Comments on: What can I make from wood to sell online?

Question: What can I make from wood to sell online?

jcwilliams — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:03:25 -0800

What can I make from wood to sell online?

I like to make things out of wood and want to make more things, but I don't have the space to keep anything I make. So I thought I might try to make things to sell online. Maybe through ebay. What sort of wooden things do you think are in demand that are not too big to go in the post?

My skills are fair but my tools are at present, limited to hand tools.

By: bensherman

bensherman — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:10:59 -0800

There are a lot of ideas if you type "woodwork" in etsy.com

By: BostonTerrier

BostonTerrier — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:28:43 -0800

Raised feeders for tall dogs sell well. I bought mine on Etsy.

By: box

box — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:30:06 -0800

Hardwood piercing jewelry doesn't seem like it would pose any insurmountable challenges. And the money seems pretty good, though the market probably isn't all that large.

(If you decide to go this route, MeMail me and I'll buy your first pair.)

Or be like Lester Freamon, and make dollhouse furniture.

By: spilon

spilon — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:33:30 -0800

Bat houses?

By: -harlequin-

-harlequin- — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:39:18 -0800

Charging Stations seem to be the new hotness, can be quite simple (or quite elaborate) and you could ace out the commercially sold models with the following simple things that they don't provide:

- power-strip or power-squid already installed, thus allowing for
- installed exterior master on/off switch, (because the charging devices that the user will put in it all waste phantom power when off)
- customer choice of wood colour and finish. And perhaps how many bays it has.

Charging stations benefit a bit from being custom made for the space/area the person wants to put them, and matched to their decor, so consider going the etsy route, or otherwise setting yourself up so that people can commission a work from you, rather than trying to find a buyer who likes your arbitrary choice of features.

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:46:58 -0800

Pens?

By: MLIS

MLIS — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:35:20 -0800

turgid, pay attention, he said he has access to hand tools at the moment, not a lathe.

By: extramundane

extramundane — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:54:13 -0800

Headphone stand? Two prongs to wrap the cord around would be a nice feature too. Not sure what tools you might need, just an idea :)

By: IndigoJones

IndigoJones — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:29:10 -0800

Briefcases. The fifties are on the way back....

By: torquemaniac

torquemaniac — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:40:09 -0800

Remote control organizers/stands.

By: porpoise

porpoise — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:16:20 -0800

Nutcracker.

Might involve a little metalwork to put a plate at the end of the pressing piece, but this type of screw-style nutcracker works *really* *really* well and after you figure out the mechanics, you can play around with the ergonomics (or different sizes for different sized hands/nuts).

--

Make people wooden keyboards? Replace the plastic bezels of LCDs/HD TVs with hardwood?

By: notyou

notyou — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:55:26 -0800

Did someone say charging stations made of wood? I made some (the original; the MkII). Tough to sell. Easy to give away.

By: Piscean

Piscean — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:55:22 -0800

Do you own a lathe? I used to make pens and pencils- they can be quite high-end gifts when you make them properly. People love them. You can buy the kits at woodworking stores. It is not very difficult to do. I miss my lathe!

By: Piscean

Piscean — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:56:15 -0800

Oh I misread - you do not own a lathe. Too bad.... but the other ideas listed are quite interesting.

By: unixrat

unixrat — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:08:19 -0800

You can easily make high-quality chess/checker and backgammon boards (Heck, backgammon sets.).

I'd buy those in an instant.

By: primer_dimer

primer_dimer — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:13:18 -0800

Chopping boards?

By: Muirwylde

Muirwylde — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:29:04 -0800

Pipes. For smoking. Ahem. tobacco.