Other obsessions and hobbies or other. 🙃

[WILDHOBO]

The sad part about it is there's no "real way" to make money at it. I mean I'd love to start a little retirement business doing this stuff but people don't realize the cost of custom wood items. As an example, the box in the first video was for my mother-in-laws husband's birthday. She basically commisioned a jewelry box but had no "specifications" and gave me free reign on style, wood type, etc. The wood and hardware was around $200, but the labor (like most things) is the killer. If I was to make that same jewelry box and just charge my labor at minimum wage, it still winds up over $800. If I charged a proper Maker's wage (using the low end of the scale), it shoots to over $1400. But I enjoy doing it and when the fam covers the material cost it softens the blow a bit...LOL.

Here's the one I just finished for myself. I still need to decide what I want to do for the base...something better than my wife's greatgrandmother's sewing machine, which I still need to refurbish...lol:

My best project, which is garbage in comparison to your work, is an Adirondack 2 person rocker out of Ipe. The wood alone was $800. The specialty paint matched stainless screws that I had to individually cut to my required lengths were at least another couple hundred. It took me three months to build it in my free time. None of that includes tools I needed that didn’t have. And all the drill bits I broke off in that wood. So I have a tiny idea of what it must cost to do the stuff you’re doing with those inlays. I wouldn’t know where to start.

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[Stan H]

Family members have been asking me to make jewelry boxes for birthdays, etc.; so here are a couple of my latest projects:

I was afraid to watch the video but I did and I am relieved to say I am glad a bright light didn't shoot out and your face melt off.
Looks good.

 

[mtudb24]

I applaud all you folks who have the patience to do wood working. You are a different breed for sure and its truly an art.

My father was a junior high school wood / metal shop teacher and math teacher who had an obsession with everything related to waterfowl hunting. Followed them starting in September in the UP of Michigan to the thumb in October which was his home base, then down to SW Texas over Christmas / New Years, to finally the late season shooting in January in various SE / SW Michigan locations.

He taught himself to carve wooden decoys starting in 1977. Both decorative and working class birds. Built himself a shop on the back of our garage and from after dinner to usually around 10pm would be in there carving away every night. Used a combination of bass wood for heads and cedar for the bodies. Ended up switching to pine as he became allergic to cedar in his later years. Many of his working birds were hollow out bodies and nailed a base plate on the bottom and would put a coin in them so they would rattle when you shook them.

He made them for family and friends for wedding gifts, birthday, births of children, etc. Once he retired, he started selling them at decoy shows across the midwest. He sold / gave away every one he ever made. My sister and I still have a few of them as he passed away in 2009. In fact, my sister has the 1st bird he ever carved and I have the 2nd bird he carved from 1977. He gave them to us as Christmas presents in 1988.

About 5 years ago, I stumbled upon a pair of his Canvaback's that were on a decoy auction website. Never in my damn mind did I expect to have to pay this kind of money to win my dads own birds. He sold most of his birds for between $50 and $100 bucks at shows.

In the last few years of his teaching career, he was allowed to hold a class at the school's wood shop during the evenings for students / faculty who wanted to learn how to carve decoys. it was always packed.

He tried to pass his skill on to me but I failed miserably. I had no patience for it and sadly I kind of blew him off as I was a young when he started carving and had other things I wanted to spend my time doing.

 

[biplaneguy]

All these jewel boxes... 15 years ago our daughter had gotten to the point where she'd rather get cash than stuff for Christmas, but that's too cold, gotta do something fun with it. So I built a "treasure chest" jewel box, all solid oak...

...and filled it with gold dollar coins.

Two hundred of them to be precise, I had to go to three banks to get them.

On Christmas Eve I hid the box out in the woods behind the house (the weather was good), and created a fake geocaching web page for her to find it. She and her boyfriend (now husband) were big into geocaching. The box under the tree contained only the keys to the lock and the link to the geocaching page. Took her about a half hour on Christmas morning to find it, in the middle of the frozen swamp where I left it.

 

[legacy_etu]

Here’s a link to it. Several configurations to choose from. I’m excited to try it out.

https://www.bxpanded.com/snowplowssqa?redirect=1

nice and a good price. I like the fact you can disconnect the plow from the mount plate and use the integral 2” receiver hitch! Hmm, the snow pusher I was looking at is around $2200. This would be a good deal. After this recent blizzard I never want to deal with moving that much snow again with a snowblower. ugh.

How beefy is the plow material? The website doesn’t appear to mention what gauge it is unless it’s the same as the motherboard.

 

[WILDHOBO]

nice and a good price. I like the fact you can disconnect the plow from the mount plate and use the integral 2” receiver hitch! Hmm, the snow pusher I was looking at is around $2200. This would be a good deal. After this recent blizzard I never want to deal with moving that much snow again with a snowblower. ugh.

How beefy is the plow material? The website doesn’t appear to mention what gauge it is unless it’s the same as the motherboard.

SUPER BEEFY. I finally used it this week. Took me 30 mins to clear what took me 2 hours previously. I highly recommend the UHMW edge. So nice to just not worry about the asphalt getting torn up. And it’s an inch thick. I didn’t go for the hydraulic angle, and no regrets. Ten seconds to change the angle, if not less. Zero force required. It rotates with one finger. I did add wheel weights, and had zero issues with it being tippy when lifting the plow.

 

[legacy_etu]

Noice

SUPER BEEFY. I finally used it this week. Took me 30 mins to clear what took me 2 hours previously. I highly recommend the UHMW edge. So nice to just not worry about the asphalt getting torn up. And it’s an inch thick. I didn’t go for the hydraulic angle, and no regrets. Ten seconds to change the angle, if not less. Zero force required. It rotates with one finger. I did add wheel weights, and had zero issues with it being tippy when lifting the plow.

Nice! Glad to hear you're happy with it and you answered some questions I had about how difficult it is to swith the angle. I have the backhoe so I shouldn't need wheel weights. Looking good and nice looking property you got there.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Noice

Nice! Glad to hear you're happy with it and you answered some questions I had about how difficult it is to swith the angle. I have the backhoe so I shouldn't need wheel weights. Looking good and nice looking property you got there.

We have the backhoe as well, but I have it off unless I’m using it. From the same vendor, you should checkout the backhoe rolling cart. It’s so nice. It makes it super easy to detach and reattach it. I do a decent bit of driving between tight trees in the yard, so wanted less length if not using it. And it’ll need to be off for the box blade and auger anyway.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Noice

Nice! Glad to hear you're happy with it and you answered some questions I had about how difficult it is to swith the angle. I have the backhoe so I shouldn't need wheel weights. Looking good and nice looking property you got there.

Regarding angle, I would have gone hydraulic, but ours doesn’t have the front third hydraulic function. I can add that, but it’s like $3k. No regrets so far. I didn’t want to spend that much, and it’s super easy to move. Only $449 from bxpanded to add the hydraulics if I change my mind someday.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Noice

Nice! Glad to hear you're happy with it and you answered some questions I had about how difficult it is to swith the angle. I have the backhoe so I shouldn't need wheel weights. Looking good and nice looking property you got there.

Just finished the oil change and hydraulic filter change on the tractor. Here are some pics of the backhoe cart. I put a couple D rings on the slab outside to make sure it can’t move. It’s so nice to attach it now. Just roll the backhoe up to the tractor. Like 2 minutes instead of 10.

 

[legacy_etu]

Just finished the oil change and hydraulic filter change on the tractor. Here are some pics of the backhoe cart. I put a couple D rings on the slab outside to make sure it can’t move. It’s so nice to attach it now. Just roll the backhoe up to the tractor. Like 2 minutes instead of 10.

Yeah, haven't taken mine off yet so I can't relate as to how much of a pain it is/isn't to take off. Mine is a Kioti so not exactly the same as yours.....although looking at it and it does appear very similar.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Yeah, haven't taken mine off yet so I can't relate as to how much of a pain it is/isn't to take off. Mine is a Kioti so not exactly the same as yours.....although looking at it and it does appear very similar.

I’m guessing quite similar. Kioti makes great stuff as well. One of the first things I did was learn to take it off and put back on. Pain sitting it on the ground. The cart is awesome. Just call them to ask if they have one for your model. They have things for most.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Yeah, haven't taken mine off yet so I can't relate as to how much of a pain it is/isn't to take off. Mine is a Kioti so not exactly the same as yours.....although looking at it and it does appear very similar.

I HATE putting it back on. It’s a pain. Especially if you don’t drop it on perfectly level ground. I’ve started using a spare pallet to get it to sit right so hook up isnt as much of a pain in the tookus.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I HATE putting it back on. It’s a pain. Especially if you don’t drop it on perfectly level ground. I’ve started using a spare pallet to get it to sit right so hook up isnt as much of a pain in the tookus.

It’s a genuine pleasure with a cart. What tractor do you have?

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

It’s a genuine pleasure with a cart. What tractor do you have?

Mahindra eMax20.

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