[Simon Clayton]

Its good to know the nearest competition is 5hrs drive? 🙄

[Simon Clayton]

Some cracking stuff,
Well done.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I agree with frozzy and Jsk,

Its only £15 and She could be a corporate buyer for Tesco’s or something,
(you could have lost several thousand t-shirts).

Now if it had been an order for 20 t-shirts that’s a different matter, but i would still have charge the whole lot at cost.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Bob,
No, I don’t think so; I generally scan in around 300 dpi,

I upgraded to this scanner to archive family photos, but didn’t really see any difference in speed. I thought it would be 4-5 times as quicker,
As I don’t do photo image work, I cannot justify spending hundreds and hundreds of pounds,
(A designer friend has an umax that cost near on a £1000.00)

But then again I have upgraded my PC from a 450mhz to 2.6ghz and cannot see much difference; maybe I just get used to the thing to quickly and forget about the initial speed difference

Simon.

[Simon Clayton]

I made some signs out of foamex 5mm in panatrim frames
they have been up for 10 years and still look in good condtion, they have just dis-coloured and are a grubby grey instead of white.
(and he got them cheap as it was a private job, when i was working for a company)

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I bought an Epson 1250 scanner,
Only reason, I have an Epson 1290s printer and I thought they would work together well??? Not sure if that the case buti thought it a good idea!
Also I was told that there is not much difference in port types, firewire, usb and scsi as the scanner, scans at the same speed across the page.
I found there to be no real difference between my old scanner on parallel and my new one on usb

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I agree with John..
Where I live, the A3 has around 5 of them in a 13-mile stretch…this is a 3-lane carriageway with only a 50mph limit.
In all the years (12) I have driven down there I have never seen an accident and that’s twice a day all in rush hour.

[Simon Clayton]

I just changed one digit on me number plate.. 😎

Only joking 😆

I got done two months ago 85 in a 60..but i thought it was a 70, 3 points and £60.00. first ever driving offence in 17 years

[Simon Clayton]

Panatrim was designed to be used in recesses
Make sure you tell them when ordering that it is to be front-loaded

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I would recommend putting in a panatrim frame,
Perspex is brittle and expands alot
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

certain goods are zero VAT..like some kids clothes and certain foods

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Ian,
Good Advice, i will bear that in mind.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Does it do all the neon work at a touch of a button, or is it more complex.
Are the lengths of neon and calibration worked out on it automatically?

[Simon Clayton]

I do all my neon in corel..found it to be easy once i got used to the letters being smaller on screen..if you get my meaning?

I found it works well,but have never used any other sign-neon package so unable to compare

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Is this any good

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Attachments:

palm tree.ai

[Simon Clayton]

Steve,
There’s no real good match,
but i would say the nearest was Cobolt blue 751-065
Hope this helps

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I have had the same thing, I released the artwork with no extra charge, and low and behold 6 weeks later he had used it to get all his other sign work done by a cheaper company…(the usual, I have another 6 shops, 10 vans and 30 relatives all with shops.. I only ended up with the small A board)
I will no longer release artwork that I have vectorised, There are a lot of people who go out and buy a vinyl plotter and call themselves a sign company, but have no idea about sign concept or design.
Think of all the work involved in doing a sign job..
Site visit to get sizes, Quotation…time spent doing artworks/visuals to show client
(That’s a good few hours work….If I do a survey for any other company, I expect to get between £50.00 and £80.00 per visit) and than someone who has got your quote given to them, under cuts your price.
I now hold onto all artwork and say if you need any other sign work or stationary etc, I will only be too glad to help.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Good suggestion Rob,

I once had to do a neon draw for national grid, the o/a sign was around 10m x 18m with all the main power lines drawn out, on a neon map of England…All done on hand and knee, took a full seven days to draw out and without knee pads. I was in agony for months after (young and naive at the time)
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Cheers For that.. JSK

Looks to be right, thanks..

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Is it not the off set?
If you add 2% to 196.5 you get 200..
Put in 0% off set and see how you go.. but i could be wrong

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I’ve always been doing this job…

had one different job, lasted about 6 months. It was measuring houses and creating floor plans, for estate agents (only houses worth more than £300k back 15years ago)
Very posh pads

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Bank the money and forget about it…
If he had paid on time, the background damage wouldn’t have been done..
If he wants a new sign get him to go elsewhere, if he take you to court, offer to repaint the background..(this can be done via letter to the court)
Why should us signmakers be made a fool of..layout money and time for these people try and take us for a ride.

I got stung a while back..ordered material for a rush job, they paid a deposit then cancelled the cheque, i was left with banners and other stuff which i have still got..
The funny thing is, one of the partners of that other business wants me to quote for window signs on his other business..i will now take great pleasure in giving him the runaround…not turning up at site knowing he has made a trip on saturday (when normaly he don’t open) 🙄
Then say i’ll meat ihim in about an hour..etc 😆

[Simon Clayton]

I’m with outline on this one…that stuff is so soft, that once it gone down there’s no repositioning.
I only put down dry if my applictor is wider than the letter

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I cut my tubing with, plumbers pipe cutting tool..works very well

Cheers

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Dave,
Have sent PM

Cheers

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Good thinking; that Bob..
we have used that method, but used foamex batons fixed to both the wall and the foamex panels.
Something to do with expansion of different materials.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I would get a wall mounted saw. like the ones used at the DIY super stores
Not sure how much approx £2-3000
They take up no room and are easy to use.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I have a stack load of perspex…manly off cut, which i have had years
I must admit i haven’t used hardly any of it, as its never the right size..
But if they were 8×4 sheets they woiuld get used.
its ture what rodney says about scratches and the covering.
If you get it cheap.. and can store it, it may be worth the investment

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

😕 how about that….?

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Attachments:

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Ken..
If I were only doing this part time, like yourself. I would have a go at fixing it…don’t know much about this machine, but sound’s like its worth a try.

I have a very old plotter made about, 15-16 years ago.

It was working fine until the drive belt broke; everyone said (not from this site, I might add) put it in the bin. At the time i didn’t have the money for a new one so after a few weeks of searching I found some one that could supply the spare part, it cost around $130 usd and i fitted it myself.

That was about four years ago, it saved me buying a new machine, and its still going strong

You should be able to get some type of cable to bridge the gap; over here we have a place called http://www.Maplins.co.uk lots & lots of electronic parts etc.

Good Luck

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

😆

[Simon Clayton]

I have a 60% poly 40% cotton sweat shirt with a sub image on it,
from a distance it looks fine, but up close it looks like it has bleed.. a bit blurry, but i’m not sure if thats the image itself..

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Lorraine,
If its no good i’ll sell it on…if i win 😉

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

That’s right!
Even If I save 2-3 pound its still a saving.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

That was me…… 😳

[Simon Clayton]

Dave,
Still not heard anything

Cheer
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Cheers Dave..

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Martin…??? Simon 😛

Your not wrong……but I do have so knowledge of screening,

There are ways to get round most things without the use of expensive equipment.
I will be laying screen out on bench spaced off about 3mm/ but will do tests to make sure I get the right lift..(This is a very simple image) cut vinyl on plotter lightly spay-mount bench to hold down vinyl and screen.. Very simple.

Screening is not hard to do, I’ve made screens before using vinyl as a mask, worked a treat for the 10-15 print that were needed.

Its true I don’t know what chemicals do what, as long as I don’t get the (caustic between me fingers) as its been years since I’ve had to use them…but that is why I posted, I need to find out how much it would cost to set up.. The life of the screen and would it be worth it.

Not trying to upset or offend anyone; but I feel the real skill of printing is the cutting of stencils..(In ruby by hand), which I have done for many years, mixing colours to match by eye, and printing translucent colours.

Cheers
Simon.

[Simon Clayton]

I thought the doors had been taken off, 😳 until i saw the floating number plate

Great idea! great job

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Aliens…….We are advanced self-repairing, machines that have evolved, and taken over the world,
Our creators were forced to leave in fear of their lives

Simon 😉

[Simon Clayton]

How about “Light up your life with our shocking prices” ??

[Simon Clayton]

I recommend Eminem; once you take out the swearing and just listen to the lyrics he makes a lot of sense.
Very Deep…..Life as it is.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Hi All,

Just received my vectored artwork back today…

What can I say, first class job at an unbelievable price!

This service has saved me many hours….well worth using even when you have time to do it yourself..

Thanks again Andrew, I will be using you again

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Bad luck Martin,
Good luck with what you do next!
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Mark,

Just up the road from you!

Great stuff, that’s the type of company car i’d like to have…

Been thinking about getting a VW caravelle,
once the seats are folded you can easily get an 8×4 sheet in.
Great for fitting.

Simon.

[Simon Clayton]

Play on Words…….this would get him talked about 😕

Simon 😕

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Attachments:

[Simon Clayton]

Jon,
most over here want cheap.. so nearly all the signs are small and boring..not many full colour images.
The loot (free ad paper) over here used to do a deal where you got a estate agent type board and a photo advert in the paper for a set price..not sure howmuch or weather they still offer this.

My Brother up in Filey (Yorkshire) just sold his house himself.
Got a board done by a neighbour, put it up by the side of the road, two adverts in the local paper..and hey presto….sold

He got about twenty five viewings and sold within two weeks.. saving estate agent fees of 1.5% ( around £4500)

Sounds like a good idea to me..

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Estate Agent….
Say no more 😉

[Simon Clayton]

Thanks Jon,
No response, I’m going to get it digitaly printed onto vinyl and contour cut,
Its onlly a small amount, but will still be costly,

I did try explaining, a long time back, if he used standard vinyl colours it would save him a lot of time and money…..But he perfered a muddy green. 😉

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I used to work for one of the counties biggest sign companies, about 15 years ago doing surveys
One problem we used to get was fitters didn’t put the porcelain pots on the neon,
Many times I would get called to site and find a whacking great hole melted through the metal back tray, were the cable had been flapping about in the wind.

A lot of people can’t be bothered, that’s why I like to get the site sparks to do it, that way if the shop burns down through an electrical fault it down to them.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

😳

[Simon Clayton]

We bought some jeans from America,
They were around £70.00 a pair over here we paid around £35.00 a pair over there.
with delivery, duty and all the rest they ended up costing £7.00 a pair more and we had to wait 3 weeks to get them……

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

You pay import tax…?? can be very dear

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Lee,

Lucky for some….sun, sea, sand and SIGNS

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Thankfully I no longer participate.. 😀 4 years and counting!

Cheers Guys

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Not done the job yet Danny,

Gave the guy a price, but he wants designs before placing an order….
He has an architect doing drawing for his flats conversions, but not the sign…probably because he will charge him big bucks.
I will have to wait and see.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

We live in the country……and fly tip….only joking 😉

When i worked for a firm in london, they used to have someone come in and collect all the scrap.
The perspex was sorted into light and dark colours, as was the metal…Also when the fitters took down a job they took the aluminium to the scrap yard and pocketed the cash?
Not sure if there are people still taking perspex or not

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Would like to thank everyone for there input,
some very good points…
We are; for the time being staying put, just a refit to the workshop.
Thanks again,

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Universal don’t do foamex panels.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Marty,
Welcome

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

What about a curves shape…..i once had to do some curved panels in that twin wall clear roofing sheet. very tricky

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

My Wife bought a new motor bike it had domed stickers

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Just need the van outline now

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Andie,

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Martin What about car body filler, same as plastic padding sort of, not sure if it will work, but if its being covered in vinyl who knows.

I would take photos and complain saying the job had to go out, but if your customer see the damage you want a new piece free of charge.

Europoint also do foam and it comes wrapped in cardboard
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Lovely Work Rodney,
Great use of doming…
Did you not keep any, as thse could be worth a fortune to collectors in years to come.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Tex,
I have got colours that are close but only in matt, and not the orange
Any use?
Let me Know

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Cheers Danny,
They look just the job, will have a proper look in morning
Cheer

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

That sounds great…I would like to have a look and see what is really involved, thanks,
I will be in touch to arrange a day and time
Thanks again
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Cheers Rob,
I will see if he replies when he’s next logged on
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I’m not far from you really, i live in Epsom.
I have sent you a PM as i need some printing quotes, not sure if you can do them.

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I was just about to post the same reply as right signs,

10mm Foamex, all the time spent drilling holes to fit it and stuff like that, just put it in a panatrim frame, it finishes it off.
I think putting up Foamex without a frame just looks cheap and nasty.

Its like spend a fortune on a family portrait and then sticking it in a plastic clip frame from Woolworth’s.

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Steve,
Sub contract fitting….could be handy
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I’ve used that on all my stationary……….not 😆

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Danny,
Tex said he was going to have them all sorry.

Lamby, Its was only the beading that was rounded, (oblong box).. but their all sold..

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Alan, great stuff,
Love the lettering
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

The best van I ever saw (a few year ago at a show) was a signwriters Morris Minor
about 30years old, But it had class….

That was one of the times i wish i had my camera

Not everything that shines is gold

Simon.

[Simon Clayton]

First Class job Steve,

I think the owl stands out well, He looks great.
This is the type of work i would love to do…somthing with a bit of depth to it.
Out of interest what is medite, not herd of it before, who what and where?
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Thanks everyone…
Rob not far off……that’s why I need a new tape measure.. 😆

Gray, Ok here goes,
It is 3mm thick white Foamex with nylon locators on the back, that’s what give it a standoff of about 1/2″
The vinyl was put on after and trimmed round with a scalpel, reasons being I only had small amounts of some of the vinyl colours and didn’t want to order more as at Europoint as you have to get 5m of each.

The letters were cut from off cuts, using an old Bosch jigsaw with a scrolling blade, then a light sand down around the edges.
Locator fixings were glued in place with standard super glue, very effective and strong… (Needs a little sand down to give a good key).

Terry, funny but the edges were left white, but in the photo it doesn’t seam show..

I have had some, what I think are good ideas/designs, but don’t get used because they are too expensive…I will one day get to use them.

I want to use different types of metal flat cut letters, ranging from 3mm up to 10-15mm all solid, aluminium brass cooper etc and allow them to corroded and change colour. Think that would look nice?
A different sign every month or so.

Simon.

[Simon Clayton]

Cheers mike.
They are foamex covered in off cuts of vinyl, there’s also a pavement sign but don’t have any photos, that was quite time consuming as no colours were repeated, 😕
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Cheers Guys,

I have been told by the owner, customers say what a great looking design/idea, and how different it is to the usaul sqaure type signs.. 😛

Alan it certainly makes a nice change, from the run of the mill stuff,

Danny the font is called “Uncle stinky”
Cheers

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Thanks Everyone..
I have been thinking of doing some big changes, possibility of opening a shop…but its means selling up and moving. 😥

The work-shop I’ve got at the moment is around 8 X 5.5m so there should be room for the equipment you mention Becky (good point as some stuff can be deceiving, as I found out in the past).

Martin, I’m just at the stage of sounding things out, trying to find out as much as possible about costs etc,
thanks for the offer, no doubt I will have plenty of questions and need help in the future.

Alistair, That will have save loads of time trying to source the best and cheapest deals, some good leads, and advise.

Thanks again for all your help, 😀
Simon.

[Simon Clayton]

Cheers Becky,
This is something i need to look at very carefully,
I will get hold of the magazines and see whats involved.
Thanks again
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Congratulations Lorraine
Have a great time….
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

We would lay vinyl first then jigsaw (trying to match the vinyl to the shape can be tricky, to stop scatching either completely cover with application tape or put some loop velcro on feet of jigsaw..(works a treat)
The edges we would use black permanent marker pen.
By the way great design
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I agree with Bob and Phil on this one,
Why should we design for free..
As Paddy has said he is hungry for work, but how would you feel if your designs were being used other sign companys.
Many times i have been given artwork and the price and asked if i can do it cheaper,
fact is i could beat most prices but i don’t want to work for £4.00 an hour
You normally find these type of clients trouble, holding money back and saying thing like “I thougt it was going to be like this…” etc
Deposit first design later.

[Simon Clayton]

I would love to go,
I,m in Filey north yorks, (between Bridlington and Scarbrough) this week.
But only for the week, and have to get back 😥
Work will be piling up, and i won’t have time to go back up to Birmingham.
Just My luck….

[Simon Clayton]

I see you got me in there

Cheers Rob 😀
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Stone, You can buy a flame polishing tool,
Not sure how much they are, their like a small blow torch.
Maybe some one else can also help

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

I have a very old plotter (15 years or so), but it works great.
It doesn’t have any type of tacking so its all done by me..
I have run 20m in the past, but it took a little time to set up.
What i do is pull half vinyl through the plotter, line it up by eye against the spockets,
then run it back (if the vinyl not run off) then run the full length out and back again.
Take a couple of minutes but works every time.
I have only damaged a couple of blades, but that’s were its been tight with the vinyl.

[Simon Clayton]

Hi Andy,
Not sure if this is any use.. I have E-mailed it over

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Well put Rob,

The reason these clients come to us for design is they know it would cost an arm & leg from a designer.

I had one person come to me with an artwork done by a designer,
It was for a football coaching company…it cost him around £700.00 and when I asked for him to get the design company to outline the artwork, he said they wanted another £400.00
This design was poor quality, and not very creative, I could have done the same thing for around £70.00 (2-3 hours work)

The work I was doing would have to £400 (some banners & a few Foamex panels)
So if I would have done the design, got the work he would have saved himself £700.00 or there about. He would have used my artwork to do all his stationary everything..
You would truly have lost out.

[Simon Clayton]

How about these
Simon

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Attachments:

telephone.eps

[Simon Clayton]

Cheers everyone,
Good points all round..

I totally agree with Martin C, we all do stuff for nothing, there’s no getting away from that..
However this person could take my design away and open another 10 shops and never use me to do any of them.
I was more annoyed with myself for not protecting it in the first place.

I do a lot of work for a designer whose job and lively hood is coming up with designs such as this… He charges around £60.00 per hour for artwork prep and £35-45.00 designing.
Another friend works for a company up the city (London) with a turnover of around £100m or more a year. Designing don’t come cheap.

The image he has used not a good copy, he scanned it in a low res, so it not looking very good.

What I was after was something to put on my drawing to notify the client he cannot use my artwork for any other use…etc etc . That wouldn’t take up half the drawing.

I’m not sure how many of you out there have heard of “prêt-a manger” it’s a high-class sandwich bar around London; we designed and built the prototype shop, that was all we got.

Thanks again all.

Simon.

[Simon Clayton]

Cheers Damsk,
Fingers X

[Simon Clayton]

I’ve got my mouse on slow.. had trouble trying to catch the news ticker 😆

Not too keen to be frank, a little plain. I do like the graphics on the demo & clip art sections.
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Great work Alan..
Did you also do the gallows bracket, or was it existing?
Very nice
Simon

[Simon Clayton]

Great work Gray,

Got me going though, should be on the inside but looks like it’s on the outside… (-)
Is it superimposed on, in Photoshop (?).

John I had a similar thing happen to me, got a job doing a small wood fascia, because it was in poor condition the owner asked me to paint it, before putting up s/steel letters which I did…
“Good job do you fancy painting the whole outside of the shop”.. “Yes” I say, next day we start to paint, 10 hours (half the shop done) later just as we are off home it started to spit with rain. 😮
Needless to say, when we arrived the next morning, the part we had painted was a new age tie died mess with a yellow lake around it.. 😥

[Simon Clayton]

Good points guys,
But the thing that’s got me is that he had already knocked my price down by around £90.00 and has also saved himself more money not having to pay a web designer.
Don’t get me wrong I’m still making a good wedge out of this, but it’s the thing he never asked.
I have been down to his shop twice to take photos and measure and once to take down the existing signs, all for free.
Maybe I will get more work from him but highly unlikely..
However if I had put on the drawing a copyright, I would ask him to remove the artwork from his web site or pay the extra.
It seams like everybody wants something for nothing these days 😉 😆

Simon

[Simon Clayton]

True, Robert true,
But i would like to be prepared for next time…Any ideas
Something short but sweet..