neohic Posted December 28, 2013 Posted December 28, 2013 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... 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.
Oyaji Posted December 28, 2013 Posted December 28, 2013 Now that is creative. Good luck with sales! Don't forget to finish your fuel-tank bung and bracket jigs, though! The finished products will be small enough to go through the mail, too, you know...
NHMJXJ Posted December 29, 2013 Posted December 29, 2013 Wow, those are some really nice pieces. The hummingbird is awesome!
sinkrun Posted December 29, 2013 Posted December 29, 2013 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.
neohic Posted December 29, 2013 Author Posted December 29, 2013 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:
sinkrun Posted December 29, 2013 Posted December 29, 2013 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.
neohic Posted December 29, 2013 Author Posted December 29, 2013 ... 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!
sinkrun Posted December 29, 2013 Posted December 29, 2013 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.
neohic Posted December 30, 2013 Author Posted December 30, 2013 Made up a few more this afternoon... Still need to make up a whole bunch more.
RochesterMJ Posted December 31, 2013 Posted December 31, 2013 Your wife is gonna be pissed. I see many sandwiches in your future
neohic Posted December 31, 2013 Author Posted December 31, 2013 Your wife is gonna be pissed. I see many sandwiches in your future :idea:
Spectormj Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 this is brilliantly cool you should make a band of em I'm talkin like a banjo a standing bass drums and such
Pete M Posted February 28, 2014 Posted February 28, 2014 this is brilliantly cool you should make a band of em I'm talkin like a banjo a standing bass drums and such :rock on: I vote for a metal band :D
Minuit Posted March 1, 2014 Posted March 1, 2014 this is brilliantly cool you should make a band of em I'm talkin like a banjo a standing bass drums and such :rock on: I vote for a metal band :D :yes:
neohic Posted March 16, 2014 Author Posted March 16, 2014 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: Then things got real crazy with the addition of some bastardized LED solar lights: 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: Starting to have to walk around things in the basement. :shake:
neohic Posted March 17, 2014 Author Posted March 17, 2014 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:
Spectormj Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 I wants some! That bastardized led looks so cool
neohic Posted March 22, 2014 Author Posted March 22, 2014 Changes to green-red-blue-purple... Things have gone vertical also. :D
stoney88mj Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 those are AWESOME! my dad has a bunch of fishing guys made out of old school nails. I'd buy a spoon fishing dude and a salt and pepper holder guy when they hit the market.
neohic Posted April 13, 2014 Author Posted April 13, 2014 Officially official: https://www.facebook.com/BensIronworks Go LIKE me!
moos Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 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.
neohic Posted May 10, 2014 Author Posted May 10, 2014 Thanks dude! Everything goes on display this coming weekend then available for sale starting Memorial Day weekend. Got some high hopes too! :crossfingers:
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