Total # of Attendees: 13
Notes:
Video Conference held on google meets. Invite was sent by Kevin Drevik on Google Meets. If you did not receive an invite, please contact Kevin at Kdrevik@yahoo.com
Dave Potts wasn’t available to provide Treasurer’s report
Colin Knecht was our special guest
Website: http://www.woodworkweb.com
Based near Vancouver, British Columbia, on an island, in Ladysmith
Started woodworking on his own in preschool (parents have 8mm film). Picked it up from his father
Did a lot of work in school, starting in 10th grade, including building a home
Interesting thing for selling wood gear – most people don’t buy the cheapest or most expensive – it’s usually “middle of the road.” Price yourself in the middle: it’s fine to have a few very inexpensive items and a few more expensive items, but the bulk of the sales typically come from the mid-range products, so plan to have more of those
Products that folks like to purchase:
Cutting boards
Bowls
Utensils
Things in the kitchen (serving trays, wine racks, etc.)
Unique decorative things (boxes, planters, etc.)
Colin then showed some of the items on his workbench:
Simple oak cutting board
Wooden cake cutter and server
Boxes
Live Edge platter
Keurig coffee holder
For sales, you need “the Interrupt”: something that makes people stop by your site or sales table.
Trade Shows:
Make sure everything is easily marked and shows what everything costs
As mentioned before, a lot of times, they’ll purchase the “middle of the road” item that is on your table
Go on Etsy and YouTube to identify wood things that sell
Where to go to sell:
Ebay is a good place to sell
Etsy website. For Etsy stores, look to have multiple items in your Etsy store
Amazon has a place you can sell hand-made items
Farmer’s markets, swap meets, craft shows – can often charge $20 for table for a day
Sometimes, it helps if you don’t attend regularly – be consistently inconsistent. It will make you more attractive as people will think that they should get something they see because there’s no guarantee you’ll be there the next time around.
Have business cards to give away. They’re cheap to get printed and help people with repeat business
It starts to become hard to quit – you start making money, buying more tools, etc.
Colin then changed topics to describing how he acquires wood for his items
Constantly on the lookout: craigslist, garage sales, swap meets
Used plywood, cut down a tree, had wood milled up, etc.
Really need to know your prices so you can identify good deals.
Problem with pallet woods is the rocks and grit on them which can seriously damage your jointers and planers, etc. The wood is free, but it can have issues.
Lots of little mills around – can get some good deals, but the wood is usually always wet; just be aware of pricing so you don’t pay too much for wet woods.
Remember, you need to stack and sticker it so it can dry
Talked about how to build a simple Kiln/drying rack
Another way is to do a “bulk buy” with the guild. A group of folks going there to get a “lift” of it
Don’t really buy from Big Box stores – they never really have deals; can look in the oak bin, though
Use a lot of wood dyes to make less expensive woods appear to be the more expensive woods (such as ebony)
Live edge wood becoming very popular.
Questions from Guild Members:
Pricing Projects: Go around at what other people are charging (that is what your customers are doing)
Mill in the area: Hearne Hardwoods
Popular Woods to use: Maple, Cherry, Oak
He’ll send a list to Jim of websites people can use to sell for passing on to the guild
Dave Potts reported on current account : $2,996.55
Jim mentioned mill in New Jersey
John Lockman (Elmer NJ): http://lockmanhardwoods.com/
Full Circle Woodwork (Tabernacle, New Jersey): https://www.facebook.com/FullCircleWoodworx
Frank will speak next month on a project he’s working on.
The meeting concluded at 8:32 PM.
