All Aboard!

Well here it is all finished. The Terry Train. Of course you can make them in any kid's name which makes this a great gift for a toddler or a nifty dresser top decoration for the new baby's room. You can paint the letters any colors you want. I chose green and white. If you know me
you know why. I call the the "Capital One Bowl Express".

Picking a price point for these for orders is kind of tricky. It has to be based on a per piece rate because names are different lengths. The average length is about five letters plus the engine and caboose makes 7. About $2.50 per is what I figured. Making this one $17.50. OOOHH that smarts. But the expenses include the wood, wheels, cup hooks for coupling, and paint. Now you can start figuring in the labor and I'm working cheap!

Thing is, names used to be so simple like Mike, Alan, Dave, Ken. Now a days its Alexander,
Brandon, Conner, Chelsae, Melissa, Caitlyn...you get the idea. Those would be some pretty expensive trains. Now if you're an Ian, Tom, Or Joe, you can save a lot of bucks. So think about that when you name your kids, Mortimer and Ethelred!

Hardest part of this was the painting. I stink at it. I tried spay paint and it came out terrible except for the engine and caboose which, as you can see are just one color. For the letters the bottom is yellow to represent the car the letter sits on. Painting the letters is hard because you need to get the insides covered and the paint runs. Still I managed to get it done. It's....nice........ NOT THRILLING.... but....nice (Dom DeLuise, History of the World Pt I).

By the way the creator of the pattern for this project is John A Nelson and it is from the 2003 edition of "Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts" Holiday issue. (yes I keep and save them all!)

Well, the next project is already in progress. All I'll say at this time is that it is something very, very, Christmas.. Probably won't get it done this weekend because I'm going to be busy with my other enterprise...arena announcing at sporting events. Look for another post early next week.