Weekly Recap 01
What a full week! Though I could probably start all of these that way, haha! This week I knocked out enough orders to be ahead of schedule for the first time in a couple months. This allowed me to work on commissions, as well as make a new tool acquisition!
I got a new (old) leather sewing machine!
This is an industrial machine, operating at a single speed of 6,000 stitches per minute! It takes about a half gallon of oil as well, and uses that reserve to oil itself. Old industrial machines are set apart in that they were designed to need almost no maintenance. If you had a fleet of 500 sewing machines going 16 hours a day in 2 shifts for example, you wouldn’t want to have to oil them all every few days. This machine was used in a factory to produce handbags. It had two owners after it’s time in the factory- the woman who used it in the factory being the first (which is quite cool), and the gentleman whom I bought it from. I plan to continue its legacy as a bag-sewing-machine by making leather carry and storage bags for my grill pins for starters. Who knows where we will go from there, but I do love leatherwork and am excited to develop new products to bring to market. Which will be slow, so don’t hold your breath haha! I will also be making a couple adjustments to how it operates, first of which will be to convert it to being variable speed.
In regards to orders, I was happy to have a break from the usual and make some skewers this week. I just did a small batch of a dozen to get by until my orders thinned out a little, and I barely felt like I had time to get started! I enjoy making those quite a bit, and it was also the first time I’d gotten to use a new tool I made for the purpose on a batch. Next week I plan to start making larger batches of items again.
As far as commission work, going is slow and cold, but steady. We got one panel of the bell tower project mocked up, and next week, if the client likes it, we should be able to get all the sides done! That is exciting for me. I have a long que of commissions and making progress on one this large is a relief.
Shipping Adjustments.
One final thing I did this week that I am quite pleased with is that I learned about and adjusted my shipping profiles, meaning things like stickers, grill pins, Blazing Ember Metal Balm etc. will have more accurate rates for folks. This change also makes bundling some items, like multiple steak flippers, much more affordable.
And with that, the week is gone. Next week should bring lots of product, and hopefully reduced lead times for you guys! Take care!
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit…” 1st Peter 3:18