Peter Brown's ShopTime

What's absorbent, blue and covered in epoxy? Yep! A Shop Towel Bottle Stopper. I think I might have a problem...

Completed! Bracelets! wooden pens acrylic pens (grr...) stoppers Glad to be done!

Acquired some small olive blocks last month. Just the right size for some stoppers. Dropped them off at the consignment shop... All with a CA finish

Had to crank out a bunch of new stoppers for the shop I'm in. I love feeling you get when folks show interest in owning your workmanship. It's quite rewarding on just an emotional level! Walnut, Zebrawood, Purpleheart, Madrone, Walnut, Walnut. Zebrawood, Tulipwood, Walnut, Walnut, Redwood Burl, Wanut. All CA finish, and yes. I do have a lot of Walnut!

I was playing with shapes.. First was going to be a mushroom, but I found this shape instead. Looks like a building to me. Then Top hat with burned in brim, goblet and finally a mushroom to make up for #1.

For whatever reason I really liked the way this came out last night. I can crank out a dozen stoppers and not be overly enamored with one. I just really liked the thick goblet shape and wanted to recall it for next time. 2 inches X 1 3/8 CA finish

From Left to right: Zebrawood, Redheart, Redwood burl,Lignum Vitae, Zebrawood, Redwood burl. All with a CA finish

I sell bottle stoppers in a shop in Healdsburg Ca. The shop is called Noble Designs . Selling bottle stoppers in the wine country is a very competitive enterprise. Every shop here has at least one type of stoppers, if not two to three. So I was quite thankful to have the opportunity. Regardless some months are good and others are silent. I call once a month and ask, "So... need any more stoppers?" "Sorry no sales" That's how it's been since November and I was beginning to get discouraged. Then all of the sudden I get a call last week: "We sold almost half of your stoppers! Come restock us!" I suppose that's tourist season for you. Now I need to re-order all my supplies and start cranking these out again. I hope this run last for a while!

It's always fun to get a special request from a customer. Sometimes you like the idea, and other times you just have to turn it even if it isn't your tastes. This time I though the idea was pretty cool! She wanted 4 of my goblet shaped stoppers that would double as tapered candle holders. Here's one of them. California walnut (surprise!) with a CA finish. If anything the request simplified the turning. Normally I use a round nose scraper on the end to get a smooth bowl shape. On these, I just just drilled out a 3/4 inch hole about 1/2 deep. And together California Walnut, Lignum Vitate, Claro Walnut, Redheart C&C welcome.

Since the last two bowls I turned died a horrible death on the lathe, I only have stoppers to show. Maybe I'll get lucky next week.

Claro Walnut and CA finish Claro Walnut Burl and CA finish Juniper and CA finish Madrone and Maylands finish With Friends!

These are fun to make. I use a 1" forstner bit to drill 1/4 on the end, and then clean up the drill marks with a scraper. After that, just shape as you see fit. From Left: cherry & purpleheart, juniper, spalted purpleheart & aluminium can, cocobolo, walnut, redheart All except the cherry are a CA finish. The cherry is beewax. It just felt right. I'm pretty sure this design is what got me into the gallery I currently sell bottle stoppers at.

A while back I posted about the Ruth Niles stainless steel bottle stoppers. They are an excellent product. I made ten and had no trouble getting them into a shop (Once the owner saw them) and there they sat for 7 months. In that time I only sold 2. This had little to do with the stopper and everything to do with the economy. In order to make a profit I was collecting $13 per stopper. The store tacked on another $13 for them. Add in Uncle Sams portion and a pretty gift turned into a $30 luxury that shoppers just weren't buying. Enter the new wave. Classic cork stoppers. They aren't anywhere near as fancy looking as the sleek stainless stoppers, but they have an advantage. I can make them for about $2-3 a piece. Now I ask for $6 per stopper and with the shop and Sam we are still way under a $20 bill. Or as a previous boss called them, "Yuppie Food Stamps" I've been three weeks with this new model, so we'll soon see if the change pays off. I'm rather hopeful.

So, I'm officially in the bottle stopper business. I purchased the Ruth Niles starter kit and made a load of bottle stoppers. I have to say I'm rather pleased. The next question was, now that I've got close to $100 sunk into this how do I get it back? Don't get me wrong, I like making them, but still. I mean to say I almost always look at life through the prism of capitalism. "How can I have fun AND make money!?" So I loaded up my bag with bottle stoppers and started my march to rejection. Two weeks ago, I hit about eight local gift stores. Most encounters stared off the same. "May I help you" "I'm peddling," I'd say to break the ice. "Do you do consignment sales?" "Yes...but" And here the stories would differ. The owner is traveling, the owner isn't interested, the owner makes bowls (didn't quite understand that excuse myself). Of the eight shops only one took my card and only two actually looked at my ...