Benr98 40 Posted April 29, 2008 I have a customer wanting 1000 stencils (I will not be cutting them all at once and burning up my cutter) but he wants them obviously weeded and than lightly spray painted on one side for better visibility as they are being cut on clear vinyl. Even if you can suggest how to calculate the cost I'd appreciate it. Jenny Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
polarkiss 1 Posted April 29, 2008 What I would do: Cost of material + markup percentage (whatever seems reasonable in your area) Make sure to include stencil material, and paint + Hourly rate (what you feel your time is worth) x Time it takes to complete the job in hours. = total cost of job. For example: Vinyl $10, paint $3 = $13 in materials. + 50% markup is $19.50 $40 per hour x 1.5 hours to complete job is $60 $19.50 + $60 + $79.50 Total. Not including any applicable sales tax. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benr98 40 Posted April 29, 2008 Thanks Polarkiss, I'm going to try to figure out how many I can get out of the vinyl roll and than how long to weed and spray them. Calculating the cost of my per hour rate has never been easy for me and I don't know why...lol. Jenny Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
polarkiss 1 Posted April 30, 2008 Be sure not to discount your hours. Your time is valuable and covers not only you personally but also takes into account your equipment investments, utilities, insurance (if any), and most of all your experience. If you ever do a break-even analysis then you will discover your time is more valuable than you think. The vinyl is a negligible cost... what people are paying for is your time and expertise. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haumana 1,220 Posted May 1, 2008 if he has visibility issues, is there a reason he won't just go with color vinyl? If he needs some level of transparency, then quote him for the etched glass vinyl. I know it's pricey, but he's not the one that needs to take this stuff outside, try to make the environment as dustless as possible, then spray and wait for the stuff to dry ... then on to weeding and application tape. if spray painting is still the only route to go, then I would do a small test on transparent vinyl, spraying it, then weeding it. see how easy it will be to weed it after spraying. I think if you weed then spray, you might have drying issues with the paint on the backing material. If it can only be sprayed after the weeding, I wonder if the application tape will pick up the residual over spray paint on the backing material it's just a funky request. But then again, they are the customer, and as long as they are willing to pay for your services, then why the heck not. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benr98 40 Posted May 1, 2008 Definitelyl a 'different' request. But he has changed his mind and we will make the stencils out of a colored vinyl. Now it's the whole 24x50 yard roll that needs to be cut. It will make about 1603 stencils. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haumana 1,220 Posted May 1, 2008 Good grief Charlie Brown! That's a lot of stencils . I hope it'll be easy weeding stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benr98 40 Posted May 1, 2008 Well the good thing is I don't have to have them done in just a few days, or I wouldn't have even accepted the job. Will be using Oracal 651 and it weeds really nice. Time will tell though if we accept a job like this again or not. Jenny Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firemalt 10 Posted May 1, 2008 I've run my pcut through 500 decals in about 6 hours... running none stop, and with the same blade. I was a little worried that the cutter or blade would get over worked, but it was a machine and held it's ground! If it's a simple design that can cut easy/fast, I would do about 100 at a time. Cut those off the roll, and as you're weeding those, cut more. Sounds like you're going to have a summer vacation paid for from just one job! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
routesmith 0 Posted May 1, 2008 I've run my pcut through 500 decals in about 6 hours... running none stop, and with the same blade. I was a little worried that the cutter or blade would get over worked, but it was a machine and held it's ground! If it's a simple design that can cut easy/fast, I would do about 100 at a time. Cut those off the roll, and as you're weeding those, cut more. Sounds like you're going to have a summer vacation paid for from just one job! I would have loved to see that, how long did it take you to weed?? Wayne Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firemalt 10 Posted May 1, 2008 500 decals start to finish in under 6 hours @ $0.60 per decal. Cutting them to individual size took longer than anything else since I don't have a paper cutter and cut them all with hand scirrors. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firemalt 10 Posted May 1, 2008 Here's a picture of a 100 piece order I did for my brother last week... cut them all at once as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
routesmith 0 Posted May 1, 2008 500 decals start to finish in under 6 hours @ $0.60 per decal. Cutting them to individual size took longer than anything else since I don't have a paper cutter and cut them all with hand scirrors. your nuts firemalt, but, you cant really say no to the money.. Wayne Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benr98 40 Posted May 1, 2008 Firemalt, thanks for saying how many you cut. I was concerned about burning up my cutter and I don't want to be doing THAT!! Here I was thinking I should only cut 200-300 a day, but I guess I can do more!! Jenny Share this post Link to post Share on other sites