(Told you guys I have too many hobbies) Actually, I started my own business doing this, then got away from it-- people seem to feel, while THEIR time is valuable, YOURS is worth about half what a chinaman’s is. I used to make a largish range of (I felt,) rather nice wood toys. (From small tractors to large “operating” sand cranes, a Noah’s ark with 50 animals, a biplane, articulated animal floor toys, and (of course) a train. They weren’t hand carved --I don’t have the talent or patience, rather shapes cut with a scroll saw and built up.
I started out selling them at craft shows till some @#$& bought several of my pieces and turned up at the next show with crappy copies for half the price. I just got tired of people copying my ideas, and playing with my creations but not buying (One lady’s son purposely broke a piece (He threw it), and she refused to pay–“Why is it out if you don’t want him to play with it, and it must have been junk since it broke!”)… So I quit – making it a business can take much of the joy out of a hobby.
This weekend, while cleaning some stuff out of my ex’s basement I found a box of old patterns, – and since the new place has a laundry room, but I don’t have a washer and dryer-- my friend Kim is urging me to set up shop again. Maybe…
I also LOVE torch welding and brazing, it’s kind of like Zen to me… the entire world goes away as your attention shrinks and sharpens to just the flame and the molten puddle…(I think an oxyfuel rig in the laundry room would violate the lease tho – so it stays in storage for now)
