Let's take Inventory + Soap Holder WIP
- Dusty Santos
- Jul 17
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 18
Hello Hen House readers!
I want to finish my soap holder so badly, but before I can do that I should pause and look at what I already have.
First, lets take some inventory:
Keychain Charms - Made when I first started. I have many styles and colors.
Ready to sell
Decorative Tray - Though I could sell it as is. I want to make it customizable with upsell items.
Not ready to sell
Dynamic Decorations - This is the solution to my tray add-on problem. If I make my trays with hidden magnets then I can attach this and many other designs.
Not ready to sell, testing phase
Matching Game - Second product I finished. Get's lots of attention and is a great seller during Christmas.
Ready to sell
Jewelry - First partnership with a merchant brought lots of jewelry! I only need to make a stand to display them.
Not ready to sell
K-Cup Holder - I was so close to selling this. I want to add a leather topper. Staining the leather is much harder than I thought and another tool is needed to finish the edges.
Not ready to sell
Custom Charms - Really fun to do!
Ready to sell
Out of 7 items only 3 are ready to sell. Very close to finishing the rest of them. It's time to make a plan. Finish these items before starting the new ones.
To Do:
Leather Topper for K-Cup Holder
Hide magnets in Decorative Tray
Build display for Jewelry
All in all, not that bad of a to-do list.
Upcoming Events: You can see me and my products at Lowell Folk Festival
|  |
Amazon Affiliate Time
Seriously, this is the easiest way to support my business!
Click the link and anything you buy
- within 24 hours -
gets attributed to me and I get a small %
If 24 hours passed just click it again.
You don't have to purchase what is showcased, you can get anything!
Featured Item:
Every product featured I've purchased and approve.
All that being said, lets talk about my newest product, a beautiful soap holder.
The Soap Holder - Work In Progress...
I started like I do all my projects, with a drawing. Here is an example of a drawing I did for my VHS shelf, and the final results.
Here is my Soap Holder drawing
The first step is to figure out how to get that curve in the wood consistently. I decided on kerf bending.
Kerf bending the the art of cutting an angle into wood so that when placed together, it appears to curve. Seen in the drawing above.
My first kerf bend turned out, well see for yourself...
The problem wasn't the cuts, it was the glue.
To get consistent pressure on the glue, you need to use clamps. Clamps on curved wood doesn't work very well.
I asked ChatGPT for help.
It pulled up a tutorial for a 'form' to make. Essentially, you make a shape that is curved to conform to the kerf bend on one side, and straight on the other side.
With a handy print made by ChatGPT I started making my form:
After these cuts, I lined the curve up, and glued it together. I did this twice, once for the top of the curve and twice for the bottom.
After all this was done, I was so excited to try out my new form! I cut more wood and put it all together.
Just to feel disappointment. It didn't match up!
A friend and I had to come up with a way to glue the new cuts, since the form didn't work.
Ether my new cuts were off, or ChatGPT was wrong, making my form off. Ether way, the new kerf bend I cut and the form I made did not match.
Now I'm at another block in the road. Do I remake the form, going off the new curve?
or
Do I do some trial and error, and keep cutting wood until I find a kerf angle that works?
After weighing all the options. I think I will do some trial and error. To make a new form would take too much time.
The journey isn't always easy, but I'm sure glad I'm on it!
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to join the Hen House mailing list...
Comments