Cal

Dakota, I had the chance to watch a lot of NC Sheriff's & Police officers train on autocross last year. They all had their own department's wheels so there were Crown Vics, Explorers, Chargers - maybe even an Impala or two. Those AWD Chargers (with Hemis) could squeak all four coming out of the last turn. They were incredible to watch! Unfortunately the consensus among most of the cops there was that the transmissions did not hold up. Many reported that the department had some Chargers but could not keep them on the road due to that And it pains me to say that... Cal

Welcome aboard awicky85, Cal

Primal - what do you have for an air compressor at this time? If you haven't got one (you haven't mentioned it) - you might consider farming this job out. Don't get me wrong, etching is a lot of fun and can be profitable. I just listened to what you said with no room, budgeting, etc. If you haven't room for a table saw, you likely don't have room for an air compressor and sb cabinet. When I needed some printed decals I sure didn't consider for one minute buying the printer to do them with... OTOH, if you do jump for the equipment - we are here for you, Cal

VOE right there... 'nuff said. Cal

Contagious, good luck with your business. My daughter has been designing and making clothes for a couple years now, seems like a tough business to break into. Curious as to what you plan for the printer? From what I have learned on here, if you do not use it several days a week they may be more trouble than they are worth? And very expensive to maintain. Cal

I regularly use 651 or the Greenstar equivalent with good results. For glassware I use a small Harbor Freight sandblast cabinet; with air pressure about 60 psi. Keep the gun moving, I go over the area 4 times, rotating the glass each time. I get a good even & deep etch this way. For new designs and playing around I use glass jars out of the recycle pail. Cal PS - a while back I posted up some tips for masking up glassware for quick production work. You will find that you spend more time wrapping the glass up and unmasking than it takes to blast it.

You need to tell us what cutting software you are using. You may want to move your question or repost in that forum. I will add that while not "super complicated", there is a learning curve and (for me) a lot of practice to get the basics down. And, youtube! Check youtube for tutorials also. Cal

Sweet, Mark-S! Cal

Welcome aboard. Cannot say that I am familiar with your project. How large will these be? Are they stand alone with stakes or will they be mounted to the sides of buildings or something else? What type of paint will you be using? What is a "long time" that you plan for them to be on display? Most any metal would likely be ok for what I envision the task. How good it looks and how long it lasts will be primarily dependent upon your prep work and quality/appropriateness of materials used. If thin (26 ga.) sheetmetal would work, I have had good results on small signs with using roofing metal. A local metal roofing supplier sells me flat stock by the foot. This is the regular roofing "tin" used for homes/metal buildings. They simply cut off and sell me what I need from the flat roll before it goes through the metal brake that puts the ridges and such in it. It is very reasonable in cost, comes in several colors and is about 4' wide by whatever length I ask for. I use a good automotive primer and rattle cans of paint for my tasks. YMMV Cal

Welcome aboard Boneshocka. Cannot help you with the South TX, but you might look at Brandsoftheworld.com for the Mopar part. Cal

Welcome aboard Tommygirl. When you say this is the same item, is it the same file? My first thought is that you have multiple layers going on. What cut program are you using? If you want to post your file up I am sure someone would look at it for you to verify the file is good. Cal

The signs are cool. Do the mov's show them lit up? Hard to tell, Cal

Nice work! Cal

I cut a large tree pattern with my SC25 using the method Goose described above. I ended up with 12 separate panels and my results were "satisfactory". The SC may not track all that great on such a large pattern. What size is the oval? Don't take this wrong, as we (or I) do not know your experience level. Can you rotate the image 90* and have the image fit without having to cut it in two pieces? Cal

Welcome aboard. What cutter are you waiting for? Cal

I might copy the right eye, mirror it and change it for the left eye. Cal

Welcome aboard, Cal

Good info there Primal. After doing a few of the pc yeti style mugs I ran into a string of several failures. This gives me a much better understanding of what probably happened. Cal

Welcome aboard, Cal

That was a good find Tewfiddy, Cal

Welcome back 'Hatter! Cal

Welcome aboard, Cal

It has been a while, but I remember being blown away by some of Schramm's work - make that all of his work. I have been doing some few mirrors for the past 3-4 years and plan to try gold leaf at some point. I also blast from the back, so many folks just hold it in amazement and puzzle over how I did it. I usually get my mirrors from a local glass shop, I will buy 4 or 5 at a time and they usually end up about 6 bucks each. I have bought a couple at a home decor store to get a larger size with beveled edges. You are right about that glue, that can be a job getting them out of the frame and the gook off the back. I have also been making the frames, sometimes with some red oak I harvested from our yard, most of the time from pallet wood that is free for the picking up and labor to disassemble. Cal

That, Scott, is sweet! Cal

You got it Primal, Cal