Chris Hooper
Forum Replies Created
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Possibly customer is thinking on how many holes need to be drilled into the steel cladding, also this way if he gets a new tenant then he can specify that the sign will be fitted to the existing board. It just stops the landlords building looking like a cheese grater over time.
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Had a similar problem a while back with an old encad, using pigment inks, solved by changing the colour from 100% black to a mix of 100% black and 30% cyan. Did need to slow the machine down a bit an allow for drying however it did seem to do the trick. Found this was OK for larger areas of black or background.
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HI Mike
I am based in exeter, if you want to bring in your sample I can have a look and perhaps advise where to source.
Chris
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Dave – interesting idea having a scaling – how would this work?
Chris
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"here in the colonies too"
🙂
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Thats it – my wife has been nagging me to give up golf – fishing is a good idea though!
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Not sure about what I wear on installs – however for surveys I was certainly inappropriately dressed……… long story but
Before xmas called down to a local bar/club – measure up for some new signs, around 7.30 on a Thursday evening. By the time I was finished with the survey and spoke to the manager I was leaving through the function room & Bar. The place was filled with all kinds of people, dressed in leather, pvc, you name it they were wearing it – or nearly as the case may be. Only turned out that It was on a fetish party – all accounts run on a monthly basis.
I really have led such a sheltered life!
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Thanks for the response and advice – quite a decision to be made and will follow those comments made.
Cheers
Chris
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Tile and glass cutting bits work well for me on acrylic
http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/1/prod … -22159.htm
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Hi
Our Graphtec plotter started increasing in noise level and this was due to two reasons
1) the cutter mat becoming worn. Replaced this and this helped
2) Dust, glue and gunk builds up on the pinch rollers – cleaned this alsoeverythings seems aok now
Hope it helps
Chris
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George & Peter – Likewise I couldn’t find them on the web however VKF renzel have a sign equipment catalogue – in which these items are listed.
Shane – fairly strong magnets – and you can hang tools etc from them aok. (Yes its a couple of months since I last posted something – had quite a bit on of late, both work and home – however have popped in to view your Jokes from time to time) 🙂
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VKF Renzel UK 01527 585058 (product ref El-FOL 657) £4.60 each
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Many thanks for your help
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Found the same problem with leboard – cutting with an excalibur today using the twin cutter bit, the paint coat flakes on leboard but never have had this problem with Dibond. But guess as a budget board you get what you pay for.
As we had 50 peices to cut today – we found by scoring the surface first and then cutting this stopped the flaking.
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Thanks – exactly that!
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quote Marcella:If they dig him up in a years time he’ll probably look better! 😀
:lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:
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We moved recently – packed on the Thursday afternoon/evening, moved the Friday sorted out things over the weekend and business as usual on the Monday.
Things that proved a problem – BT – get them booked well in advance and chase them. -
also……..
I vary rarely do as I am told
I can, place teeth marks in a 5 mtr roll of magnetic sheet
I can eat a cat flap, pair of shoes and 2 whole socks in one sittingah bless them……..
We have just adopted a 12 month old Black Labrador ………seemed like a good idea at the time. I am sure it will if I can just stop the dog chewing stuff
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Thanks for looking – this a mystery – will need to go back to the customer to provide an example and best match this one.
Thanks again
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Many thanks Rod
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No your not a thief – quite the opposite.
You told him that you were busy – gave him names of others who could help, you did not charge a rush job fee – and a bet your were still at work late at night either solving his problem for him or catching up on the work you would have been doing for your other customers.
In fact it was he who got the best deal out all this. If he didn’t get his order out using your labels it sounds like he could have lost a lot more, maybe even his customer pernanelty .Forget it!
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The sheeter idea is good – we tend to use our laminator loaded with application tape. Tend to cut and weed the days work first thing and then feed it all through in a continuous sheet, cutting and separating it off after. Does save time though!
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Hi
Do they have print expereince or going in cold so to speak?
Chris
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quote Dave Rowland:nice one, so this is what a scion looks like, not seen one in the uk but certainly wouldn’t look too out of place.
but not in Devon Dave! It would be mistaken for a postman pat van if red or Black a hurst.
Sgraphix – cracking job mate you should be proud. You are right about flexi 7.5, production manager is not so hot at handling the big files.
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quote Peter Normington:ghjn dosdky ht gja krkqr rsdkeert tbk-sdrefe ehjjnckd?
PeterCommon Peter – we all know you only need 5 more posts before you get to the 2000 (again) 😀
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Cuban Missile crisis – was possibly the next one for me – were I grew up we had a US missile base about 3 miles away – they used to test the engines of the rockets now and again. Scare the bejesus out of us kids.
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As I am in the UK its probably easier if you give them a call. Numbers I believe are on the site.
Sorry I can’t help further.
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Hi
Spent a few moments searching on the web for you. Try Union Signs (US company) @ http://www.ucut.net/english/prod_view.php?id=2 – if that’s your machine then they do spares and servicing.
Chris
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She’s got a sense of humour too! Last paragraph about the decontamination showers.
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Just shows that your contribution is valued Peter ! See if you can get to 2000 by the weekend!
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I agree with Johns sentiment on this. Like your self I took a proactive stance on one job that I passed and saw was not quite right. We corrected the problem and got a referral from the customer that resulted in a new customer.
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We went for a Safet Speed Cut C4 – from Axminster Power Tools cuts and rips down, pvc, dibond, acrylic etc – about £1200 with extension arms.
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My 13yr old lass did a similar thing – volunteered us to make a 1mtr x 1 mtr vinyl and pvc creation for the new school hall, it gets better, now the teacher of something called RMT “Resistant Materials Technology” has organised a class competition, on the back of this, with prize winners having the best design coming down to the shop and making it. So in November we have 10 kids coming down to the shop to make their own signs. Well its one way of using up the end of rolls and off cuts!
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quote :No grovelling or anything. Just dobbed me in to the school. But the real worrying thing is that I appear to be raising a greenie. Oh the shame!
Dear “turning Green” of Australia, you should be grateful you found out the the truth, even by reading about him in the school newsletter, it is a hard thing but you know you must standby by him what ever the decision and don’t force him into anything such as rehab, because these things can really haunt lads when they get older. you need to respect his decision and hope its for the best.
Youngsters need to make mistakes and i know this is a critical decision and affects the whole of his life ahead but he will now be a lot wiser, try to break the habit by showing him how to be “non-green” you know the usual things like throwing your food wrappers out on the highway, making sure that your non degradable waste from your sign making business goes to some worthy landfill site.
I would say just stick by him at the moment, make the badges as best you can and with a spirit of generosity and help him out as much as possible because then you will be seen as the trustworthy reliable parent and so if he gets in more trouble he knows he can turn to you.
😉
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Had a mailshot through from UPS the other day it said
“UPS Business Solutions”
Whether you are seeking to streamline your global supply chain, or just looking to squeeze a little more time out of your action-packed day, UPS is here to help, with real business solutions that go way beyond shipping.”Never imagined this was what the meant!
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No hope for me either!
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Brilliant :lol1:
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For work benches we have two lots of four 2’x4′ steel dexion type frames with an 8’x4′ sheet of pilkington K safety glass over the top of each . Seated on non slip mesh. We have set this up in “T” shape because of the room size, but it gives us an overall length of 12′. A flip up extension at one end adds another 3′ to the overall length when working on two boards.
Glass tops work well for me as well – no scratching and no score marks. Check the local double glazing companies, they sometimes have sheets that have come out from shop front refits, that they will cut to size. But do go for safety or toughened glass.
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So John has it been fixed yet?
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try mid west displays Tel: 01743 248095 Know for a fact they do 6mm cable or rod not sure about 10mm.
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quote southernandy:Chris- is that right? Are you really saying that some numpty would do all that on site for 150?
It would appear so from what I was told – it may be as Andy says they could be trying it on – or talking complete ******* Funniest thing was that this was supposed to be a rush job, enquiry Friday to fit Wednesday.
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None taken Peter 🙂 Your advice and posts on the board are invaluable and I have learned a lot from them.
As you say the low cost sign-maker and the stetson type are not going away and it is survival of the fittest. If its low cost because of better operating efficiencies and better buying then that’s a real and valid threat, if its low cost because of shoddy work and materials (stetson sign-maker) then they won’t be around long enough for us to worry about.
I think however there is another category as well – those that are newly starting out and due to inexperience price incorrectly i.e not including overheads etc. As Phill Fenton (said in his interview for the Mag – if anything he would do different in the early days would be to price higher)
That is the area that we can influence and advise through the boards and have a direct influence on for the benefit of all.Side note I had an interesting one today with a inquiry, ended that it would use around 10+ sq metres of vinyl to produce a 7 colour rainbow and clouds design and text to windows. 38 miles travel. I was too expensive! Compared to what I asked, another quote at £150 inclusive they said. I wonder which category of competition that one fell into? They are welcome to that one.
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As I said Peter – not my own words but an interesting read just the same and one that may be of interest to others users of the site and those just starting up? It has been a topic of interest on a number of threads and thought this was a valid contribution. I agree to a certain extent with your view regarding Supermarkets etc. However slightly different ball game as they are mass consumer markets.
As far as the more personal comments that you make “if you cant compete in the market, perhaps you need a change of direction” I am very sure it was not your intention to be offensive -so I won’t take your comment too literally. But quite simply, judging by our sales figures in just two days of this week so far, is enough to buy a new small car and the fact that 65% of this is from repeat customers I think is not a bad indication that we can compete well enough even though we are a small sign shop and have been trading just under 3 years. Our profitability is getting better as indeed is the efficiency of our operation and this is in no small part to the information and advice gained here on these boards and provided by you more experienced guys.
So its not about forming a cartel – its about providing information that helps new entrants to the market avoid the pitfalls of low pricing that I have seen mentioned, by the more experienced members of the boards and themselves may have fallen into the trap of pricing too low.
But at the end of the day, if it helps great, if it doesn’t so what, move on – life’s too short.
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Looking good Shane (as is your new avatar) – I think you neeed a bit more about what you “do” on the sides – you have signs on the back but nothing on the sides
Chris
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quote Dave Rowland:I hate the word “Deposit”… it should be “Part pay my invoice” or something similar
Me too! Its gone from my vocabulary now and TOC’s – after learning the hard way, its payment in advance because your work is custom made. If there is sharp intake of breath from the customer I will do “credit terms” of 50% on order and 50% prior to installation or on collection/delivery. Account terms for regular repeat business users only – account applications considered on second on subsequent orders only.
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Simon – you are right, it was just that the guy’s too tight to pay for new, daft I know but I should have walked before this job. Usual thing tho on this 50% deposit he’s not paying until I do something, despite my written confirmation to him that we recommended new boards.
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Phil – nicely put mate 😀
Well done Derek on going Gold I’m sure it will be worth every penny it was for me.
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Hi and welcome
charge by the square metre used, dont forget to include your tape and build your overheads in as well as your margin. Dont sell yourself or your products cheaply.
Smaller the text goes then add 30% for small text to cover the hassle factor of weeding small lettering.
Best bit of money you can spend at the moment is ugrading your membership to Gold or UKSB – good prices on supplies and materials.
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One of those days for this poor fella as well! 🙂
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Hi Steve
Have a look at this it may answer your questions on this subject
https://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … glym#85217
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Shane – its the two centre hairs on the head really – the ones that I normally brush to the side Bobby Charlton fashion!
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Yellow pages OK – response and kinda of pays for itself – Yell.com – 2 responses last year.
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Good demo on this site by Rob under Demo’s section
Stained Glass Effect.
Chris
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sorry no joy on our system
either.“http://www.fonts.com/FindFonts/detail.htm?pid=202905”
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Nice font!
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We get the same in our place – nylon carpets and then the static from peeling off the backing film from pvc board. It gets so bad it makes the hair on head stand on end?
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Tied the demo version myself a few months back – found it slightly cumbersome to use and the learning curve is quite steep, however plus side is good support from the people at estimate including a training session. But like most software applications is great for high volume www,touchsystems.co.uk but not for small stuff. We have now put together prices by square metre on vinyl to substrate etc etc and placed this all in our quickbooks programme. This we we go direct from estimate to invoice by a click of a button with no duplication of effort.
Another one that was at SIgnUK was Clarity and links to Sage worth having a look for more info “clarityprofessional.com”
Chris
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quote Nigel Pugh:😛 Brilliant Shane, like Jayne they all ring true from childhood.
Oh Jayne I still eat my crusts but still waiting for the curls to appear :lol1:
Me to!!!
Somewhere along the lines that the burnt toast would do that for me.
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Good one (I take it all back) :lol1:
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I would guess that Martins 1636 postings over a period of 3 years + and that if on average people visit these sites 4 to 5 times more than they make said posts would mean that he visits the site 50+ times a week at least. I could be wrong but that indicates that there must be something of interest and value on this site after all. As far as being good for a Laugh well – the humour is Ok but not that good – have a look at Shane’s’ jokes if you don’t believe me, mind you he did have the flu when he posted these! 😉 😉 😉
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It was around here somewhere!
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And not forgetting his superhero friend superman.
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Thanks Nik/Shane
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Pete and Dave – re the word deposit – I reckon don’t use it at all – as you have exampled in your posts – its ambiguous. Offer credit terms of 50% with order and 50% prior to installation.
Pete is that right about the signature and witness to t&c’s?
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Forget the copyright bit – as Pete says not really economical enforceable anyway for this amount.
But you did quote and he accepted for van and signs – that was the contract he entered in to. No doubt you priced up for whole of the job on that basis, possibly discounted because of the “volume or size”.
Charge him for all of the work as quoted – take off the materials for the van that were not used and make a price adjustment for the reduced volume on his final bill.
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I would have thought you would get problems with printing and appllying solvent vinyl to banners. Plastiser migration – curling up and all. At 6-8 a month at that size it may be just as well to farm this out and get them printed directly onto the banners.
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Like this sort of thing – http://www.boldscan.com/BannersMain.htm
Don’t know the US suppliers for this kinda of thing though. -
We tend to use medium tack Conform Tape from Metamark – however we are switching over to Europoint at the end of the month. No real preference or reasons when it comes to application tape – but prefer paper any time.
For bigger stuff and lots of job at a similar width we tend to use the laminating machine for applying. (since we put the guides on the machine-see Robs Tip on the boards we do not tend to run off so much) This way we do all the masking up for the day kinda production line process.
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Shane – this was exactly the same as me “solicitors” firm ordered and cancelled half way through due to relocation falling through.
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great 🙂
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Well done John good price for a job well done!
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THanks for the advice everyone – I am going to try taking the word deposit out of our vocabulary completely. It implies “refundable” – simple deal is payment is due in advance on all work – bigger jobs for non account customers can pay in two installments half at time of order and half on delivery or prior to installation.
As per the advice received we have latered our terms and conditions to include under what circumstances we make a refund on custom work,
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Sounds like the same sign supplies company I was getting the emails from. I don’t believe it was their fault however like yourselves it cost me a load of time and blocked my email server for days. (one day over 1500 arrived)
Following advice on the boards I contacted my ISP – (Bt INternet) and they blocked the email address off their server. So far so good.
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Looking at a couple of istock images – most of the ideas (like the egg ones on Istock) seem simply to colour one a bit different. Just chucking in an idea why dont you do similar with your mouses? I.e have a group of 5 or 6 mouses and then enlarge and colour one up blue or somthing? No idea how it would look but may be an idea.
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Hi SHane
Try http://www.istockphoto.com/file_search.php (type in “standing out from a crowd” – they have about 30 or so images that may be of interest)
Chris
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Hi SHane
was asking because we are doing more work on pop ups and banners – flexi rip is kinda ok however it takes an age to rip the big files, and its getting a tad “buggy”. Getting the “colour right” is and issue and we seem to be doing more “test slices” and wasting material and ink.
Not sure if its us or not, however was interested in finding out what everyone else is using as a conversation with Dave indicated that this could be a solution.
Rob – Thanks for the advice – I have visited the wasatch site and this has proved useful.
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Quick cheap- buy some spray paint, mount the screws through some cardboard and spray them up.
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Hi and welcome aboard – what part of Leicestershire?
Chris
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As Rob – Ashby or Spandex will supply you an outside one and possible base plate or get one made up.
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quote :buy your fuel from here
Love this one as well from the same site! :lol1:
Rainbow Diesels
We can colour your diesel any way you like it – for the very first time, you can have a fuel that coordinates with your corporate livery. At present we can supply Orange, Blue, Yellow and Purple Diesel for only a small mark-up on our standard prices. -
It has – but with limitations.
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Flexisign 7.5 Photoshop? Illustrator and PDF file mainly to Encad Novajet 750 mainly
THanks
Chris
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Shane – My wife who is looking at this post over my shoulder adds “and cook the tea in the evening!”
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Well done Rob – and still had enough energy to stay up on the boards till 2 in the morning judging the timings on some of our posts?
do you put something in your Irn-Bru?
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£15 a sq metre is a great price – buy in at that if the quality is AOK,
Interesting scenario at the moment on wide format printers – prices are dropping on equipment costs – lots of people buying having not done a break-even calculation on the purchase price (and indeed including the true cost of ownership of the machine ie. the learning curve for yourself or employees, service agreement, routine maintenance tasks flushing the system and annual costs for parts replacement and maintenance print heads and the like.)
and as Rob says……..
quote :Where I find the problem is, is when you buy a new machine in with no scope. No nothing and try make it work. You have a big bill looming and you have to make it work, there for drop prices to compete with budget signs down the road. More and more of these sort of setups are whets damaging our trade, I think…Give it 18 months and the guys who have dropped their prices to try and compete will be offloading the machines at giveaway prices. Email I received from a supplier trying to help out a customer of his today showed just that. Mutoh Grand Sherpa 87″ 16-18 months old full service history, one careful owner and all the bit and pieces Cost new £20+K? yours for only £4K inclusive.
Net result and an even gloomier prospect is this will result in even lower prices per sq metre on the market as more second hand machines come back onto the market, unless we as an industry start up-selling the design side and our own expertise and start placing a value on this correctly. That’s where the value is to the customer and indeed us. Not in buying a machine that requires you to print out crazy volumes just to pay for itself. As exciting as all this new technology is – I didn’t come into this business to be a £5 per hour machine minder.
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I agree Mark – the thumb control is excellent and they really last – mine has been going nearly 2 years its taken a battering during the time and is still going. Temperature range is cool breeze to Nuke it! so watch the settings!
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3) Trim when in position about 4mm away from the putty.
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Dewalt DW 340K Heat Gun – variable temperature control, robust case and bounces well! Not expensive either.
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Your Flexi Sign Training CDs will be a great help.
If i understand the last question correctly – you have an option in production manager – send all colours or to send just one. By defaul it is set to send all colours. You need to select the “colour” you want to send to the plotter in production manager. Alternatively if you have seperated your images on screen just click the one that you want and send that to the plotter only.
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budget has a lot do with your question as is indeed overall purpose. Solvent as opposed to eco-solvent has a bearing on maintenance and running costs. RolandDG would be a good starting point with the Soljet SC540.
There is a product report somewhere on the boards and the printing forum will be worth a scan on this subject.
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We set up a system not too long ago (following a break in and the production pc nicked)
1. Production files backed up to a removable drive weekly
2. All files archived on monthly basis to CD’s indexed and stored.
3. Accounting and database backed up daily to laptop – that goes with me.Not perfect – do we do it as we should – not really – I am looking into these remote offsite backup facilities – like quickbooks etc. Has anyone else tried these?
Chris
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Thanks Martin – no buts its the first time it is happened to me unfortunately and it was worrying me slightly. As far as the franchisee bit I prefer and appreciate the common sense views and opinions that are on the boards than any dry old manual on the subject. Gotta admit that’s one of the reasons I joined UKSB.
Cheers mate. have we met sometime?
Chris
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Through my experience….being everything from a hairy assed factory worker who kinda made good, to an even hairier assed marketing manager of a national company (and now a sadasssignmaker) I learned the critical value of diversity in organisations i.e everyone and I mean everyone brings with them experiences – and knowledge. Some of it is absolute tosh, and a lot is priceless. But like most thing you pick the bones and make with with it what you please. UKSB is a good forum for doing just just that. No one on the boards I reckon should ever feel that their contribution or indeed the questions asked are not valid or pertinent, because even the most experienced don’t know everything about everything. And after all its an increasing and indeed diverse membership that keeps a site like this growing, useful and interesting.
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quote :Whats the deposit for then if not for what has happened?
That’s what I reckoned!
quote :May be worth looking at your wording on your paperwork regarding canceled jobs and deposits, on ours it just says all canceled work will carry a surcharge of £xx and a non refundable deposit.That’s what I will have to do – my wording is a bit vague on the T&C’s
quote :I would charge him for your time and costs so far. If that amounts to less than his 50% deposit send him the differenceSomewhere in that – and a credit note to the next job is an amicable solution –
Thanks for the quick response – everyone. I can sleep a bite easier now -it was bugging me.
Chris
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Sorry to hear of your decision Jagged. I wish you all the best in the future … as Jill says you will be surprise at what turns up when you need it.
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More than possible Jill! 🙂
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It just begs the question – why?????????? Too many rust holes perhaps
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Somebody told me once sticking small graphics in the ice box or fridge before you weed helps………I personally don’t like it as my beer gets warm
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Hi Rob
Plastic – “credit card” style
Chris