Hey everybody! Just popping in with a quick update. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make much progress on batch 2 over the past week. We have had an incredibly rainy spring here, with almost constant, daily rain. While my little shop does have a roof, it is not climate controlled. With lots of rain, comes lots of humidity and moisture in the air. All of the lumber that I buy is kiln dried down to a workable moisture content, but raw wood (and even finished wood for that matter) is constantly "breathing" which means it will absorb moisture out of the surrounding air. This isn't a problem for most of the steps in my process, but it is critical for when I flatten the boards out. I generally do the flattening in two stages. The first is a rough planing to remove any twisting or cupping that occurs after the lumber is milled, then the boards are allowed to sit for a day or two for any internal stresses to release and they are checked for flatness again. Almost all of them will require another few passes at the jointer to get them dead flat, remove tear-out and get them down to final thickness. Once the second stage is complete, there is not enough material to go back and flatten them again. For this reason, I have been waiting for things to dry out so I can be sure they won't warp later when they dry out. If I skip this step and rush it, I might end up with wobbly wrist rests that are too thin to go back and flatten again. Instead I have started to do the burns on the last batch, because excess moisture is not a concern. If any of you follow me on IG, you may have seen that I had a show last weekend at a Winery in Southern NJ. We were lucky enough to have 2 hot, sunny days and the weather has stayed in that pattern, which means that the batch 2 rests will finally be able to dry out (cross your fingers). Once I am confident the moisture content has stabalized, i will perform the second flattening and move on to trimming, edge treatment and finishing. I will be out of town for the last week of this month on a long awaited trip to Maine, but I am really hoping to have batch #2 in the finishing room with a few coats of sealer on them, which will ensure that they stay dry and flat while I am gone.
I have also been considering new options, colors and strategies for when my custom order book reopens (after the last batch is complete). I would like to hear your input so I can see what people want. Right now I am thinking about adding Purpleheart, Curly Maple, Mahogany and Wenge for wood choices, but they need to be tested to see if they will burn well. There is an endless variety of colors and pigments available, so the sky is the limit for that. If you have suggestions or desires, please comment below and let me know!
I think the biggest take-away from this project is that I would prefer to work in smaller batches. As much as I appreciate the financial stability of having lots of pending orders, accepting 100+ custom orders is a huge workload on top of the rest of the tasks involved with operating a small craft business. I am the only employee here, which means I also have to handle administrative duties, social media, booking shows, replenishing my stock and creating new products. These other aspects have suffered from my focus on the wrist rests. Additionally, I feel like constantly making the same thing has taken a toll on my creative output, which is the entire reason I quit working as a mechanic and started this journey. My current plan is to take up to 10 custom wrist rest orders each month, but include more options to allow deeper customization. I may increase this number during the winter, when business is slower (due to the lack of craft shows and post-holiday reduction in purchases). The second take-away is that I can't sustain the original group buy price. When I made the original wrist rest for JB1830, I didn't encounter any issues with warping or lose product due to blemishes and waste from milling. The amount of hours I have poured into the first few batches is over two times what I had estimated from the first build. I don't have a final price point yet, but I will determine that once I have all the factors nailed down.
Don't get me wrong, these are not complaints by any means. This is a new business for me and a complete departure from my old career, so I am still learning how to run it. I truly appreciate every single order that you all have made. You are literally keeping the roof over my head right now as I grow and establish myself in the craft community. Without them, I would have to get a second job to pay the bills. Thank you so much for keeping my dream alive!
