Todays Project(s)

[picframer]

8 Custom picture Frames, Start a few Natural Edge boxes and finish three Cocobolo Bowls. Start woodworking when I was 12 building white cedar blanket boxes, I am 100% self taught as my dad struggled with rough carpentry. Now 30 years later it is what I do in the winter to keep busy and this time of the year I am going out straight trying to keep up with Christmas Craft Shows. I taught my son the craft when he was 11, now that he is in University full time he still tries to find some time to come home on weekends to work on inventory, he makes an amazing amount of money, averages around $36.00 an hour in the shop. We import 76 species of hardwoods from all over the world, mainly places I have been in Africa and South America, everything we do is the natural color of the wood, no stains. Below are three bowls that I started a couple of weeks ago for clients and finished them this morning as they are due Saturday, 8 picture frames are together and drying and I have a start on a few box's. Also are cutting boards my son made yesterday, these are 8" square, end grain or butcher block, it's amazing the designs he comes up with, he makes them from 8" square to 12 X 18", he also makes our bread knives and turns quite a bit on the wood lathe which he really excels at. Something for you folks to consider for a winter money maker, there is, at least here, 5 times more money in upper end woodworking vs lawn mowing, profit wise plus I never have to leave the property.

Attached Images

	bowls2.jpg (113.8 KB, 17 views)
	bowels.jpg (119.8 KB, 14 views)

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Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Those bowls look amazing! It's as if you place some gold leaf in them. I can't believe that is just all wood! And those cutting boards! I don't think I could ever cut on them! I'd be afraid I would damage them! I can tell plenty of time had been spent putting those together! Such craftsmanship!

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[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Those bowls look amazing! It's as if you place some gold leaf in them. I can't believe that is just all wood!

And those cutting boards! I don't think I could ever cut on them! I'd be afraid I would damage them! I can tell plenty of time had been spent putting those together!

Such craftsmanship!

Thanks, We run into some pretty outstanding woods. As for the boards, cut on one side and display the other. Because this is end grain it's very hard to mark the boards up.

[Hedgemaster]

Andy, nice work.

This may sound odd, but have you ever made urns for pet cremains(ashes)?


The reason I ask is that when our dog died, all of the urns/boxes on the market that we looked at were either "cheesy", or poorly made. We actually had to return a marble urn that we purchased for our pet because we were so upset by its poor construction (the base was already loose upon arrival). The worst part was that we ordered from a company that was selling urns for HUMAN remains. It's hard to get ANYTHING quality these days.

Anyway, we happened to run across a beautiful, handmade wooden box with a lid at a "center for the arts" gallery where all sorts of craftsmen sold their wares. Although it wasn't intended as an "urn", we felt it was much more suitable for our special pet's remains than any of the other garbage that people were trying to sell us.

An added bonus was that the lid (which is now sealed for obvious reasons) has a slightly recessed area that gave me an idea - I made a collage of a few photos of our dog with his name superimposed in the corner, printed it, cut it to fit, and had a piece of glass cut to cover it. It worked perfectly. I'll post a photo if you'd like to see it.


Seriously though, I don't know how much of a market there is for such things, but I know that I'd rather have a handcrafted piece of art for an urn than one of those mass produced pieces of garbage that are out there. The way people treat their pets like humans these days, I would imagine I am not alone in this thinking. Get hooked up with a few pet crematories, veterinarians, and cemeteries, and you may just find a new source of income.

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Hedgemaster

Andy, nice work.

This may sound odd, but have you ever made urns for pet cremains(ashes)?

I haven't made them for pets however I have for humans and there is serious bucks to be made.

I was contacted by a place in New York three or four years ago that had seen my work at North American woodworking competition there, I had one an award for joinery, anyhow long story short, they wanted to pay me $250 for my boxes but they were selling them for $750. I passed as I didn't really have the time and what time I did have was booked solid with orders from the Internet and local clients.

There is a big market for handcrafted pet urns, I have known about this for years, I simply have never gone after it.

You are correct on the quality, I know after visiting many funeral homes I was taken back on the prices and quality, most of the work was sub standard.

If things quiet down after Christmas it may be something I venture into.

Here is the Jointery that I use in Cremation boxes, I thought I had images of the ones I made but I can't locate them at the moment. These are tissue and photo box's.

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Hedgemaster

Seriously though, I don't know how much of a market there is for such things, but I know that I'd rather have a handcrafted piece of art for an urn than one of those mass produced pieces of garbage that are out there. The way people treat their pets like humans these days, I would imagine I am not alone in this thinking. Get hooked up with a few pet crematories, veterinarians, and cemeteries, and you may just find a new source of income.

Just returned from walking my dog and was thinking about this comment and how true it is at least in my house. I have a Portugese Water Dog, her name is Maya, it took me two years to finally get her and she is a member of the family and treated the same as the kids. I am VERY attached to my dog and yes she does get spoiled

[mzlawncare]

Picfarmer you do some amazing work both woodworking and your landscapeing.

[picframer]

Originally Posted by mzlawncare

Picfarmer you do some amazing work both woodworking and your landscapeing.

Thank you for your kind comments, this was a dream I had when I was around 12, although like any business/job, it has it's days however overall I love what I do and am very thankful for the setup that I have, it's taken 30 years to get here and it was worth it when I look back.

Woodworking/Tractors/Excavators have been in my blood since I was very young, getting a taste at the age of 10 or 11 on my sisters farm, they had every piece of machinery known to man it seemed and a long row of tractors, I was allowed, after a safety demo, to drive and pull whatever I wanted, I really miss those childhood days as they always bring a smile to my face.

I am not really sure why I became hooked on woodworking other than I could take a tree, drag it to the mill, have it sawn and dried and make things that people said wow, those comments is what drove me then and they drive me today.

We constantly have comments "Wow I have never seen anything like that before" Little do they know that is why I make what I make, I don't know anyone in our region that does, so they see if as one of a kind and buy it, man this really works playing to the ego.

In the excavation/landscaping/tree cutting/chipping/rock walls, inter locking driveways and paths, it just comes natural, we are not the cheapest game in the city but our work is top drawer and I am fortunate to have the equipment to tackle anything a homeowner needs done, if my gear isn't big enough, I simply Lease or Rent bigger gear from Deere, this has happened twice in two years, mainly excavators, my largest is a 10 Ton, in two cases I needed the ability and reach of a 20 ton, simply make a call. If you can run a 2 ton excavator, you can run a 30 ton, everything is the same control wise, the difference is ability.

[Steve]

Andy,

Your wood working is so intricate it's hard for me to understand for sure what is going on with those joints.

It looks like multiple pieces of different woods are all meeting but I have no idea at all even how to visualize how that would be built.

It's incredible!

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Andy,

Your wood working is so intricate it's hard for me to understand for sure what is going on with those joints.

It looks like multiple pieces of different woods are all meeting but I have no idea at all even how to visualize how that would be built.

It's incredible!

And it is, in short you cut the first joint 1/4" too large, inlay a contrasting wood then cut your regular joing leaving 1/8" of the contrasting wood showing. everything has to be within 0.001 of an inch, if it's not then your exposed contracting wood will increase in width on one side of the joint and decrease on the other as you work your way across the board. I don't know that I have ever seen this joint anywhere, it took me three years of friggin to get it bang on, once I had it, I knew the tricks. Today I can bang these out in no time, the product commands from 50% to 100% more simply because you are offering something they simply can't buy elsewhere.