Keepers
Ever make something you like so much you hate to let it go? If you hang on to your best, favorite items, youll never make any money. If youre a…
Ever make something you like so much you hate to let it go? If you hang on to your best, favorite items, youll never make any money.
If youre a regular reader, you know I have loose relationships with a couple small galleries. I dont really have time to make items specifically for galleries, but once a writing project is done I end up with a number of projects without homes. Some I give away, but since I started dealing with these galleries I try to reserve those items for them for extra cash.
Among the last projects for my nearly concluded box book are some lathe boxes. One is a potpourri box turned from burl; the top is pewter in an open design that lets the fragrance out. One look at it and Im thinking: Nice box; instead of sending it to one of the galleries thats been asking me for items, my daughter would love it. Another, a lidded box of spalted maple and ebony, came out even nicer. Likewise, its just too good to get rid of.
We dont need it we already have too many set-around things in our house, and any more risks creating incurable clutter. Now, I could send it to one of the galleries and probably get a good bit for it. Or, I could keep it for heck, I dont know. Maybe something I could gift to someone for a birthday or maybe next Christmas.
You guys who work on commission have it easier, since you already have the future owner waiting for an item before youve made it. Once youre done, no matter how much you like it, you still have to deliver. And its good that this is so, or youd have no income. Fortunately, I dont depend on what I make in the shop for my income, or my keep-the-best-stuff idiosyncrasy would ruin us.
Of course, if I hang on to them to use as gifts, that does constitute a savings of what I would have spent. So in a sense, I guess they really are making money.
Till next time,
A.J.

A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.