Jump to content

New Endeavors In Chachkies


Recommended Posts

I like it when my hobbies pay for themselves. So far... I'm not even close. I've gone down the road of trying to sell stuff in the past without much luck. Sure, a few bumpers and parts have been sold and sent around the country, but big and heavy items can be such a hassle. Am I done with automotive specific fabrication? Absolutely not!!! However, I think what I need to do is start thinking smaller and easier to move. My mother in law lives in a small, folksy town that has a few small, folksy shops. One of such small, folksy shops is a collection of local artists displaying items to sell. It's really neat to walk through there and see everything! What bugs me about the place is that the few pieces of metalwork are... uh... less than stunning. Here's where I'd like to jump in. The problem comes in that I put way too much time into things and if I were to put a price on things that anyone would consider reasonable it wouldn't even be worth my time. All the shaping and cutting... so time consuming. So? What if I were to start with already cut and mostly shaped pieces? Here's what I've been up to this morning...

 

1528676_517130085052526_344596224_n.jpg

1488116_517130145052520_501703424_n.jpg

1545195_517130175052517_1675192648_n.jpg

1476427_517130095052525_1439944836_n.jpg

1538772_517130251719176_860964176_n.jpg

 

Yup... silverware! Nothing can go on display until May so I've got some time to tinker and build up some inventory. Should be fun! Anxious to see how things sell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could make ,spoon rings , wind chimes , cupboard handles or pulls thats just what I have seen in local shops made from silverware. I have a large box of old silverware some where I was going to do rings but never did. If I can find it I will let you know. Also thats some neat stuff you made much nicer and more artistic  than anything I have seen around here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, dudes!

 

You could make ,spoon rings , wind chimes , cupboard handles or pulls thats just what I have seen in local shops made from silverware. I have a large box of old silverware some where I was going to do rings but never did. If I can find it I will let you know. Also thats some neat stuff you made much nicer and more artistic  than anything I have seen around here.

 

I've got a bunch of other ideas floating around that I'd like to do yet. Let me know if you need to get rid of any silverware! That goes for everyone!  :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a picker was one long before it was "cool" I am sure I can find some more than whats here at auctions etc. Do you want modern or old or both? I have been making some things to sell on my  1930`s south bend lathe I saved from scrap last year. When I get time I will have to post up some pics of what I have been machining.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

... Do you want modern or old or both? I have been making some things to sell on my  1930`s south bend lathe I saved from scrap last year. When I get time I will have to post up some pics of what I have been machining.

 

Cheap.  :D New or old, it really doesn't matter. I like the dainty stuff for bodies and tails, but everything is used regardless. I think it'd be neat to see pictures of the lathe too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was picking a true horders place right near my house. When they opened the the 3 garage bays it was a solid wall of stuff you could not step in it at all. Mostly scrap and garbage I was just hanging out for 4 weeks watching and  helping the scrap dudes load up while picking out stuff to buy. The lathe was buried in there decent shape but not touched in 20 plus years. Lots of need tooling etc did need a new motor set up. It was headed to the scrap truck told them bull$#!&  I went and got the owner he asked whats the scrap value( they were doing a 50/50 split) They told him 35-50 bucks so he told me give me 50 and take all that goes with it. After we moved it out found all the tooling behind it.  They hauled out over 200 ringer washers off this property one shed along had 5000.00 worth of copper wire in it. They were pushing 15000.00 in scrap when the family had a fight closed it up and went back to florida. There was  a Corvair with 5 engines in there  last inspected in 76 took a week of moving steel and other stuff from it just to see it. The house was the same rooms full of boxs stacked to the celing with no paths at all in the rooms. There was a new Chevy crate motor and transmission in the kitchen v6. Place was one of a kind for sure wish I had pictures of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Not quite a band of them, but there's a few more. Figured I'd better have a clever way of displaying some business cards:

 

1237015_554570504641817_1352211818_n.jpg

 

Then things got real crazy with the addition of some bastardized LED solar lights:

1902064_554570641308470_559491813_n.jpg

 

Then yesterday I started to get bored with little stuff and decided to explore other outdoor stuff. A little bigger than chachkies, but still folksy:

1978635_554570531308481_589823016_n.jpg

1010579_554570551308479_1394236902_n.jpg

1920152_554570577975143_55263132_n.jpg

1779854_554570601308474_1573697476_n.jpg

10007540_554570617975139_104349568_n.jpg

 

Starting to have to walk around things in the basement.  :shake:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you ever sleep Ben?  :yes:

 

Before winter started, I promised myself that I wouldn't be working on any automotive projects that I didn't have to. So far I've been good about keeping that promise! With the way this winter has been, there's plenty of time to fill and I wanted something a little easier to tackle for a while. I just hope that it all sells this summer!  :crossfingers:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Bad @$$ stuff man. Good selling point is functional art, like salt n pepper  holder or the solar lights. Maybe some windmills ,bird feeders, humming bird feeder, even a holder.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...