAS board can have unlimited sap. But commercial distributors will sell all heart cherry or all sap maple because 1) the industry demands it and 2) they can get a higher price. Got me to thinking, don't know that I would know the difference between heart and sap on maple? Gotta be though, huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3nry Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 2 minutes ago, K Cooper said: Got me to thinking, don't know that I would know the difference between heart and sap on maple? Gotta be though, huh? If you don't know the difference, then I'm guessing your lumber suppliers don't stock any boards with any heartwood, because it's a noticeably darker brown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 Just bought these two this week, soft maple. Sap wood or heartwood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 Sapwood. The sapwood more desirable, and therefore more widely stocked, in maple AFAIK due to its color. Edit: I found a source --> http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/red-maple/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 JT - that pic is soft maple, but red soft maple is pretty similar to hard maple. Red Maple is the species name, while it can have a little more color, the stuff that is all sap will look more like the hard maple we are all accustomed to. That particular sample seems to have a little heart Maple trees are unique in that they are mostly sapwood. If you have ever seen a felled maple log you will notice it is 2/3 or more sap, with a small cicle of brown heart. Of course this varies by growing conditions. I know I am in the minority, but I love maple with color. It might have less commercial value, but maple that has not been sorted for color can have streaks of brown, red tones and even blue tones. Look at some of Krenov's work or the dresser in the reader's gallery of the newest issue of FWW Here is a sample of some hard maple I quartersawed. the brown streaks are heartwood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.