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What sells vs. what's fun (Patreon)

Published:
2018-03-23 10:46:42
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Before I did this full-time, I used to spend a lot of time watching Jimmy Diresta's videos. I loved his content, but I heard him say a few times that most of what he made wasn't interesting enough for video, so he'd make things just for his videos and then just give those things away. He had to invent projects to film. 

I didn't get that. How could it be dull to watch Jimmy do ANYTHING?

Easy. Most of the stuff clients want built just isn't that interesting to watch. 

These aren't bad projects, or even unpleasant to do, they're just not very interesting. Let me just show you what I did this week.

This is my friend Carl's pantry: 

Man, those shelves are ugly. And have you ever tried to get a can to stand up on wire shelves like that? Nightmare. 

So I did this: 

Not bad, right? Birch plywood shelves with maple edging. Poly finish for water-resistance and durability. I also threw up a peg-board wall on the opposite side for him to hang pots from. Good job. Good outcome. 

My neighbor Amy had a similar problem with her cookbook shelf. She just had a cheap press-board shelf and it was wilting under the weight of all her books. But she and her husband also had some lovely old hardwood trim in the basement and I incorporated that into a rock-solid new shelf with reclaimed charm:

Another good job. Free materials. Good profit margin. 

But seriously, how am I going to make a video about either of these things? It would just be me cutting and gluing wood. Boring. 

The point is that professional woodwork and content-creation don't go together as neatly as I thought they would. You can't just point a camera at whatever you're doing and get a good video.

On the other hand, my current video is on this high-tech low-angle plane I'm making for my collaboration with Wood By Wright. It's going to make a great video (I hope) but the plane is taking a huge bite out of my work-week and I'm not going to sell the plane to anyone. (Not that I want to). If this video doesn't make some money, then it's all time down the drain. It's fun, but it's also a gamble. 

Just another thing to learn. 

Hope everyone is having a good week. 

Comments

George B

that's a very good point there. Doing video creation for the extra income is a big investment (of your time). If I remember correctly, Jimmy Diresta also mentioned that YouTube is a good channel to reach potential clients. this type of income is a little harder to measure. Loved the shelves. they blend beautifully with their surroundings.

Rex Krueger

Thanks for your thoughts! I wish I got some clients through YouTube. Jimmy was still working in Manhattan when he was getting client work from videos. I love Cleveland, but it just doesn't have the client base...yet?

Jason Bailey

I’ll admit, “making a shelf” is t going to be a viral video, but you could do a short tips video on some technique your using. Nick Ferry just released a short video on how he clamps up leg blanks without having them slip. His friend had to talk him into doing it because it seemed so simple to him that he didn’t think it worthwhile. Anyway, short little videos like that could come in handy when you are on a longer project that might disrupt your schedule or you want/need to take some time off.

Rex Krueger

You know, that's a good point. This plane collaboration with James Wright has just wrecked my normal schedule. I guess a quick tip video might give me a release and keep me on the radar. Thanks for the insight!

James Boatright

Plywood shelves with maple edging... I've NEVER gotten edging right. It always is crap. Details about that would be wonderful.

James Boatright

Make a cookbook shelf from scrap lumber... how do you decide which pieces to glue together? Assuming I have only your $100 tool kit how does one get the bits to glue together well? How does one then plane the shelf flat? WHY did you choose what you did?

James Boatright

I just completed a set of blocks for my granddaughter. I made a box. My box sucks. (The blocks are great) I can't do dovetails, and even my half lap corners didn't fit even though I measured and drew lines, and did dry fits. And once the glue touched it, boom, nothing fit.

James Boatright

Make a box. Use your $100 garage sale toolkit. (I do have a tablesaw. It sucks too.)

Rex Krueger
>>11291173

The edging is not easy, but it's the sort of thing you can improve on very quickly. Here are some tips: 1.) The big box store makes an iron-on trim that's pretty foolproof. Use that where you can. 2.) If you're cutting your own trim from hardwood, you want it as thin as possible. Make several test pieces on the table-saw with the thin piece between the fence and the blade (watch out for kickback and stand clear). Keep nudging the fence toward the blade until you get a piece that you like. Then you have your setup and you can just cut as much as you need. 3.) If you're bending around curves, you'll want a clamp block that same shape as the curve. Save your offcuts and you'll have a clamping block of the correct radius ready to go. 4.) Also for curves, heat the trim with a heat gun, or just a blow-drier until it softens up a bit then it will bend around the curve with no splintering. 5.) Cut the trim just bigger than the shelf edge and trim it to size with a plane.

Rex Krueger
>>11291220

Great questions! I decided which pieces to glue together based on what I had on hand. This was a low-price job for a friend and neighbor, so I had to keep it cheap to make a profit. They had the front trim piece in their basement, so I new that was the edge. The shelf had to be super-strong, so I made a basic platform out of plywood I had on-hand. Then I laminated on some pieces of reclaimed 2x4 to get a thickness that would match the trim. Then I glued the trim to the front. For much of the build, I skipped clamps and just blew in some fasteners from my pin-nailer. Since the top and bottom were never really going to be seen, I just concentrated on making that front edge look as good as possible. To make them glue up well, I straightened the edges of everything on the table-saw. I cut the wood to the exact thickness I needed so there was no need to plane the top of the shelf. It wasn't perfectly flat, but it didn't need to be.

Rex Krueger
>>11291263

So, I'm no expert on dovetails. Unless you make really hi-end furniture, customers just don't ask for them, or even know what they are. Now, I'd love to get good at dovetails just for my own enjoyment and skill, but that will have to be down the road. For basic boxes, I have three suggestions. You can use your table-saw to do a lock-rabbet joint in plywood. If you're using hardwood, then you can miter the corners on your saw and then add splines or dowels for reinforcement. You can also make a box -joint or finger-joint jig for the table saw. Both of these will make a strong corner with some of the guesswork taken out.

Rex Krueger
>>11291284

So, I never finished the videos on the $100 toolkit because I heard from too many viewers who cannot find old tools at those prices or can't find them at any price. So, the $100 tool kit project got to be impractical for a lot of viewers. That's why I switched to more tool-making videos. If you can't buy a good old Stanley plane, you can make a very decent plane at home. But I've also just found several very cheap import tools that look very promising and I've ordered some for review. I'm hoping to start a new series called "Import Tool Madness", where I review some of the REALLY cheap tools one can find on ebay and aliexpress. Perhaps then I'l be able to do a tool kit for $100 that anyone can own. Also, please post some picks of your blocks on the Community page. I'm sure we'd all like to see them and I might be able to feature them in a video. I love doing that.

James Boatright
>>11291284

Rex, seriously, make a vid about making a box using your thoughtful innovative "keep it simple stupid" ways. One of the best things about your vids is, you cut through so much artsy fartsy stuff and just "make something." I was particularly impressed by your moving video essay on the wonders of a bench grinder. Mathias W. did a bit on using a bench grinder to sharpen plane blades, but yours was better. "It's a hunk of iron. It doesn't have a soul, it has crystal structure and needs to be pointy." If you can find a similar "essential" point to get across as shop technique, then really basic simple projects that implement that essentiality will make engaging vids when you need to do something that doesn't eat a week. You showed me how to make a decent plane, but I have 4 planes and don't want another. Show me how to made the corners of a box come together. :-) or whatever. It's that "slightly off from out of the corner" viewpoint of yours that is so engaging.

Rex Krueger
>>11291284

This is interesting timing, I'm just about to do a post asking what kind of Patreon-exclusive content people want to see. Basic box building is probably a good choice. I'll suggest it in the post and see what other people think. Thanks for the solid idea!

James Kison
>>11291284

Late to the party, but i think the $100 tool box still has merit, but by making and choosing the best of cheap tools to get you by until you can score that sweet garage sale find. For example, i've boughten 4 of those cheap HF screwdrivers with the swappable phillips and flat head blades after seeing it in your video. I used to use those ones with the six interchangeable tips, but the handles were always junk and occasionally i'd lose the tips because they're so small, and sometimes i'd steal them for use in my drill driver because it's a long drive to the hardware store. So yeah, i bought 4 (with coupons, paid only for 2), gave one to each of my kids, have one in the kitchen junk drawer and the other in my tool box. I know they're cheap, but sometimes you just want an flexible tool that doesn't take a lot of space.