You Can Turn Woodshop Scraps Into Hardwood Combs

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Marketing this work is simply a matter of letting people know it's available. Most folks enjoy buying fine, handcrafted wooden items, and these woodshop-scraps-turned-combs definitely fall into that category. Once, during a single day at a local street fair, I sold 24 combs (all I had with me) at prices ranging from 3 to 7 dollars apiece. A small fortune? No. Extra pocket money? Most certainly.

You shouldn't have any trouble finding retail outlets for these combs, either. After you've filled all the orders you'll get from friends (and believe me, they'll want some!), you can take samples around to department stores, shops specializing in makeup and toiletries, hair salons and barber shops. Some outlets will want to purchase combs outright, others will prefer to handle them on consignment. Either way, you make money.

Not long ago, while selling combs at a fair, I was given an interesting suggestion by the weaver sitting at the next table. She said, "You know, all you have to do is widen the space between the teeth of your combs, and you'll have the tapestry combs or 'beaters' which are much in demand among weaving folk." The lady explained how these special tools were used for "packing in the weft" to ensure tight, slackless patterns in a finished piece of woven material. I haven't followed up on the suggestion; but if what she says is true, a whole new world of marketing possibilities awaits me (and other amateur combmakers).

Don't get me wrong: Hardwood combs won't make you rich. Nonetheless, they are easy to make, they are beautiful, and they can put a jingle in your pockets. And the cost of the "raw materials" surely can't be beat!

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