While we always attempt to be prompt answering
email comments and questions personally, reading these commonly asked questions
can answer many questions without waiting for personal response.
Thanks, Gary O
FAQ s – Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: I’d like to know more. How can I learn
more before I start asking specific questions via email?
A: You’ve come to the right
place my friend! Start by reading this complete FAQ. Also you can find tons of
cool stuff in our blog: http://willowproducts.blogspot.com/
Of course our catalog has lots of info too!
Here’s a link to it : http://www.willowproducts.com/media/documents/Catalog.pdf
Q: I use “Brand Casti-something”
and what to know if your products are like “Brand Casti-something” ?
A: Sorry… while not everyone
agrees, many artists find our products are better
than Brand Casti-something … and we agree with those
wonderfully smart and honest artists. ;-). Bottomline…
if you like what you’re using, then why change? But if you want to explore
please give us a try. Yes, you may change your workflow just a bit… but
probably not!
If you want to know what is
“most” like Brand Casti-something, then I’d
suggest FUSE or ZEN.
Q: What your best one? Or what is your favorite? What do most pro’s
seem to favor?
A: Best is too subjective. We
offer a wide range of products to accommodate that range of artist’s
preference. My favorite is ZEN. Many
pros love FUSE for bodies. And while it’s very very
firm, many pro’s like 3Sixty (360) for small single piece sculpts like a face
or detailed hand.
Q: I use polymer clay..
you know Super Sculp-something.
I’m looking for something like that! Whatcha got?
A: If you’re an experienced
sculptor you already know that working with wax is pretty much the exact
opposite of polymer clays. The workflows are really that different. Think about
it for a moment….polymer clays are so soft at room temperature than you need
wire to get them to stand up and before they are baked in an oven, a slip of
the thumb can smash a face flat! But a hard wax is just the opposite. Our hard
waxes like ZEN, FUSE, and 3Sixty are VERY firm at room temperature. You can
hold them in your hand without losing the details. To make them soft , they need to be heated….. and
when they are heated they become soft and malleable much like polymer clays.
Let the wax cool to room temperature and it’s hard
again. Now to credit polyclay you can’t bake wax into
a unchangeable rock. BUT remember that polyclay is harder to rework. Wax remains pretty much the
same for many years and can be modified, altered, or improved easily.
We do have some softer waxes like AIR and ETHER that
do feel very similar to polymer clays even without heat. There has been some professional polyclay
artists that declare them great because of that fact. Even the harder products
like ZEN, FUSE, and Max11 that WHEN HEATED feel similar to poly, but AIR and
ETHER feel similar to polyclay without heating.
To understand how the waxes that are hard at room
temperature behave when soft, watch these videos:
http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/zen_model1.wmv
http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/zen_handle.wmv
http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/zen_shaving1.wmv
Bottomline, if
you want a wax that is similar in feel to polymer clay ,
then try AIR and ETHER.
Q: I don’t have a hot pen… Is it a must?
A: No! I used waxes for 20 years
without one. Does a hot pen speed things up and allow you to do some special
techniques… yes!
Q: If I don’t have a pen, how do I work
the wax?
A: Even if you have a pen,
you’re going to need to be able to heat most of the waxes in order to work
them. Here’s a few videos to demonstrate:
http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/360hot_air_setup.wmv
http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/ADO%20TOOL%20hypo.wmv
http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/Softening%20wax%20with%20blade.wmv
http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/Warming_wax.wmv
Q: Do you give away free samples and then
mail them to me for free?
A: I wish we could…. Sorry . We’re not a large corporation with marketing budgets
and lots of free time. We’re a home-based business and we have day jobs that
allow us to continue this hobby business in the evening and on the weekends!
But we do offer every wax we sell in small ¼ pound prices. You can find more
info in the catalog.
Q: How do I pay? What forms of payment do
you accept?
A: We use PayPal because of it’s speed, reliability, security, and ease. And our invoice
system does NOT require you to have a PayPal account. PayPal invoices can also
be paid with major credit cards, bank drafts, etc. We will accept checks and money orders mailed
to our PO Box but remember that these methods will slow down the amount to time
it just to get your order started. We’ll have to exchange email to approve and
will have to wait for funds to clear.
Q: How much does it cost to ship to me?
A: Here is the latest info ( subject to charge without notice without our control ): Please note that we do not charge
additional fees for packaging or shipping . There is a nominal exchange
rate fee added for international shipments by PayPal, but again we only access
that charge as PayPal charges us. It is our experience and firm opinion that
USPS offers the best combination of speed vs. costs.
Here's what USPS quotes as of Feb 2009
US:
1 pound
, 3-4 day delivery = $ 4.95
2-11 pounds
, 3-4 day delivery = $ 10.35
12-19 pounds 3-4 day
delivery = $ 13.95
________________________________________
1 pound
, 6-10 day delivery = $
10.95
2-11 pounds
, 6-10 day delivery = $ 25.95
12-19 pounds, 6-10 day
delivery = $ 32.95
_________________________________________
World:
1 pound
, 6-10 day delivery = $ 12.95
2-11 pounds
, 6-10 day delivery = $ 41.95
12-19 pounds, 6-10 day
delivery = $ 53.95
You can find out more
here:
http://www.usps.com/tools/calculatepostage/welcome.htm?from=home_header&page=calculatepostage
Q: Can you track shipments in the
A: Priority
can only confirm 2 things ( with paid confirmation,
$.60 extra) : 1) That the package has left our address and 2) That it has
arrived at your address. We can not trace in between. But so far out of
Hundreds upon Hundreds of shipments I believe they have only "lost" 1
package due to their mistake. But confirmation is well worth the $.60 in terms
of knowing that you package may be sitting at your post office.
Q: Can you track International shipments ?
A: International
shipments use a unique serial number assigned to each form and while we can
provide that number, it can do little to trace the shipment as it moves. We
know that on boxes, it can help your postmaster identify your package once it
is received in your country. On the 1 pound and less sent in envelopes it may
help inside your country, but know it is of little help from here in the
Q: Can you make the Customs documents
favor me in terms of what import duties I might pay?
A: No… Sorry… and here’s why: We know that some of our international community
gets hit with additional fees imposed by their own country's import duties,
tariffs, taxes etc. Please understand that there is nothing we can really do
about it. We use the best fit harmonized code of 3407 00 00
which is relatively low in most countries. The ONE thing that the
1) Who sent it? 2) Who is receiving it? 3) What does it weigh? and 4) What is the
value?
As you can see, since
we sell by the pound, have a website , and we have
made many shipments ( probably to your country) , fradulent
claims would be a big mistake. Besides being easy to detect, both electronically
and physically, it would put us and you at risk…. our business, our personal
lives, all our customers in any given country, and possibly our family lives.
We love our customers, but as you can see, we have no choice but to be
professional and honest to the point of losing a sale. We just have to be that
way, even if it is an old friend and his birthday J
!!!
Lastly please note that
if your credit card or bank transfer is made in currencies other than USD (this
means almost all outside US), we have to pay an additional currency exchange
fee. This is a change that is beyond whether US dollar is weak or strong, which
is our problem not yours. Even though this fee is actually value based, we have
decided to charge a flat fee of $1.50 USD . Sometimes
we'll lose a few pennies, sometimes we make an
additional few pennies. The important thing for you to know is that we're not
charging you extra bucks just to hide profit!
Q: I don’t see a place on the order form, where
do I enter my credit cards information?
A: We NEVER ask for your credit
card information and if ANYONE asks it from you in the form of email DO NOT
ever give it out! We use an invoicing system which has several advantages for
you! You don’t pay until we’ve reviewed your order, established the shipping
costs, and sent you an invoice. This means that you’re out of money for longer
than necessary if we are out of stock. It also means that PayPal’s security
system is in place and we don’t have to worry about the security of YOUR credit
card information.
Q: Wow… you offer too many to choose from!
Can you just mail me a free sample of them all?
A: We’d love to be a big and
profitable enough company to say “Sure, no problem”. But the reality is that
Jake and I are 2 guys with day jobs and family… and we each work out of our
home-based shops. And only experience will show you the effort and cost that
packaging and labeling requires, not to mention that the product costs us real
money… and so does packaging… and the cost of mail. But to make it possible for
you to try before spending big bucks, we do offer ¼ pound samples for sale… and
at prices that are very low risk. See our on-line catalog for details.
Q: I can’t get PDF catalog to open ?
A: Please be sure you are using
the latest and free PDF reader. There’s a link at the bottom of our homepage.
If you still have issues, please email us.
Q: Can you recommend what you think is
your best product ?
A: For general purposes, ZEN (G)
is my favorite. For some very small work I like 360. For carving tiles and
reliefs I use ICE.
Q: I keep getting your voice mail when I call ?
A: Please remember that we’re a
small part-time business and we generally can not take calls during the workday
as it would not be fair to our employer. Text messages or email can be answered
more easily as we can fit them into breaks, lunch, etc. We do try to be accessible,
but not to the detriment of our full time jobs.
Q: I placed my order 15 minutes ago, but
still have not received an invoice ?
A: OK, I know that’s only
happened a few times J . If you haven’t been invoiced within 72
hours, then you may want to send an enquiry via email, which will be personally
answered as soon as possible.
Q: I paid my invoice yesterday
, but still have not received a box?
A: Remember the shipping
delivery times as mentioned above. And of course we have a bit of work to do to
get it ready. We try to time your payment to our shipping as tight as possible,
but there can be a day or two gap. Our standard leadtime is quotes as 2 weeks. Often it is as little as 5-6
days. Sometimes it’s as long as 3 weeks… especially if we have a backlog and
you’re out of