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Barbara Buhse
01-30-2006, 8:24 PM
Since my coasters have been such a big hit (tumbled marble) I tried a new material called "thirstystone". I'm not sure if its a name brand or an actual name of the material... got sets of 4 coasters on clearance at Target, and engraved them. They looked really nice, and the "stone" actually engraved about 1/32" on 10% power... the tumbled marble I use only gets "marked"... so, has anyone heard of this stuff, and where can I get more?

Barbara

James A. Wolfe
01-30-2006, 9:04 PM
Barbara,
You can get thirstystone online from amazon.com or you could contact the company directly at www.thirstystone.com

They don't retail but you may be able to work out a wholesale deal. If quantity is a problem, I'd be willing to split an order.

Jim

Alan Young
01-30-2006, 10:48 PM
If you find out if they can be wholesaled to us as engravers please let us know of the details. If needed maybe a group buy can be arranged. Great idea

Alan

Barbara Buhse
01-31-2006, 2:04 PM
Thanks so much! I will be looking in to this very soon, and will post info here... also will post a picture of an engraved coaster soon.

Barbara

Ed Lang
01-31-2006, 2:46 PM
I am in the process of getting setup with them. I will post just as soon as I know something.... By Thursday I hop.

Michael Wells
01-31-2006, 3:19 PM
Hi guys, I am already a Thirstystone Dealer and I do sell their products Retail. Thirstystone already does the laser etching as well as a watercut and sandblasting on certain products.

Thirstystone is a high compression sandstone, so you can get some real nice engraving. I have a 100 Watt laser and I can actually cut up to 1/2 inch in some sandstone. Beware of the dust though, it can get bad so you should use extra ventilation and vacuum!

If anybody needs small quantity pricing for blank Thirtystone, e-mail me!
Michael

Shaddy Dedmore
01-31-2006, 4:20 PM
Before you get tooooo carried away, make sure you add up your lasering time and material costs, then and look at what thirstystone already sells. For $20-25 for a set of 4, you can get a really nice looking full color photo. I'd have to run my 45w laser really slow to get any depth for the color fill to stick. So at 1 dollar per minute, I'm over that cost before finishing the second coaster.

I would think to keep it at the $20-30 price lasering wouldn't compete with sublimation, but you might be able to charge more for 'customization'.

Just offering my 2 cents.

Shaddy

http://www.shaddysengraving.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/LaseredThirstyStoneCoasters.jpg

Michael Wells
01-31-2006, 6:57 PM
Okay, here is the lowdown on the ThirstyStone Naturals. 4” round. There are four separate types of sandstone. All of them are the same price.
I sell the individual round 4” for $7.00 +S&H
The sets of 4 are $21.95 +S&H
More than one set at $19.95 +S&H
Orders over $150.00 I will give additional breaks to.

I will also have plaques very soon, about 3 1/2" X 7" out of the same sandstone. Don't have a price on them just yet, but I assume that they will be around $12-15.
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I know that sounds high, but actually if you check some of the other dealers, I am very competitive. Perhaps if I can sell enough to where my wholesale costs go down, I can pass on greater savings to you. Right now I am ordering in $500.00 lots.
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If you wish to see the types of sandstone, you can either go to the ThirstyStone.com site or I can e-mail you the photos.
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I would have offered these to you guys a long time ago if I had thought they would be this popular!! I also carry the coaster holders in several types.

Shaddy is right about the pricing but there is one big important thing to remember is that you are selling a laser personalized object, which commands more bucks. If you get a company, say a Real Estate office who wants to give these out as new homeowner gifts, you can get $30.00 a set or even more if you add the homeowners name. I charge this amount and since the set-up is the same for all of the coasters except the name, I can do it with minimal or no art charges and that makes them sell fast! I also do sublimation on them, but the range of preprinted offerings at the same price as the blanks, usually makes me sell the preprinted stuff first.

I will have the photos online as soon as I get my new site back up.

Michael

Barbara Buhse
01-31-2006, 7:01 PM
I bought a set of 4, yes, FOUR thirstystone caosters (plain "swirled" design, so I could laser over it) at Target for $6.98 on clearance... I am now going to RUN to all the other Targets and buy up the rest, now that I know what the real prices are...

I usually seel my coaster for around $5-7 each with customization (people usually order in sets of 4 or 6)


Barbara

Ken Frisby
01-31-2006, 8:10 PM
Barbara,

I checked Target today and they are 10.95 regular price in Kansas.

Michael is your $21.95 + s&h retail?? If you sell them for $30 as you suggested, you would lose money on every order.

Ed Lang
02-01-2006, 8:50 AM
Looks like we have several ways to get the product now.

I have inventory on the way.

Looks like those of you who have a Target close, that might be a good way to get product. I do not know what kind of selection they have, but I can assist those who do not have Targets close. Just email me and let me know what you would like.

Michael Wells
02-01-2006, 2:55 PM
Barbara and Ken,

Sounds like those are great prices. Are you sure they are ThirstyStone? Could be another product, but hey if they work...awesome.

Ken, those prices are retail, and I do just fine in the profit area with them. Like anything else in this world, if you buy them one set at a time, you pay retail or close to it! If you buy bulk you pay wholesale! My wholesale is about half of that, which doesn't include shipping and stocking the items. Looks like I can't compete with Target though! Score another one for the French Conglomerate!!
Michael

Lee DeRaud
02-01-2006, 4:08 PM
:( Key word in the quoted Target prices may have been "clearance": the closest one to me didn't have any at all and target.com doesn't show any plain ones. I'll check some of the other stores in the area later this week.

Shaddy Dedmore
02-01-2006, 6:12 PM
c'mon guys, start thinking like retailers. If you want to buy them cheap, get them right from Thirsty Stone. call them (800) 829-6888 and tell them your bisiness ID number and get their catalog. $250.00 minimum first order, $150.00 followup orders. $10.00 each for a boxed set of 4. Possibly bundled with a coaster holder for an extra 5-3.50 each.

You can get a couple samples for free for a first timer. 250 isn't all that much to come up with, really easy with 2 or more going in together.

Shaddy

Barbara Buhse
02-02-2006, 10:19 AM
Yes, Lee, keyword WAS CLEARANCE! I think they were around $12 originally...
Michael, yes, they are real thirstystone accordig to the package...
and Shaddy, thank you, because I think I will go the route you suggested, since I may be doing lots more business with these... I can pay up to $100 for a case of tumbled marble tiles, (100 in a case) and they always have about 1/3 that are not nice enough to use, so $250 sounds pretty reasonable for a case (case quantity? if its at least 100, then its pretty good).

Barbara

Lee DeRaud
02-02-2006, 3:27 PM
That's more like it: scored five sets at the next Target over, $10/set.

While I was there, I had them check the computer (now that I had a SKU # to work from): they showed five sets at the store I checked yesterday. Back there, the in-store computer coughed up an aisle number..."That can't be right, it's in the middle of the bathroom stuff", according to the worker bee. Sure enough, they were stuffed in next to the kleenex and toilet paper holders. Ok, now I have ten sets of them...life is good.:D

Anybody want to give me a starting point for settings? (25W ULS VL200, for what it's worth.)

Barbara Buhse
02-02-2006, 4:01 PM
35W epilog.... I used 15% s 100% power.
I did not color fill them, maybe you'd want to go a little deeper if you planned on filling?

Barbara

Dennis Kotlowski
02-02-2006, 8:13 PM
Shaddy......

If it was only that easy. I contacted ThirstyStone today to set up an account. They told me it wouldn't be until the end of February before I would see a catalog or pricing sheet. So I asked for a sample to try out their prduct on my machine and they refused. They said that after I received my catalog a rep would contact me and that he would have samples to show me. I told them I wasn't going to spent $250 with them to have cases of product I don't like. I guess they don't want my business. If I told a customer of mine I would get them info and pricing in a month I probably would not hear back from them.

Denny K.

Jerry Allen
02-03-2006, 7:35 PM
SKU, please.

Lee DeRaud
02-03-2006, 8:26 PM
SKU, please.I could tell ya, but then I'd have to kill ya.:D

An update: I took most of mine back this morning. I was under the impression from the Thirstystone site and Shaddy's pictures that these things are actually sandstone. The good news is, these are indeed made by Thirstystone. The bad news is, while Thirstystone may make natural sandstone coasters, these ain't them. In the package they look like sandstone with the edges painted white, but they're actually some kind of white artificial stuff ("foamed Corian" is the phrase that jumped into my head) with the "sandstone" painted on one face. The laser will take the paint off, leaving a white logo/monogram/whatever, but it's not worth the trouble IMHO.

If you still want them, Target's ID number is 070053576, and like I said, they're squirrelled away at a different spot in each store, they're on clearance, and they're not on the target.com website.

Jerry Allen
02-04-2006, 10:55 AM
Thanks, saved me a lot of driving!

Jerry Allen
02-04-2006, 11:09 PM
I had to go to LA today. Should have worn a gas mask and taken a valium.
Anyway, stopped buy the Target in Palmdale just for laughs. No sandstone, but they did have a lot of cheap cork, with wood and not.
Also, stopped by Bed Bath and Beyond and they had lots of the real deal (sandstone) for $20. Spares 'cause I use them daily). I used to get them at Natural Wonders (now defunct) for around $12-$15. Mine have several gallons of coffee and beer in them. They are too cool to degrade with an added design. But too much is better, right?
Bed Bath and... also carries a nice sized stack of just plain cork disks for $5 if anyone cares.
I would consider going in on a joint order if I was certain that my share looked as nice as what I got today.

Barbara Buhse
02-05-2006, 12:35 PM
So, these coasters from Target are not REAL thirstystone? Well, I have never seen real thirstystone, so I wouldn't know myself. However, the "fake" ones seem to engrave nicely, anyway. :)

Barbara

Lee DeRaud
02-05-2006, 1:08 PM
So, these coasters from Target are not REAL thirstystone? Well, I have never seen real thirstystone, so I wouldn't know myself. However, the "fake" ones seem to engrave nicely, anyway.They are made by Thirstystone (the company), and for all I know are made of Thirstystone (the product), whatever that actually is.

What they are not is any kind of stone found in nature. Beyond that, I have no comment on their reality, virtual or otherwise.:cool:

Jeff Lehman
02-05-2006, 3:33 PM
But the thought of sandstone dust flying around in my engraver makes me cringe. Don't get me wrong, I think the end product looks great, but the long term risks make me a little gun shy.

I am still a novice, but it would seem that a VERY thorough cleaning would be required after each use of this material.

Lee DeRaud
02-05-2006, 4:07 PM
But the thought of sandstone dust flying around in my engraver makes me cringe. Don't get me wrong, I think the end product looks great, but the long term risks make me a little gun shy.

I am still a novice, but it would seem that a VERY thorough cleaning would be required after each use of this material.Can't see how it would be any worse than granite, marble, or even glass, materials we engrave routinely.

But yes, you do need to clean thoroughly after working with any of these.

Shari Loveless
02-05-2006, 11:17 PM
Hey there folks,
I've been reading this category with some interest. I will have to check into this "fake" sandstone. I will tell you all that we have a local "real" sandstone supplier right here believe it or not. Not much else, but we do have that! ;) I have tried lasering on some break-off pieces without much success. A little burn but that's about it. Until - I tried the ceramic cermark. I did a couple of coasters with it and they turned out ok. A little pale but interesting. Would have worked much better on solid color sandstone instead of the swirl pattern I had. We even used the power washer on them just to see if it would hold up. It did just fine. I know it's an extra expense, but it does seem to work on the real stuff and my artwork was very detailed. It almost looks like a fossil.
Shari

Abdul Baseer Hai
03-09-2006, 6:07 AM
Shaddy

A question about the color filled pictures of the thirstystone coasters you posted.
I got samples from thirstystone and tried my hand at color filling. it was a disaster. I masked the sandstone natural coaster with laser tape and sprayed black paint over it. The color bled into the coaster along the edges. How did you get the clean edge?
I have a 50watt machine and used 100 power with 10 speed.
Would appreciate if you could help.

abdul

Shaddy Dedmore
03-09-2006, 11:15 AM
I used regular tape (stickier). The laser tape curled slightly. Hold the paint can far enough away, and do a couple light coats.

That's all I did. I don't recall what paint I used though (sorry), that probably matters too. THere's been a lot of discussions on that so maybe search around to find some good brands.

Shaddy