Since opening my website things have progressively gotten a bit more busy. For instance yesterday I completed 4 orders that shipped out today only to get to my computer last night to see that 4 orders came in the very same day. So when I thought I was getting ahead, I was just keeping pace.

On another note I bought a 20” chainsaw with some of my profits and I am preparing my plans for building a small forced air kiln to start drying out maple logs so I can offer Maple as a product choice to my customers. Maple (as most of you know) can be hard to come by in larger sizes for blocks and other things like that. So I am hoping to both start offering Maple, as well as reduce overhead through harvesting my own lumber for use. LOTS OF READING AND RESEARCHING…

OK Back to keeping the pace…

Ethan

P.S. Thanks to all of you that viewed www.spudwoodworks.com and left feedback. Extra thanks to those that shared it with others!

Today I launched my own website and google adwords campaign! over the last few weeks I developed my own website equipped with the ability to allow shoppers to see my wood products and buy them directly from me… err I mean Spud Woodworks… Take a look: Spudwoodworks.com

It has been quite the busy time. But I was able to do two freelance projects with maple recently. I will be sure to post them in the project page as soon as I find the time…

Regards,

Ethan

Wow its been a really long time since I have blogged anything… Spud has kept me really busy. But today I think I have something to share that I have been realizing is the next step for me and subsequently Spud.

I have come to the conclusion that I love woodworking, I love making things myself and seeing the satisfaction that people have with my product. A few weeks ago I decided that I would begin saving money from my business to open a brick and mortar storefront. That’s right, I am planning the stages of my eventual gravitation towards full time woodworking and retail.

Currently I am working on saving money and raising funds either through fund raising programs or grants. I also started working on floor plan ideas and product descriptions and modeling. As I take this journey I will keep you all (who may be interested) updated.

http://igg.me/at/spudwoodworks/x/2089110 – My indiegogo campaign in case you wanted to see it.

There is a glimmer of light in the progress department of my small business. The brightest spot being that orders keep coming in at a steady pace. The Ugly has reared its head however in the form of doing the same process, over, and over, and over again only to repeat it again and again… I find myself trying to stay ahead of the orders, trying to not think about the fact that in the course of three weeks I have made over a 1000 square 1.5×1.5×1.5 inch blocks… No, instead I try to think about the future and what good things will come from it… If that fails I will have to find a happy place.

The worst part of all, is sanding! Good grief I need a dust collector ASAP!

Regards,

It has not been too long since my last post. So this will be just a quick update. I am headed into the trenches. received quite a number or orders for wood blocks and they keep coming. We shall see if my established system works. If not you will find me sprawled up in a corner somewhere.

ONWARD!

Best wishes to you all.

Some people get busy just doing what they do, some people get busy learning how to do it, others get busy because they allowed themselves to get that way.

Right now I’d say my process for “Product Handling Time” is working, if a customer orders a product, it is then processed and shipped normally within 3 to 6 business days of the original order.

Question: “Why not 3-5, or 1-3 days instead?”

Answer: “Because you never know how much volume you will have to pump out in a week, and if you complete your orders for the week, its nice to get ahead. However if orders come in and piggy back onto one another, then you may not have the right amount of supply, or you could very well become overwhelmed with orders.”

I guess my point would be to give yourself time, have a good gauge for how much time you need, and start treading, if you stick to it you might find yourself ahead.

Check out some pictures below! I have more products coming soon, which I am pretty darn excited about!

Well Yesterday I finished setup of my first band saw. I started at the low end because that is what my business could afford and I am also learning the ropes. I read lots of reviews for the Ryobi Band saw from Home Depot and after some consideration and education on Band Saw tuning, I went out and bought one… That was Saturday. Turns out the one I picked was busted so after returning and swapping for store credit, traveling to a different store 20 miles away, inspecting the item in the parking lot and finally making it home I started to tune just about everything on the saw.

From calibrating the cutting deck to balancing the blade and more, I was busy for a good 2 hours. When I finally had completed balancing the bells and whistles I had before me a working Band Saw. You can imagine I wanted to try it out… so I did. I practiced on a few scraps and then filled an order of blocks I had waiting. I found I need to get a larger blade for the larger projects, but I have to say it works like a charm. Now I can design new products for my shop! How is that for excitement?

My tip for this: You are in control, but don’t get pushy.

Ever heard the saying “Slow and steady wins the race”? Or “The early bird gets the worm”? Or even “Use your head for more than a hat rack”?

I’ve heard these plenty of times from my mother when I needed to pace myself, or from my father responding to something dumb I had done. But these never really made more sense than now… Owning a business will give you a new perspective I suppose.

Starting out now over the past 3 months (December – February), it has been a slow pace, I can see the value of my business and the work that goes into it first hand, but still I wonder at times if I am really getting anywhere. Well I have come to the conclusion that this slow start-up pace is exactly what I need to succeed. Having this pace will allow me to get better and LEARN how to do what I do more efficiently. That should be my slogan “Get Better and LEARN”. The knowledge I gain from this experience will make me better and more prepared for the busier days and months and years to come.

Maybe now I should make a hat rack…

It sure has been a busy time for me, after my direct sale to The Cornerstone Bookstore I recieved several orders which really gave me quite a time at making sure I had the time to complete everything. In the end I did, and I finally found the right handling time that would work for both me and the customers.

I’d like to also draw attention to accounting… For some, this process can be daunting and tedious. But I suggest for anyone who is going to own a business, that they better set up an accounting process at the beginning! Because of my background in IT, I had a intermediate knowledge of how to use excel and the formulas within to make my accounting process as smooth as freshly sanded end grain cutting boards… Currently I account all sales for outside and inside my state (you don’t owe sales tax on internet sales out of state), all customer information, customer trends yada yada and a whole lot more.

Take a look at a snapshot of my accounting sheet from a few weeks ago:

I have been able to turn this into a fun process and I highly suggest (if you can’t make your own) to get accounting software of some kind. I really like mine because I am able to customize it to myself. Well my child is tearing through something and I must go.

Ethan

Well there you have it, my small business has made its first landing on the physical retail scene through the Cornerstone Book store in CT. This marks significant growth for my business as I would like to have my products sold more in local shops and stores.

On a lighter note I have had a lot of individual specialty requests from Etsy to my shop which is very pleasing. Just wanted to share some good news with you all!

Well I got some good feedback from my previous blog entry so I decided I might as well start a new series for my new small business and chronicle the ups and downs of starting my business. Enjoy!

This weekend I made significant contactions with a potential customer that would allow me to sell my items in a local co-op market. The market is for natural and organic foods as well as a small merchandise section that my stuff would be placed. I am hoping to make a deal on this, even if I don’t make a ton of profit on the deal because I would be selling at “wholesale” prices. The customer indicated they were interested in some other sizes too, so I will be expanding my product line. I just released a pricing table to the customer today so I hope I get some feedback tomorrow on making a date to show the products in person. All is well on a days work, till next time!

To see my Etsy shop check out:

Spud Wood Works

See my blog links in my signature.

Well just an update on my wood working business, been quite interesting so far. Starting a business with minimal capital is definitely a challenge, but so far I think it has been a successful adventure… of course until Uncle Sam takes his share, but such is life. So far I have made a few sales, which is encouraging for sure. My goal right now is to basically turn over the profit for product line investment and expansion. So far I haven’t raised any money through my crowd-sourcing campaign (added some updates and gallery photos), but I believe through hard work I will get to where I want to be.

See my blogs at:

Pallet Craft
Shades of Grain

Also see my crowd-sourcing campaign:

Spud Wood Works: Chasing a Dream

Well there you have it, I started my own small wood working business (Spud Wood Works) on the side of my full time profession in hopes to one day go full time at this. Yes I am still raising funds and all, but I have made the start and I am the proud owner of an Etsy shop! Below you will see the latest production photos of things I sell on my shop. I don’t own a professional camera, but I think they came out great! Also, If you would like to contribute to fund raising I will place a link at the bottom of this page.

Thank you all for your encouragement throughout!

Block set

Blocks with bag

Shapes for Arts & Crafts

See more photos on my blog: Shades of Grain!

If you would like to contribute to fund raising visit: IndieGoGo

Well here it is, blog number 2 on Shades of Grain and I am already dying to show off a gift I made for my wife… The problem is, it is a Christmas gift, and she has been awfully sneaky as well as trying to guess what it is I might have made for her. The issue is that my posts end up on Facebook and she travails that site as well… so I am trapped for another 21 days, and its my own doing. It is complete, I can say that much and it came out like a dream!

I do have a few more project gifts to finish before Christmas and then hopefully by the time I finish that Christmas day will be upon us… If not I might develop a bald spot…

Ever run into a piece of wood (pallet wood in this case) and wonder; “How the heck did that warp like that?” Working with pallet wood can be a twisted mess of metal, warp and work. These things lead to a lot of distress trying to make them work for a project, leading you to want to pull your hair straight out.

Sometimes you just have to llook at it and say in the words of the great Fozzie Bear, ”What the waka?”

This is where I stop and clear my head for awhile…

How do you deal with stress when things just don’t go right?

Also check out: Pallet Craft!

Some of you may know me from my blog series: Pallet Craft. Well I would like to thank those that have read and continue to read my blog series on crafting with pallet wood. While I am not done with that, I have reached a transition in my hobby for wood working.

I have been trying to learn as much as possible about woodworking while using pallets as my medium (green, cheap, and interestingly fun), but I have recently purchased lumber for a Christmas project and I am having great success while learning to work with wood of a different quality.

As time passes I will be working with more and more hardwoods and expand my skillset (and hopefully tools) to create fine pieces from wood. So today I am stating another blog series: Shades of Grain.

Please read along and share in the experience.

That’s it! I have had enough for one day!... Well that is what I should have said, but if you know me I can’t seem to help myself when it comes to frustration and working on things. I know I should stop, after all, all this frustration is just leading me to rush through critical parts of the project!

So I change my attitude towards the project, perhaps my project is frustrated with me because it has seen enough work for one day? Perhaps I am overworking the project and abusing it!? Maybe I am negatively affecting it long term!?

That’s it! I will not abuse my project any more for the day, I will not risk it’s beauty or success during it’s lifetime. I will stop, when I am frustrated, take time, breath, and the next day try, try again.

See more projects and blogs at Pallet Craft!

I have been working on several projects this year and I have made a lot of progress in the way of building things from pallet wood and ultimately showing the worth of the wood contained within the crude pallet structures.

I have had some great successes such as the highchair: http://palletcraft.blogspot.com/2012/10/pallet-highchair.html

As well as the storage bin: http://palletcraft.blogspot.com/2012/10/replacement-storage-shelves.html

The Pallet Gate: http://palletcraft.blogspot.com/2012/10/reclaimed-wood-gate.html

And many others. But I am looking to bring pallet wood out of the shadows and into a more “highlighted” discussion. And I have finally come up with 2 or 3 projects that will really shutdown the “non-believers” and finally prove once and for all the worth of pallet wood.

So what are the projects? Well that is still under wraps. but I promise, to have some up here by the end of November. Until then, enjoy my recent projects on: Pallet Craft!

Well from the title of this entry, you can probably guess what this is about. Yes, Halloween has not even come yet; Yes, Thanksgiving is more than a month away! But I have learned that planning and starting now will give me the time I need to get the projects done. Why wait until the snow is falling and the bitter cold bites?

So what will I be building? Well that is a secret and I will post all about them on December 26th and 27th. I don’t want any gift receivers to read my blog and then know what is coming!

So in preparation for my builds, I have taken the time to collect more pallets and man am I thrilled with my latest pickups! Check out this and more Pallet Craft blogs and projects at Pallet Craft!

(These are the Pallets I have left after what you see in the last photo… And I still need more)

(Pictured is about 30+ pieces of wood from two pallets)

I am happy to say I have finally laid the groundwork in my woodworking career. I am very happy to have found this hobby, I enjoy it, and I am learning new things everyday. I can see myself in 5 to 10 years building beautiful pieces of art from wood, and past that? Who knows! But I am sure it will be fun! For now I plan to stick with Pallet Crafting, it seems to be a great medium for learning. In the future I would like to work with fine woods, but small steps and a eagerness to learn will get me there!

The Groundwork:

This week I put together a makeshift table saw and provided myself a small area to work in. It is a small start, but its a big step in assuring I have somewhere to practice and hone my skills in wood craft. I am very excited to have my “corner”, especially with two weeks of vacation starting tomorrow! I built the table saw so I can just put my circular saw in and out freely, just have to true it up to 90 degrees when I do so and I am ready to go. To see everything I get done this October, check out my blog! And also stay tuned on Lumberjocks.com!