mabscotthandyman

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Posts posted by mabscotthandyman


  1.  

    Is there a pressure roller machine (table top) for attaching decals to transfer paper. My wrist hurts from smoothing decals with a scraper. Do only hand rollers exist? What is the best route to go? 

    I don't know if you found the information you're looking for or not but goggle cold laminators they have manual 25 inch starting at about 125.00 up they are not designed for applying transfer per say but works well for small decals and for applying both cut and print vinyl 


  2. On 11/21/2020 at 1:33 PM, Dakotagrafx said:

    if you are selling the same thing as everyone else you will only make sales to friends or make no money - trick is to have unique items that the other 200,000 people with plotters and heat presses aren't making.   heck I did a sign 6 years ago for a local business and found out the person that redid their sign (due to change in business partners , hair salon) after I said I would do it again with a new substrate used a cricut to redo the big sign and when they couldn't clean the substrate good enough they tried to recover it - saw it afterwards and looked the part.   don't even try to compete in a flooded market - find your own thing

    Good advice Dakota  you have to be competitive because people look for price and assume the quality is all the same....which we all know the cheapest use inferior  material and methods. I priced a sign with new substrate and premium vinyl and they wanted me to use the original substrate remove the cracked sun dried vinyl and clean up... I tried to explain that would be very labor intensive and not turn out well because of ghost shadowing ( lexan) so They got someone to do it their way ....lol then in about a month they called for me to do it right.

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  3. You have to figure your hard cost, overhead including rents, insurance, taxes, utilities, cost of advertising also licensing fees and any municipal fees plus the profit margin you expect.......I believe you will find that is why most small graphic and sign people work from home or even a utility shed....I have a mobile office.....basically a small mobile home set up for construction jobs... as a shop and it works great.   You have to do a large volume of sales to make any money with a store front.....in my area the average small store front is around a grand rent or more depending of traffic volume.

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  4. On 7/28/2020 at 7:40 PM, Wildgoose said:

    That doesn't sound out of line. If they baulk at the price or ask about it just tell them you have a $50 minimum charge for any install. If I am there doing other work like several windows or a sign plus the door or window I usually give them a break but you should always allow for the potential screw up you'll have once in a while where you have to do it twice. 

    I don’t give breaks anymore I give them two choices take it or leave it....I kissed butt and cut prices for many years in my handyman and remodeling business and barley got by it took a while to figure that when my wife bought groceries or clothes for the kids oI bought supplies or gas or paid taxes We didn’t get breaks because we was buying other products or services so 35 years or so ago I quit giving breaks guess what I didn’t lose business because my business was quality oriented so when I started doing signage also I applied the same business principal and I don’t believe I have lost business because of it ....let’s just say I have had to slow down to 5 days a week because of my age ...being in my 70s my body doesn’t like long week’s anymore and I am now having to turn away work.

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  5. I have a Stalhs heattronic  11x15 I bought 5-6 years ago that’s still in the box.....I am probably going to start using it soon to add to the services offered I am probably going to retire because of my knees and ankles are shot so I will offer signs ready to install and possibly decals, license plates and shirts and screen printed and printed services from my vendor. Getting old sucks and I can’t do what I need to do in the contracting business or the sign installation business.

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  6. A quality paper tape medium or high tac  according to the size and how detailed your design is.  I also squeegee the back of the backing paper...then as Skeeter said remove the backing paper from the cut vinyl. To remove the mask spray rapid tac on the paper take your hand and rub it in when the mask bubbles it is very easy to remove.

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  7. On 2/13/2020 at 11:25 PM, haumana said:

    true. it's always good to know what the hard cost is for your labor and materials, but the mark-up and profit margin is where most people struggle with. I still struggle with it at times. Now it's even harder to price competitively since eBay sells vinyl decals super cheap.

    I have never sold decals and never on line. My sign work is signs, lighted signs and formed letters so not sure about selling decals on line but if I sell a church sign for $7200.00 I know my direct cost indirect cost ( taxes, business license, insurance etc ) aprox labor cost and estimated profits 

     

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  8. On 1/31/2020 at 5:14 PM, Signs+ said:

    MZ SKEETER takes me about 15 minutes todo 1

    Not to be a smart ass but if you know your time and material cost you already know how much to charge just add your overhead , mark up and your profit margin 

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  9. Unless it’s fairly new it would have shadows even if the old lettering came off clean...which it won’t....just price a new pc. Lexan and translucent vinyl.

    be sure to make sure no electrical or lighting is included and at a separate cost ( if you can do the lighting or have someone who can ) I have done literally hundreds of these and they aren’t very difficult.

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  10. On 8/9/2019 at 12:51 AM, Dakotagrafx said:

    I am more protective of my personal photos from family and the trips - they are on about 4-5 different drives.  I tried to help a professional photographer friend a couple of times when she lots precious photos - so a bit paranoid as those memories would be a horrible loss to be  - especially as we get older and sometimes refer back even for reference to old photos.  it isn't just about the work info.

    last year I documented a siding and window project that was to last 8 days and went 5 weeks - until I showed documentation that I was ready to do what I had to do - to get it done right.

    This year I am currently documenting a kitchen project that was to go 4 month and is now over 7 months and again that documentation got things back on track.  I just document like we did at the prison in case we have to go to court - and has paid off.

    Tip-o-the-week do not go to a big box store for windows, siding or kitchen :(

    pictures at 5 months and now over 7 months we have 3 more days scheduled and if all goes well will be done.  things like the under counter lighting falling down literally 10 minutes after the electrician left we unfortunately all to common.  was 3 months with absolutely no kitchen

    Rant over - but again protect your document :)


     

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    That’s the reason you keep draws small and do progression draws it gives the Contractor incentive to progress with the project to keep the money flowing.

    I never pulled off jobs and jump from job to job to get deposits to provide cash flow if the next person in line for the next job didn’t want to wait they could get someone else or wait and I never had a problem with people waiting on me to finish the prior job. But my contracting company never advertised 90 percent was referrals and repeat customers.

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  11. On 4/7/2019 at 12:06 PM, MZ SKEETER said:

    I agree, you do not want to start with a Cameo. Start with a full size vinyl cutter. You can do anything,  No reason to limit your self to a small size like that.  There is so much more that can be done with a full size vinyl cutter. You really will want a cutter with a stand.  Vinyl tracks much better, when it is on the vinyl rollers behind the stand, and you can cut at much longer and wider lengths. Don't go cheap and buy that MH. At least start with the SC2 or up. 

    Also the better the cutter the better resell value my Graphtec would sell for a decent price if I should decide to sell it. 


  12. On 9/21/2018 at 8:19 PM, mfatty500 said:

    Like the title says, for a 4x8 10 mm coroplast sign with cut vinyl, both sides, one color. Simple text about 80"x40"

    If you are not subscribed to Sign Craft it’s worth the small subscription fee there are tons of information and it includes their pricing guide which in my area is pretty close 

    I personally don’t use a certain pricing standard I go by cost and approx hours to price.

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  13. On 3/11/2019 at 9:33 AM, Wildgoose said:

    I think Dakota fat fingered the 751 but I totally agree with him. I don't sell 651 to people for vehicles. It's great vinyl but not built to handle the expansion and contraction. 

    If you are just selling decals and not installing and you know your material costs all that's left is your operational cost including taxes and profit. Only you can decide how much your time and wear and tear on your equipment is worth.

    If you install there are more considerations but just break them down. Travel, Install time, Remove mess up, travel back , recut, reinstall etc...:P

    Yep I have seen many signs and vehicles cracked and peeling.....plus it’s a selling point I use a 10 year premium vinyl 

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