Work @ home - make big bucks - carving IVORY! (Anchorage: college, mall)
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(chuckle) NOW WATCH .. you see the ivory as it was cut open, now here are two of the best pieces all cut up. Ordinarally this would take 4 - 5 hours. Done in a few minutes - now we are rolling once again. Now everthing is so much quicker and easier.
IN April; it would take us 12 / 14 hours or more to finish a bracelet - we worked with what we had. It was frustrating trying to meet deadlines, so many people are so impatient at times. But thanks to the patience of what I consider a good friend everything turned out quite well.
Now in May we can whip them out every 4 hours. (thereabouts) depending on the detail that we put into the pieces.And with much better quality.
A heart bracelet with triple insets = 48 pieces for one bracelet; that or a reversable takes a couple of days . (minimum).
Sixty Five dollars for this tiny piece of nothing but white ivory!! We didn't know that when they picked it out- there is no way to tell what is in-side until you cut it open. I have said before many times; the profit margin is about 10 times the price you paid for it. I know I can get at least two bracelets out of this piece. Maybe three if we mix it with other materials. 65 = 650. That is your same profit margin when you purchase something and begin to make products. IN the Arctic - for 65 bucks I can get a complete small tusk over a foot long From your elbow to your wrist for the same price. Raw White Walrus. But there has been none to speak of for years. The walrus herd has moved to the other side, by Russia because of the thumping of the ocean floor by the oil companies. Who really knows where they go, I just quote what I hear the hunters talking about (all the time.).
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NOTICE: the 'potatoe chip piece on the far left.!! A coping saw produces a very fine cut. Not so with this new saw. It takes a 1/2" blade but they didn't have any at the time. So this 3/8" blade has to go- I want finer tpi & a sturdier blade to push against.
More cuts of the purchases we made today. These pieces are going to look just fine. These bracelets are headed straight to the museum on 6th ave, the glass like building tommorrow. 4 bracelets @ 250 each will bring our weekly total to almost 4k. Two days this week - we have made over 1k; tommorrow will push it to over 3 for the week. Get busy people; there is a whole heck of a lot of opportunity in something that really works. Just waiting for YOU to capitalize on it!!
We are going to be all finished and gone in two months or so. Anchorage is all yours - get busy;
Slicing up Ivory - The Safe Way ! This will do for now until we rig up something more elaborate. I want a horizontal band saw, AIH has them for 400 bux but they are too small I want industrial grade and they are well over $1,000 - impossible to cut yourself with one of those rigs.
Quite frankly I don't have room in here for that, so this will suffice for now here until we get back to Barrow. The boys are sure complaing about the heat. They do a lot of walking every day. Midtown to downtown and over to fairview; then back home is our daily route.
4 new finished bracelets (fingers crossed) should be done and posted by tommorrow morning / early afternoon. We didn't get started on these until 7:30 p.m. there abouts. Maybe later than that ??
Here is a list of places we have made sales since we first began back up last April.
Pay Attention: These places are all yours to sell your stuff to when we leave. Believe me - they will purchase it. (visit them now)!! Get busy and make stuff. Don't walk into places with one or two. Show your stuff - these places spend BIG BUCKS buying stuff.
The showcases @ the museum were bascially empty of bracelets of any quality or craftsmanship. It was all "Barrow Quality" i.e. 'junk'. Those are the exact words that the barge operator told us two years in a row, Get up to Barrow. There is nothing like what you boys make up there, it is all cheap junk type stuff (ear-rings & bracelets) No insets - no quality. Junk is the same word he kept using over and over again. He convinced us and we spent 3 years there and sold almost 2,000 bracelets. For those members on the board that live in Barrow (chuckle) just drop in to the school district - NSB - watch the women in Barrow - they are all wearing our bracelets. You can spot our style instantly where ever you go. Or just ask them; what happened to the bracelet boys ?? Listen & learn first hand for yourself. Anyone who says we do not make money doing this is void of any rational understanding.
I am proud to quote a simple verse that sums it all up. A good name is to be chosen over great riches. These boys have a great name !!
Ask around ... ... A single parent that raised four sons by himself!!
Quite a feat; for sure, I had expert help.. .. "the book of proverbs" !!
ANGLE OR EDGE SANDING: Now I can easily show you how easy it is to achieve the exact precise angle for bracelets.
This tool is a must to have; It has 3 main purposes: (for our purposes)
Angle pieces, spin circles; remove excess material to form the desired shape. It takes seconds to achieve per piece, what used to take 1/2 hour per piece. DUST is a major factor with this unit; It has an exhaust connection on the left side; a t wo inch hose bent around the back of the unit facing the fan @ the window. Dust is still thrown into the air on the left side of the wheel upwards. Dust collection systems are our next major purchase to complete the essential tools we need to function properly with no dust in the air at all. Dust collection; down-draft tables - there are many different types of options.
I wanted four bracelets ready for today; that isn't gonna happen;.
Murphy's Law: (again). However two of these; are just simply gorgeous!!
The two women: one @ the Native Hospital gift shop; The other @ the museum in Anchorage; each said the exact same words to us.
First they each said: 'the majik words' .. .. bring us everything you make.
I didn't find that unusual at all. WE heard those same words countless times in Barrow & Kotzebue. (those words mean instant price increase) $50. But what I find truely unusual was how they each said:
We do not normally purchase hearts - (ear-rings or bracelets) BUT because of the colors in each of these insets- We want more !!!
Don't waste your time with white ivory; Colors & contrasts - patterns & designs are where all the big money is.
White looks best when sandwiched between two differing contrasts or colors of Ivory. Jesse is working on a 40 piece bracelet. Each heart will have 3 more additional hearts inset inside, perfectly all lined up. Except they will be as one rounded outlaid piece. We haven't made one of these in quite a while; = $600. A lot of precise work is necessary to accomplish this - you will see all the pieces already shaped with the templates used on the side. A lot of pieces to keep track of in an orderly manner for it to fit perfectly to form a perfect circle.
Here are the two finished bracelets, I will go back to the other steps (later). I know some people are anxious to see what happened overnight and this morning. Two of the boys were out the door @ 11:00 am this morning headed straight to the museum, a recent phone call from Mark informs me she won't be in until Monday morning; heading straight over to Nana corp. - waiting for a phone call. I doubt these women will be able to resist these colors and designs.
The two knots are visible before he pulls/pushes them into the enlarged holes; especially made just on one piece to hide the knots that are superglued to make sure they do not become undone due to stretching the elastic shock cord. This is the bracelet that Khris made. The bracelet with no insets is the one Mark made.
Even though there are no insets - this is still an attractive bracelet.
Believe it or not: (sigh) we struck out today; no sales yet; We have other places to go this later afternoon or evening. All is not lost yet. We are determined to just merely show them; we don't speak; unless asked questions; we let the ivory do all the talking.
Angle the bracelet piece @ 19 degrees precisely; (9 piece) just slowly move the piece up to the disc and in a fraction of a second it is finished @ the correct angle, flip the piece 180 degrees and angle the other side. Now repeat same procedure for each piece of the bracelet. Each of the two previous bracelets shown were 9 piece bracelets.
Removing the excess ivory from the heart shape is easy to do. As the piece of ivory comes in contact with the spinning disc, merely rotate the piece clockwise to sand down to the line but do not erase that line. Hearts are shaped out quite easily in two steps. First remove all the excess around the heart. Second; cut in the crotch @ the top of the heart using a small dremel burr bit. Smoothing or beveling the sharp edges is all done by hand using sand paper lightly.
Rotate that piece to get rid of the excess. Roll it gently with slight pressure. Slowly, you want to get rid of that excess. Do it very slowly so you can watch in slow time. Do not just jam the piece up against with force. You will ruin the whole piece. Gentle, very gently let it barely touch that spinning disc so you can see it go down and begin to rotate that piece. It won't take but a few pieces for you to learn a). Keep your knuckles out of the way b). proceed slowly until you acquire a 'feel' for this tool.
NOTICE: the finished shape of the heart piece(s). Next step is to get a dremel and cut out that portion that needs to be removed to obtain the perfect shape.
Make money working @ home makng circles; rectangles, ovals; hearts.
If I began this thread using those words I doubt it would have ever reached 6,000 views.
We had a decent week this week; Next week promises to be much better!
This cast iron steel plate is one inch thick, It alone weighs over 30 pounds. When we purchased three of these units in Point Hope - the shipping was more costly than the sander itself. In Barrow we had them mailed; in two different boxes; one box had the sander unit and the other box had the steel plate. Shipping was 2/3rds less than what we paid previously in freight costs by having them mailed.
The next bracelet to be finished - #3 for today. Although we will work tommorrow we will not go out and hustle to market these bracelets; We will wait until Monday. Although we struck out today - we didn't. Something pretty incredible happened today; (chuckle) The odds, The timing - Jesse was sent on an errand by me to Spenard Builders.. ..
Upon entering SB, a salesman approached Jesse and asked him what he wanted; Jesse said "kitchen cabinets' the type that fit beside the stove; with drawers (like in my 3D drawing of the shop I am designing).
Is this for your kitchen the salesman asked; Jesse said no.. ..my new shop; Ivory; blah blah; web site; - Point Hope; - Project Chariot !
A woman nearby approached Jesse and asked ? Did I just hear you say project chariot ?? Jesse said yes Ma'am. How do you know about that she asked. I am from Point Hope Jesse said. Howard Rock put a stop to the whole event. Oh.. .. I know you she said - I bought one of your bracelets in Barrow - the bracelet brothers - from Kotzebue I purchased one there also. I remember you . He was speaking with the Publisher for State Wide News !! A famous director is making a movie about that event she said; I know he is going to want to speak with you; Jesse came home all excited; I gotta get ready he said. I said for what ? She is picking me up in an hour; taking me to a type of convention @ Alaska Native Fine Arts Foundation.
Jesse finally came home smiling from ear to ear !! SUCCESS !!
Jesse's 40 piece heart bracelet will be finished tommorrow.
As he progresses on this I will post all of the steps needed to accomplish this.
ONE HEART smaller than the size of a penny; now insert 3 more hearts inside that!! Repeat this 9 more times. Each piece must be 'perfect' or it will instantly show any flaws. A lot of tedious precise work that requires much patience and skill.
This bracelet is not even made yet; It is already sold - 4 different places want this a.s.a.p. Alaska Fur Exchange; Native Hospital gift shop; Anchorage Museum; Alaska Native Arts Foundation and numerous other 'people(s)'.
Everyplace we go - we hear the same words. We are sick of seeing bracelets with 'beads'. ( AFK, ANAF, ANH, Polar Bar, Carl's Jewelers, Museum, Barge Operator,) just to name a few.
Cutting out for the inset takes practice. It won't take long for you to master this but it does take practice to get a feel for the dremel and the burr bit doing the actual work. Prior experience with students .. .. 3 or 4 pieces until you get it down pat. YOU have no idea how much money is waiting for you - just by doing these same simple steps all day long.
Without any doubt - the very best feeling is when someone actually hands you $$ for your work. That high is unbeatable. Pride in your work and having other people appreciate it. -and pay for it.
NOTICE: The super-glue stuck to his fingers. These slobs get it all over the place. I am constantly critizing them over some of their work habits, still after all these years. In the begining, It took me over a year to convince them; you have to sand & shine the edges of the bracelet that are hidden (when the braclet is in its normal state) open those pieces up by streching the cord.) People notice that you did not finish that step and it says 'lazy' all over it in blinking lights that you can't hide. Once they finally did that step properly - the price they sold their bracelets for in Kotzebue went from 60 to 100 or 120 per bracelet. QUALITY is #1
that is YOUR GOAL, QUALITY. It is going to takek some time for you to achieve that. But when you do (smile) you HAVE ARRIVED.
UPTO: But not including the 'line'... Practice cutting circles in scraps of ivory before you attempt to do a whole bracelet. Practice makes better. but first you have to fail before you succeed. You are not going to get if perfect... that takes time & practice not much but some.
I am very proud of the work my sons do. Their bracelets (2 of them) made it to the white house via a teacher from Barrow. Some of our best bracelets are sold in Neiman Marcus In New York. I am told that two are also in the Smithsonian Institute from people that are working w/ them from Alaska Native Arts Foundation.
I am not here to waste my time, this is a BIG STATE spread out all over the place. so are the members here. But if you can read these words then you can easily do this right where you live and in time build up an extremely lucrative business right @ home making many THOUSANDS per week.
Sand the inset flush with the rest of the bracelet piece; this takes a second or two to accomplish perfectly. One thing to watch for; make sure you hit the sanding disc square. Do not have the bracelet piece tilted. The whole front must come in contact with that disc at once. Begining with the inset. Just sand that inset down till it is flush with the main piece. Be careful not to THIN the entire piece to much. Bring the inset flush with the main piece and your finished !
Villages: that is where to go to: Bethe and many other area is huge and Natives go for this type of arts & crafts. People from Dillingham have said the exact same words when they met us. Now let me see some of these bracelets we have been hearing so much about!!
So.. .. what are the next three steps in order to finish this ?? By now; you should know exactly what to do - but in which order, drill - angle - draw lines ??
You can't possibly drill a bracelet piece if it has been angled! Therefore the next step is to draw the lines.
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Final Stages for bracelet #3
