Abdolos I can relate completely!  It is actually why I don't do as much puppetry as I used to. Hopefully you can find a job in a similar field. I work in wardrobe now and I am able to use my skills I learned from puppet building in it.  Actually they come in handy more often then not. Do a lot of work on shows that have body characters. Actually at the moment I am helping out on the build of the Audry puppets for the Kansas City Reps production of 'Little Shop of Horrors'.

Which ever direction you go I hope you'll drop in from time to time and keep in touch with us. 

This is not one of my tools but I just had to post this video by Philip Stevens over at YouTube. He also has a cool puppet building video.



I love the fact that he uses for the most part hand tools and the wood is nothing fancy. I really wish I knew more about this Philip Stevens. I could not find anything on his YT profile. Anyone know who he is?  He has some really great tutorials.

Here is another jig he rigged up to drill holes. Kind of a sideways drill press.



And one more that shows a few of his jigs in use.

I don't know who he is either but I've watched some of his videos. He's very good. He's a definite re-purposer. Love it!

The one where he builds a puppet from start to finish was one of the first videos I watched when I started. He's a talented guy.

The one where he builds a puppet from start to finish was one of the first videos I watched when I started. He's a talented guy.

He mentioned in the video that the puppet pattern he uses is from a missionary pattern and he revised it. That is true.......... It was owned by a lady in Florida and was used in the mission field,the pattern was later purchased by Jo Ann West of Roanoke, Texas and was called " Puppets with personality" I have all three versions of this pattern(Sm,Med,and large). He did revise the pattern by adding the inside liner and attaching it to the mouth plate. I even have her original video demonstrating how to sew it up however his video explains in more detail. I have since lost touch with Jo Ann West and do not know what she did with the copyrights to the pattern. This is a bit off topic but thought it was worth mentioning.
If anyone knows how to get in touch with her I would appreciate it!

Link no longer available.Now granted this book is not geared toward puppetry but it has some great jigs in it that could be very useful to puppeteers. For example projects 6,7,8 and 9 are jigs for the drill press which could be very handy.  They also have some jigs for hand tools like project 27 which uses a portable drill as a sanding station.  Actually that jig is similar to Philip's hole drilling jig.

Hello to everyone. I just followed a cyber trail to here and found myself being talked about. I am honored... thank you. Thank you Billy D Fuller for the information about where the generic puppet pattern I did a tutorial with came from. When I first came across it, it had been copied hundreds of times and was badly out of shape, so I reworked it. I was a little nervous doing the tutorial, since I did not know who origonally owned the pattern, but I reasoned that if it was a 'missionary' thing, and we are doing missionary stuff, then I hopefully would not be taken to court, and I had reworked it, so I was not sure how close to the origional it was. Also, since it was a pattern kicking around the South American continent I thought that it was open for all. Seems I was not quite correct there. If you do find out how to get in touch with the woman you mention I would like  to make sure that it is OK to leave the tutorial up on youtube, as it  has  already  been a blessing to a great number of people.

Hello to everyone. I just followed a cyber trail to here and found myself being talked about. I am honored... thank you. Thank you Billy D Fuller for the information about where the generic puppet pattern I did a tutorial with came from. When I first came across it, it had been copied hundreds of times and was badly out of shape, so I reworked it. I was a little nervous doing the tutorial, since I did not know who origonally owned the pattern, but I reasoned that if it was a 'missionary' thing, and we are doing missionary stuff, then I hopefully would not be taken to court, and I had reworked it, so I was not sure how close to the origional it was. Also, since it was a pattern kicking around the South American continent I thought that it was open for all. Seems I was not quite correct there. If you do find out how to get in touch with the woman you mention I would like  to make sure that it is OK to leave the tutorial up on youtube, as it  has  already  been a blessing to a great number of people.

Welcome to Puppets and Stuff........... and Thank you for stopping by. I have not heard from Jo Ann West in years. In talking with her in past years she explained that she obtained the pattern from Joyce Brockway copyrighted 1981 and later obtained her copyrights in 1987 calling the pattern "Puppets with Personality". It came in three sizes small 12",medium 18",and large 28" full body pattern. She was pleased that its primary use was in churches and in the missionary field. While she spent quite a bit on money on marketing the pattern she never got around to finishing the video tutorial. I'm sure she would not care that you made the tutorial since you are primarily helping others and are not using it for financial gain. If I hear from her in the future I will update her on things. I would like to commend you on your tutorial it was very easy to follow and understand. I would leave the tutorial online and let it continue to inspire others in the world of puppetry.

Which video is this?

Awesome, philip is here!