Marble Diploma????

[GARY GRUBB]

i WAS LOOKING FOR 8 BY 10 MARBLE.Laserbits has it as a plaque but it is 2495 with stand.It looks nice but too much$$$ I have some 8.5 by 11 but I will have to enlarge diploma or put border around. I just wanted to cut down lasering any more than I had to.How much should I charge I don't want to over charge.First timer. thanks

[Mike Null]

Try JDS. They're under $10 each. http://www.jdsindustries.com/homepage.htm

Diplomas are not that easy to engrave as many of them have a shadow on the English font taht doesn't scan well. Test it on something before you try the marble.

$49.95 would be reasonable if you don't have to do much artwork.

[mike wallis]

Most scanned diplomas require more prep time than photographs and therefore cost more. You will have about 1.5 to 2hrs from start to finish in the total project. If you only charged $49.95 you would probably be working for about $9-11 hr after the price of the marble and overhead. Your putting out a quality one of a kind item, I would start at around $79.00 minimum. If your quality is not so great then yeah...$49.95.

Most companies won't even reproduce a diploma on paper for $50.00, your putting it on stone, make sure you charge for it.

[GARY GRUBB]

Thanks Mike's, I was going to do them for the school where my wife works.I was going to do one then just change the name for each of the rest of them.Sound's like I should be able to make them pretty fast, what do you think?I guess I'm gun shy about charging to much because I still have not sold anything yet.I have made some plaque's, but this is the first real serious attempt to make some good $$$ I don't want to mess it up. I appreciate any more advice. What size to you use. Do you get paid in full before or a deposit.

[Mike Null]

Gary:

In the case of marble I don't know where to get larger than 8x10. I still think the 49.95 is a fair price for this size. Your engraving time should be between 10 and 15 minutes depending on your laser.

You'll need to provide a box and felt pads for them as well. Those are about $1.00 from JDS.

Remember Keith's tip about using Armorall prior to engraving.

[Todd Jones]

if this is somthing you are going to do a lot of you might think about picking up tiles at a home inprovment store like Lowes and gitting a cheep cutter. 12X12 tiles are about 8 bucks I have used www.lasersketch.com (http://www.lasersketch.com) in the past they have some very nice stuff at a good price. and if you go online I think you can still request a free sample kit

[Keith Outten]

I used to engrave 10" by 12" college diplomas for college bookstores at $90.00 each, they marked them up considerably.

If you visit a college bookstore check out the frames they sell for their paper diplomas, they are generally in the $135.00 range. Comparing the two products I think an engraved marble diploma is a real bargain.

Honestly if you are going to engrave black marble and granite it is in your best interest to purchase a tile saw. I purchased three of them, the first two were cheap and low quality. My current tile saw has a very sturdy cast table and rails that won't break the corners off when cutting black marble. The cheap tile saws will generally cost you more in ruined material than they save you in the initial cost.

[GARY GRUBB]

Keith do you buy 12 by 12 or can you buy bigger & get 2 out of 1.Im doing this for a high school , do you think I can get as much as a college?Will the cut edges look the same as the other edges?Does the time cutting still make it cheaper than to buy them already sized to laser?This is my first big adventure sorry about all the ????Still looking for a pay check.

[Keith Outten]

Keith do you buy 12 by 12 or can you buy bigger & get 2 out of 1.Im doing this for a high school , do you think I can get as much as a college?Will the cut edges look the same as the other edges?Does the time cutting still make it cheaper than to buy them already sized to laser?This is my first big adventure sorry about all the ????Still looking for a pay check.

Gary,

the 12" square black marble tiles are the largest I have been able to find but both my sources dried up...the quality of their tiles went from excellent to very poor. I have seen many colored marble tiles that were 18" square but not black.

If the quality of your work is very high you can and should charge an appropriate price for your work and investment in equipment. I look them straight in the eye and give em my price and I'm never shy about paying myself fairly. I always include shop overhead, profit and benefits in my price.

Marble edges cut on a tile saw will require some effort to remove the machine marks and bring them to an acceptable quality level. You can sand marble starting with course grits and ending with the finest grit that leaves you with an edge that suits the project. There are also special disks that you can use on a 7" grinder that will polish marble and stone in no time. I watched a contractor polish granite counter top edges recently in the field to a mirror finish.

Your time cutting marble or any stone will be profitable if you purchase the right equipment. You can work the edges of your marble with a simple sharpening hand stone, it will be a bit slow but very inexpensive. If you are going to specialize in engraving black marble by all means invest in good machinery.

The best pay check that I have found has been in making and installing commercial signs, at $100 to $300 per hour it beats everything else I have tried. More profit and less work :)

For instance, engraved glass restroom signs with the words "Men" and "Women" laser engraved for $350.00 each and that is less than 10 minutes of engraving time. I have the glass custom cut and drilled by a local glass shop and use brass stand-offs for mounting. My total cost in each sign was $55.00 with about 30 minutes of installation time. I masked the glass then engraved the text, then I spray painted the text with Rustoleum Bronze Hammer Paint. I know that I made over $5,000.00 with just one five dollar can of Rustoleum :)

You can see why I no longer engrave black marble...unless a customer wants a black marble sign :)

Visit the construction companies in your area and the real estate companies that manage commercial buildings. It might take some time to establish a commercial resume for your business but the end result is well worth the time invested.

Laser engraved Dupont Corian signs are like gold. Even if you have to pay $300 to $400 for a sheet of Corian consider how many 8" by 12" door signs you can make from just one sheet and sell for $80.00 to $150.00 each. A new commercial building can easily have hundreds of rooms that need door signs, you do the math. Most of the commercial buildings are using cheap plastic door signs, they cost about $30.00 each from the traditional sign shops, I know you have seen a million of them.

Just a couple of ideas to get you thinking..........

My biggest problem is that when I'm in the shop making signs I'm not out marketing and when I'm marketing I'm not in the shop making signs.

.

[GARY GRUBB]

Keith thanks so much for all the information.To bad you don't have a how to book, you could stop working all together.How do you hang the corian signs, I have made some corian plaque's but oops how do I hang them.I have a source to buy corian local.So if I get down the how to I will go out and look for work.My special needs son is excited about getting going I named our co. Daniel's Design's after him. He is really good on a computer & can type alot faster than I can.He is 21 but has the maturity of a 12 yr. old.So in helping me learn, What has been an almost overwhelming new thing your also helping my son, words can't tell you how much it means.

[Mark Fitzmorris]

Gary,

I saw you mention your special needs son is working with you in your business, how is that working out for you? The reason I ask is that my daughter is a 22 year old with "special needs" and is the main reason that I started this business. She takes alot of pride in having this "job" and I am having a ball working with her. Sounds like your son's typing and computer skills could be a great fit for this type of work. My daughter has mastered placing the object to be engraved into the machine and turning it on, she then removes it when it is done. After 24+ years in the military and being gone from her most of the time I am really loving this chance to spend time with her. I wish you and your son the best with your bussiness.

[Keith Outten]

Gary,

I have a keyhole router bit that is just the ticket for hanging Corian signs. I normally use my drill press to route the keyhole or multiple keyholes if the sign is large using an XY table to advance the sign into the bit. You have to be carefull setting the depth since Corian is only 1/2" thick.

When you hang them on the wall use a small piece of 3M double sided foam tape and a spot of Loctite Power Grab to keep it in place. Keep the foam tape and the Loctite reasonably close to the edge, if you ever need to remove the sign you can slit both with a long bladed knife and then lift the sign off of the wall anchor.

.

[GARY GRUBB]

Mark,
It's great to here that you are working with your child.All our kids want is our time & to listen to them.It's even more important when the only life they have is us.I have been just trying to learn how to use the laser over the last few months so Daniel has not done alot,thats why I was excited about doing these diploma's because he could just type in a differant name.This is something he could do while im at work,after much training on the laser.Daniel loves to write poems & works with children at our church.He is very lonely but he has been talking alot about our busness I hope with the help of all of you fine people ,I can be guided in the right direction ,right now im guessing alot on what to do.

[mike wallis]

Thanks Mike's, I was going to do them for the school where my wife works.I was going to do one then just change the name for each of the rest of them.Sound's like I should be able to make them pretty fast, what do you think?I guess I'm gun shy about charging to much because I still have not sold anything yet.I have made some plaque's, but this is the first real serious attempt to make some good $$$ I don't want to mess it up. I appreciate any more advice. What size to you use. Do you get paid in full before or a deposit.

Keith hit the nail on the head....You really can't buy a quality frame for your diploma for $50.00. Customers expect to get what they pay for and most will shy away from a lower price in fear of a low quality product. I once lowered my prices for about a month just to see what would happen and guess what...sales went down. People expect to pay a reasonable price for a quality product and $70-$100 is very reasonable for a one of a kind, etched in stone, never fading diploma.

I decided years ago to chose quality over quantity and have not regretted yet. If you under sell yourself you will have to make up for it in speed and quantity and this usually leads to returns, complaints and ultimately loss of money.

[GARY GRUBB]

Keith,
I think my brother in-law has a keyhole bit he is a cabinet maker. Do you use a bracket to hang them on doors, I would think the opening and closing would shake them off.A friend of mine sells commercial doors, when you told me about door signs I thought of him.It could be a great thing thanks.

[Keith Outten]

Gary,

All of the door signs that I have made have been hung on the wall just opposite of the latch side of the door. I believe this is an ADA requirement.