Final toilet seat carvings

Tonight I finished up an order for a customer. The toilet seat supply is totally gone now and there will most likely be no more of those. Cheryl and I have been thinking about what it would take to get us back into them, I'm not sure, but the money just isn't' there for the headache that they have become. So we are off to rethink things once again. I still might post a panel here and there from time to time, or maybe a wall hanging. We'll see! I still have to fix up the pics for the bird panel from yesterday. I'll post more later.

The plight of the elongated seat

We sold 12 seats today. That's more like it! Christmas rush is coming. I could only carve up 7 seats tonight because, as is always the problem this time of year, We have run out of seats. So we will once again have to travel to distant places to purchase and stock up on more.

Our main problem is elongated seats. Till now, we have not really offered them for sale. We used to, but our supplier switched up on us with no warning ( see previous posts) Well, one customer has requested 4 seats for her home. So Cheryl and I stumble on a few late last week and Cheryl puts them up for sale. The lady bought them all as well as several other customers. And would you have guessed, all the seats are GONE! ( temporarily, of course, but grrrr!) So we have to travel to distant Holland to get them out before thanksgiving "no mail day" I am hoping that we find them all ( 5 total) at Holland, but I have to be real. Most stores do not Carry more than 4 at a time. I was hoping I could get my own elongated seats up and running before the new year.

In other news, the cats have caught a mouse that was chewing on our furnace gas hose. I have to tell ya. I am not feeling much pity for the mouse. The cats are loving it because it is a toy that does not need batteries. This mouse has been chewing on the small gas hose that causes the ignition sequence for the burner plate. causing the ignition to fail. So we have the furnace set to 70 and it is not getting any warmer in here. I have had to fix the hose several ( three in all) times and the furnce is in a crawlspace under the house! ( can you say duck walk) But today we bought traps and hopefully the cats will finish off the rest.

Another busy weekend

You might have noticed that I have skipped a couple days blogging. The easy explanation is that I did not have the time to chat about my day. Either I was too exhausted or it was just too late. The weeks seem to be flying by now and there seems to be little time for anything other than carving, painting and shipping seats. In between all that, I've been trying to make soap and my own seats out of plywood. I worked like crazy yesterday so I could take it easy tonight. I already have 4 seats for Monday. Cheryl discovered a nice feature on our new camera that helps with closeups. Up until now I thought we were forever cursed to take blurry closeup pictures even with the 8.1 mega pixel camera. but the new setting is for pictures closer than 24" They seem to be better for the most part.

A new Seat! A new beginning...

Well, tonight we sold three more seats. Forcing us to face a very serious problem. If you have been following my previous posts, You will know that our suppliers have all dried up in recent weeks. There are only two places that offer solid wood seats at the moment and both of them are inferior to our standard. So tonight I have revisited making my own seat from scratch. I have toyed with this idea before but it was not cost effective. NOW when we look online at ANY suppliers, the seats alone start at $40-50! That would mean I would have to drastically increase my asking price and pocket none of the extra ( currently the "good" seats are $17.00 before tax) Well, tonight I took another stab at it to answer a few questions. To save time and make a durable seat that is very stable. I have considered oak Plywood. The cross grain lamination should prove very stable under stress ( i.e. people sitting on a thin piece of wood) I was wondering how it would carve up So I chose to carve up a black bear cub. I was surprised to find out that it carved up really well! After it's sanded and stained, It is difficult to see the difference even when I am the one looking. It painted up fairly well and I actually made it tonight in less time that it took me to set up my router table. I'm encouraged! The only way that Cheryl and I agree anyone can tell the difference, is from the side. And that might not be all bad. The layered effect of the plywood adds a certain "decoration detail" that the other solid seats never had. I didn't have the wood or the time to make the "seat" yet, but might try that tomorrow. We also will have to find a hinge supplier and the plastic bumpers that keep the seat off the toilet. ( each seat requires 5 for the seat and 2 for the lid!) There are advantages to this path we are considering. One, I did the math and the raw materials for the wood will cost $5-6! Not bad! Add hinge for Approx. $6 and maybe a handful or bumpers for $2 and we might have a $13 seat. Cheaper than Wall mart and better construction ( Don't get me started on the Wall mart seat. You get what you pay for is a fair assessment, and they have ruined solid wood toilet seat's perceptions) Anyway, I will also be in complete control of the stain, poly, hinge placement, and supply. These are all areas where we have had trouble before. With the China supply line apparently down, Cheryl and I have seen definite signs that cheap manufactured goods will be in short supply this year. This might be a good thing if your business does not depend on them. Like Foreign Oil we are trying to ween ourselves away from the Foreign seat manufacturers. So I will be able to Claim that our seat is 100% American made! YEAH BABY! Of course this will mean more work for myself in the coming months. Christmas is usually insane with 7-8 seats a night typical. I hope it will be that crazy and then some, and this time I hope I don't have to spend my time tracking down seats made in China!