Thread: push knife

Originally Posted by Whittling

Hi Frank,

I used to sell these birds, but not very often any more. ... Its a project that is more than usually dependant on the grain of the wood you're working with. .. ... it makes a cracker-jack demo and usually sparks sales of other things on the stall. ..The down side is that you're at the mercy of the grain ... In public it looks like you stuffed it up even though its not your fault. NO NO... ITS THE GRAIN I TELL YOU!

What a pity, I thought you were on a winner here. Given your skills, though, I still think that the ironsmith's marketing technique would be excellent in your circumstances if you can find something that you can carve reliably in 10 minutes and sell for 10 bucks.
A big sign saying "carving demonstration every half hour" would attract the crowd and if you sell what you have made and three or four others you have paid your time handsomely. What about golf balls? Would they fit the bill if you had them mass prepared and were less demanding with the detail? In the normal display you would have only "functional" ones, eg on bottlestoppers. In any case, the "it's done roughly just to show you, you can have it for nothing" approach might work to give the last push to a client interested in something major, but could be rather counterproductive if you sell similar but better refined small items. All this IMHO, of course.

These days when I demonstate, I try to pick a project that the person(s) seem to be showing an interest in. I keep several different projects partly done and will demonstate a part of the carving process on which ever one is the center of interest at the time. If they are looking at golf balls I might carve an eye by way of demonstation. If they are looking at mice, I might do an ear for them. If they are looking at roostas, I might carve one there on the spot. As each project is finished it just goes into stock. This way I'm getting some thing done even if I'm not selling much.