|
Welcome To Router Table Depot Blog
Friday, October 17, 2008
Creating your own products to sell online is definitely a
unique way to be your own supplier. A lot of people really love
to buy unique items that cater to craftsmanship. If you have
good skills you can do well. Traditionally when you think of wooden items that are for sale,
you think of the traditional items you see at crafts sales. It
used to be that spice racks, paper towel holders and picture
frames were the most common item. This has always bothered me
since they are such basic and mundane items that don’t really
cater to the skills of real craftsman. Even in my 11th grade
shop class when most guys were making sconces, I wanted to make
something practical. So I built a cabinet to house my stereo. To
me this made sense. I bought the wood for $11 and ended up with
something that we used in our home for years. This is how buyers
think as well, give them something they can use and that they
cannot regularly find in a typical department store. Target Audience Think of who your target audience is when thinking of a product
to make. Large target audiences give you a better chance of
selling your product on a regular basis. The typical woodworking
items discussed above are often purchased by an “older” target
audience. The problem is, they are not a large user of the
internet shopping portals. This group is changing and starting
to access shopping online, but start out with a better chance to
make consistent sales. Another idea to keep in mind is to do your research. Take the
time to look through the completed items portion of EBay. You
can find out a lot about what items sell by looking at auctions
that already closed and sold their items. You can do this
several ways including accessing the “what’s hot” section of
EBay, (go to sitemap at top of page and then scroll down half
way down in the middle of the screen) I have found that unusual
items sell the best. Think about this, table legs. Table legs that are handmade and
unique, sell very well. Don’t take my word for it, do your
research. A lot of woodworkers come online to buy a part of a
project they cannot make themselves. Most table legs require the
use of a lathe to make them. A lot of shops don’t have a lathe
in their arsenal. Woodworkers tend to stock their shops with a
limited budget with the die hard basic tools. You can also use a
legacy ornamental mill to make some excellent table legs that
will fetch high prices. Most people will wince at the thought of
spending the bigger dollars to get the mill. However you can
make some items on it that you cannot get or make anywhere else.
I call these short cut tools. They make killer projects but cost
premium dollars. The extra dollars can be justified quite easily
by making more sales and the tools area tax write off, if you
structure your business. I use woodworking shows to get great
ideas on what to market. The vendors are eager to help you
figure out a unique product that you can make with their tool.
Again the key is to think outside the box. Woodworking articles Labels: General
by: Router Table Depot
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
I get the question a lot lately about cutting dado’s and
grooves for larger projects such as shelves. If you are a
beginner woodworker, you spend a lot of time just trying to
figure out which tool you need to build the project you are
interested in. It’s nice if you have someone there with you to
ask your questions to, but it does not always work that way. If
you go to a website to purchase the tools, you probably will not
be able to speak to someone knowledgeable about how to make a
part or cut a certain type of joint. The one question I get
asked about a lot pertains to router tables. A lot of people
want to use the table to cut the larger grooves to hold the
horizontal shelf portion for a book case. Usually these items
are longer, averaging about 72 inches in length. Most router
tables are only about 30 to 35” long. The problem you run into is that the project is longer than the
table and you cannot support the work piece. This is a common
problem, so you’re not alone. Unless you work in a cabinet shop,
you are going to have to figure out a way to support your work
piece. You can always go out and by a roller stand for the
support. I recommend setting up some sort of bench stand. Even
boxes that help hold your work piece have worked. The whole idea
is to make something work and then take it apart. Again this is
very common. Cutting the grooves is left best to two different tools. The
first is the table saw. You really need to have a dado blade set
up in the table saw to do a decent job that will not take you
all day. The table saw allows you to cut the grooves in one or
two passes. Again because the pieces are larger you will have to
fashion some sort of support. The other tool you can use is a
handheld router. You will need an edge guide for this method. An
edge guide is a nice tool that is basically a straight edge with
a clamp built into each end. You can even substitute a straight
piece of wood if you do not have an edge guide. You will want to
install a straight bit into your router and line up the edge of
the cutter with a line you have drawn on your project. Next
clamp down your edge guide so that your routers base plate will
move along the cut line as you have it drawn. It only takes one
complete cut before you will be flying through this type of
joint. The time is spent in the setup and in figuring out how
you want to make the cut. Make sure you only take the stock out
in small bites so as not to bog down the router. This is better
for the tool and for your router bits. Woodworking articles Labels: General
by: Router Table Depot
Monday, October 13, 2008
Whether you are looking to remodel your home or rebuild a brand
new one, you are going to need to hire a contractor for the
projector. When you begin your search for one, you will need to
first look if they are licensed, bonded and insured. That is the
number one mistake that any homeowner can make when hiring a
contractor. If you don’t check and they don’t have none of the
above, you can find yourself in a situation that you don’t want
to be in. For instance, if the contractor you hired is licensed, but
doesn’t have insurance, anything that goes wrong – damage wise –
will have to come out of your pocket. You can try to sue the
contractor, but likely he won’t have the money to pay you, so it
would be an endless battle for money. Just stay on the safe side
and check that they are licensed and insured before hiring any
contractor. You should also remember to check out your contractor’s license
before hiring them. See if they have a portfolio of other
projects that they’ve done and see if they have extensive
experience and talent. If they don’t have a visual portfolio,
check with their references. By talking with their previous
clients, you can ask questions that you wouldn’t expect the
contractor to answer truthfully. Another thing to remember when hiring a contractor is to
discuss the rates and the entire project before signing
contracts. You need to know what you will be paying before the
project begins. Any misunderstandings with the pay rates can
result in legal battles and slow down your process of completing
your project. You should try everything possible to avoid
anything that can go wrong. Now once you have found out that your contractor has a license,
don’t take their word for it. Take down the license number and
state that it’s registered in – make sure it is your state –
then look it up. You can easily do so online or by calling the
state license board. They also have a web site, so make sure to
check it out. Before you actually hire any contractor, you should interview
them along with a couple of others in your area. This way you
can compare their rates and skills. When you are sure of your pick of contractors, you need to sign
a disclosure statement with the contractor. This is a notice to
customer and is required before work begins. The statement will
protect you from the contractor making any changes in the
agreement between everyone involved. You should also make sure that you learn all you can about
permits. Different permits are needed for different things, such
as electrical, building and manufactured/mobile home permits.
It’s for your safety and will ensure that all building codes are
applied to your home during and after construction. How can you know if your contractor is truly legit? Here are
some warning signs to look out for: • Has a special offer only if you sign today
• Only accepts cash
• Doesn’t provide accurate references and credentials
• Doesn’t provide a written contract or complete bid
• Offers exceptionally long warranties
• Wants to complete work on weekends and after hours
• Gives you an offer that’s “too good to be true” Woodworking articles Labels: General
by: Router Table Depot
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Have you ever dreamed of being handy in your own home? Have you
ever hoped that one of these days, you would not only be able to
fix or refurbish old tables and chairs, cabinets, doors, and
other fixtures whenever they get broken or need a serious
makeover? Have you ever wanted to be able to build new things
with wood so that you can replace your old stuff at home without
burning a hole in your pocket, or make something extra for your
efforts by accepting made-to-order wood-based products? Whether
your motivation is savings, self-satisfaction, or dollars and
cents, what you want to become is a good woodworking craftsman. To become one, you first need to have the right tools for the
job. This is not to say, of course, that you need to max out
your credit cards or spend your life’s savings to buy all the
tools that you see on the catalogs or brochures. Start with the
basics. A good tip to follow when you are just about to embark
on your adventure in woodworking is this: • Start with a simple project, e.g., a birdhouse. Do not
immediately embark on a complex project just because you can
already imagine how good it will look when you are done with it.
You may end up getting frustrated on your first try and forget
about woodworking altogether. • Once you have decided what project you will do, check out the
materials and tools you will need for it. The Internet is full
of designs and their corresponding bills of quantities as well
as tools needed which you can download and print as a reference. • Once you have completed your first project, move on to the
next one that requires the same tools. This will allow you to
gain more familiarity with your tools. When you are very
familiar with your tools, you can then move on to other projects
that will require you to have a new tool or two. Over time you
will find that you have slowly built up your tools and that you
have progressed steadily towards more and more complex projects. Aside from having the right tools, a good woodworker needs to
be intimate with the materials he uses (through research,
learning from others, and personal experience) and how to make
the most out of their characteristics to build or create the
best possible wooden items for his personal satisfaction as well
as commercial objectives. For example, you need to know what
kind of wood is best for outdoor projects and which ones are for
indoor projects. There are wood types that are better suited for
constantly changing weather conditions, and there are those that
require stable climate conditions and minimal exposure to the
elements. Another example is for jointing conditions, i.e.,
parallel jointing (or jointing of two pieces of wood along their
long grain side) is far stronger than perpendicular jointing (or
jointing between two pieces of would where one is jointed at the
short grain side). Woodworking articles Labels: General
by: Router Table Depot
| 
