Ways To Attract More Customers
By personalising your woodworking products and making them from sustainable sources, you will attract more customers and achieve a higher profit margin.
The trick is to find an attractive, cost effective way of creating the lettering and to discover a sustainable source of timber for your woodworking creations.
Personalising Your Offering
Fortunately there are five techniques you can use to form letters in wood…..hand carving…..a Dremel drill……laser cutting…… pyrography…. and stencilling.
Here is my guide to the best videos and articles I have discovered on how to personalise your woodworking products using lettering.
1. Hand Carving
Hand carving is the traditional way of forming letters, which has been handed down through the centuries. It takes practise to acquire the skill and then you have to become adept enough to make this method a viable option.
Demonstration of how to hand cut letters Billy’s Little Bench
The most popular woods to use for carving are basswood, aspen. butternut and black walnut.
Palm & Knife Set woodcarving4u.com
Before you choose which wood carving tools to buy, it’s wise to decide which type of carving you will favour…..whittling, lettering, figures…..
Here is an excellent article, which lists ten wood carving kits for different purposes…..highlighting the pros and cons of each.
This video demonstrates how to hand cut letters.
You can speed up hand carving by using a powered chisel, as demonstrated in this video.
2. Dremel Drill
Dremels are small drills, which have a wide selection of bits. They make deep, delicate cuts in almost any type of wood with comparative ease.
There are two attachments which make cutting letters with a Dremel so much easier. They are the tool cutting guide attachment shown below and a plunge router attachment.
Carving with a Dremel……… Carving Fusion by Jordy Johnson
Take a look at Easy Steps To Carve A Wood Sign which demonstrates how to cut letters with a Dremel.
Cut with a Dremel – see video Carving Fusion by Jordy Johnson
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3. Pyrography
The word pyrography derives from the Greek meaning ‘writing with fire’.
YouTube…..Hobby Hoarder
Pinterest Pyrography
You can create beautifully intricate designs on your woodworking projects using this method
If you want to learn more about pyrography take a look at ‘Wood Burning For Beginners‘
A professional grade pyrography kit costs around £110 and there are many free stencils available online
4. Laser Cutting
Laser cutting is a way of cutting or engraving on different materials, like wood, acrylic, leather, glass, card and paper.
So how does it work? Having created your design using software like Photoshop, Illustrator or CorelDraw, you import your design into the laser control system ready to commence cutting. A laser transmits a powerful beam, through mirrors and a lens, onto the material you’re cutting.
Glowforge
Take a look at this video which guides you, step by step. on how to make a sign…….. Laser Cutter Project To Make Wood Sign
The Glowforge models featured in the above video cost between $3,000 and $6,000.
If you live in the UK then Oculus Benchtop Lasers are a respected brand.
5. Stencilling
Removing the template. YouTube Sarah Vanderkooy
Sarah Vanderkooy
Stencilling is an inexpensive way of printing on wood, whilst also enabling you to add colour to your design. You will find a wide variety of stencils online at very reasonable prices.
Here are two videos which introduce you to the world of stencilling signs…..
How To Make A Wood Pallet Sign
3 Ways To Stencil A Wood Sign
Sustainability
Felling….hopefully to be replaced by several saplings
Many of your customers will enquire whether your products come from a sustainable source, which is being replenished as quickly as it is being used
It makes your product more attractive to customers if you can reassure them that it has been made from timber, which is either being replaced by the planting of new trees, or uses recycled timber.
Take a trip to your local salvage yard and see what’s available. Auctions selling old furniture are another source of old, well seasoned timber.
Don’t forget that a softwood tree grows far more rapidly than a hardwood, so it is preferable to use a softwood where ever possible.
Planting little trees
If you are unable to buy reclaimed timber, look for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood.
Evan and Katelyn have made a video in collaboration wuth Woodworking Edge called ‘How To Sell Handmade Products’ which describes how they market their wares. You can visit their website here.
You may like to look at a couple of my other posts….
Wooden Toys….The 10 Best Books On How To Make Them Yourself
Exciting Discoveries Made From Wood
Get even more inspiration for new woodworking projects by visiting my Pinterest boards and Instagram site.
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