Another project for Eugene!

[Bob Eustace]

http://youtu.be/C-9jBm6B3GY

[Burkhardt]

Nice memory....I was fascinated by these woodpeckers as a kid (some 50+ years back) but they were kind of expensive in the toy store.

Here is another video of the physics behind it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3YSnNAIHDg)

[dlcw]

http://youtu.be/C-9jBm6B3GY

Cute idea.

That guy using the tablesaw scared the **** out of me. :eek: He is a good example of how NOT to use a tablesaw.

[Kyle Stapleton]

Yes, very scary. Why not use the sled for the cross-cut?

[myxpykalix]

They had "pecker races" on duck dynasty several weeks ago. I don't know if they were selling them or just had them in the duck call room but i'm sure this is one of them old timey toys.

Something you might see if you walked past Eugenes booth at a trade show!:D

[Bob Eustace]

Me toooooo Don! He needs to watch the kick back clip on You Tube! The odd thing is later on he uses a very well made sled?? In only takes a millisecond to lose a finger or two.

[jerry_stanek]

Yesterday I was at my old place of employment and they were setting up a new Saw Stop table saw. They have another one on order also. The reason was one employee cut his fingers off using the older Unisaw. This is the first major accident in over 25 years the only other one that required medical was a fellow was trimming laminate and the router slipped out of his hand and he tried to catch it. The bit caught his finger and he needed 4 stitches.

[myxpykalix]

As expensive as the tables are they are still cheaper then new fingers:eek:

[genek]

Not sure why it is a project for me. lol.... that would be easy to make.. you could order the body from craft parts;

[Bob Eustace]

Thought it fitted your low cost high turnover model Eugene.

[genek]

nice but If I did not design it and it can't be made on the cnc or on a duplicating lathe i do not want it. lol

I want fast production items ones that when the cnc cuts out the pattern I end up with 5 to 10 parts from one cut. ones and twos do not pay bills, you have to be able to make multiple products that will sale fast. Even with my own designs if they do not move fast I do not keep them in production. I will only make and keep items in stock that move within 30 days. all the itmes that we make we mass produce them simple runs pattern cut out then sliced to make 5 to 10 products that are sanded, edges rounded over and dropped in mineral oil. the toys I make do not get any finish applied to them, for several reason, 1. less work, 2. lower cost 3. safety for the children, (small children like to chew on things)

When I make items for sale I do a production run of at least 100 pieces of that product, example the oven rack pull, I get enough cuts out of a 2 inch thick piece of wood to be able to slice out at least 100 oven rack pulls.
While they are cutting normally I am slicing, sanding, assembling or designing. The patterns that the cnc cuts today is sliced the next day and sanded ready to soak in the mineral oil overnight. each morning I empty the mineral tub and fill with new product.

The wood pecker is nice, it would sale, however shipping would be higher cost per item, would put it in a high resale bracket, I have a design sort of like it that I call sparky, it is a flame shaped item that runs down a ladder, looks great, sales real slow, cost at retail above what most will pay. Sparky is made for friends children only.

Items that we sale as patterns and as products move fast, are easy to make and cost is in the range of less than $20.00 retail on most items.

To make money in the arts and crafts business your items have to be low cost to make, fast to produce and fast to sale. I mostly do wholesale, I need fast moving items and at a price that both my customers and I can make money. The few shows that I do are mostly to pick up new wholesale accounts and to have fun, and a break from the shop, to see what is the current trends.

A person can have fun with the cnc but unless they have a product or products that will pay the bills, Pay a good salary, the product is junk in my book. I test all the products that we sale or will sale before I put them into production. I also listen to my wife, she knows what a women will buy and what will not sale. I have a compact mirror that I was only going to make for gifts to Tina and family, when she saw it she said put it in production... I did a test run of 25 all sold in less than 3 days. I have one customer that orders 150 of that items every month...
That product was made from drops, I had to raise the price so that I could buy boards now to make the same item. I whole sale the compact mirror for $7.00 my cost is $1.42 all but the sanding coating and assembly is done on the cnc. In a day I can produce 250 compacts.

production is where I want to be.

[shilala]

Between this mook and the floating router guy, I'm done with youtube for today.
I'm a nervous wreck. :)
I love the woodpecker toys!!!