Gonna' take the CNC plunge!

[Anthony Welch]

Hey guys, I've been a laser engraver/hobbiest for 3-4 yrs. At the same time I was a RN. Every thing I've learned has mostly come from this forum. I suffered a heart attack in March 2010. I've now become to get as good as I'm gonna get, which ain't too good. My Dr has disabled me. I can't pass a physical to do full time work and the Dr says he wouldn't sign off on me working anyway. Now he says I can do work at home because my condition will regulate me. Now, I have a 22 y/o daughter,15 y/o son, and 9 y/o daughter that are willing and capable to help me do the physical labor and learn the computer stuff.

What I plan on doing is puchasing a Shopbot, either the small buddy or used shopbot of same price range (so anybody wanting to up grade let me know). My endeavor ?sp, is to make residential house, mail box signage and do any commercial stuff as comes up.

There is a market here for that as only people, depending on there skills put up there own "shingle". I'm wanting to do corian for the upper end clientelle and cypress for those who can't afford the corian.

What I need is someone to pm me and discuss how I can come up with a per sq ft price. I plan on inlayed and v-carve corian and v-carve only cypress. I've seen posts as to what you guys put into your figures and I can appreciate that. But my house and shop are almost paid for. I plan on advertising weekly in a 6 county classified paper.

I've pm'ed folks on the shopbot forum who do what I want to do, but they are hush-hush obout pricing and I can appreciate that. But I was asking folks on opposite corners of the continent so that I would not seem to incroach on there market, mum is what I've gotten from them. So if anyone here doesn't seem that I am a threat to them and will pm me and share how they came up with there per/sq/ft price and any other info will be appreciated.

Thank you,
Anthony

[Mick A Martin]

Anthony,

If want to purchasing Corian then you need to contact Dupont

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?65214-Sign-Makers-Read-This-From-Dupont

Mick

[Anthony Welch]

Thanks Mick, but had planned on getting partial sheets from "solid surface dot com". do this until a consistant color order is established. but comeing up with a price at a moments notice is what I need. I plan on getting machine, getting a drum sander and advertise the hell out of this.

[Steven DeMars]

Hello Anthony;

Don't forget sink cut-outs at the installer shops . . .

Steve

[Carol Reed]

FWIW with regard to pricing: Your local market will dictate what that market will bear. So check out those with whom your potential customers consider your competitors and see what they charge. That is how your customers will think. So then you get to decided whether that is a workable price for you. If you think you have no competition, think again. Your potential customers may see lots of competition. They don't qualify it. They just see something similar. If you have to educate your customers to spend the $$$ for your product, sales will be slow until you build a reputation. Just sayin...

[Dan Hintz]

Anthony,

SolidSurface is one of the most expensive places you can purchase Corian from... if you're serious about running a business, you need to be serious about your cash flow for materials purchases. For example, the first item listed under Corian is a 3' x 4" strip for $28... that's the equivalent of a 4'x8' sheet at $860, which can actually be had for a bit more than $100 at a normal supplier.

[Gary Hair]

That's actually old news, you don't have to contact Dupont any longer. Well, maybe to get the phone number of the distributor, but that's about it. Dupont and their distributors are very aware of sign makers and don't have any hoops to jump through any longer.

Gary


Anthony,

If want to purchasing Corian then you need to contact Dupont

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?65214-Sign-Makers-Read-This-From-Dupont

Mick

[Chuck Gallup]

I refuse to participate in this recession! ~ Gary
Very well said!

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

For example, the first item listed under Corian is a 3' x 4" strip for $28... that's the equivalent of a 4'x8' sheet at $860, which can actually be had for a bit more than $100 at a normal supplier.

You can get Corian for $3/sq. ft?
Depending on color, wholesale Corian prices range from about $12 to $20 per sq. ft.
And we used about $80,000 worth at our shop last year.

[Anthony Welch]

I appreciate you're participating in sharing this information. It is exactly what I was looking for as these sort of trivial questions were nagging at me.
I feel confident my design and layout skills are up to par. If not, you guys are here for guidance.
Thanks again for the help...

Anthony