Possible New Customer Idea

[Joe Pelonio]

I happened to be parked directly in front of a smoke shop that been there a year or so and I just today noticed a sign in the window that said "Gifts of all kinds."

I went in to talk to the owner, and sure enough, they have a great selection of laserable items, anodized lighters, wood cigar boxes, knives, glass items and more. He had never heard of a laser before, and after our chat he's anxious for me to go back with samples. I told him I could even engrave on a cigar (anyone tried that, did I lie?)

[Darren Null]

You didn't lie.

http://lasering.x10hosting.com/etch/cigars.jpg

[Joe Pelonio]

Thanks Darren! I thought I'd remembered someone doing it before here. I'll buy a couple of cheapies over the weekend and try it. He only sells "top end" cigars.

[Bruce Volden]

Thanks Darren! I thought I'd remembered someone doing it before here. I'll buy a couple of cheapies over the weekend and try it. He only sells "top end" cigars.

I also thought I'd seen Einstein on toilet paper ;) That wuz you now wasn't it Joe??

bRUCE

[Bill Cunningham]

If you cut through the outer leaf wrap of the cigar, does that not make it leak air and hard to smoke? I think I'd rather burn rubber in my shop than smell tobacco ..yuk..

[Joe Pelonio]

I also thought I'd seen Einstein on toilet paper ;) That wuz you now wasn't it Joe??

bRUCE
Yes, but for some reason no one has asked to buy that.

[Doug Bergstrom]

We've done cigars with its a girl/boy engraved on them. Also some cigars come in a glass tube that will etch nicely without having to take the cigar out.

[Jim Dornon]

Do you need the rotary attachment for cigars or are thet done just laying flat ? Jim

[Joe Pelonio]

You can do pens, cigars, and other tubular items without a rotary attachment as long as your image goes down the length of it, in other words a line of text works fine.

For people that have done cigars what do you charge? I'm thinking $10 setup and $2 each?

[Mike Null]

Joe

Cigar smoking is a very pricey habit. These people spend lots on all the accoutrements of smoking. I think nearly all of these can be engraved and personalized. The humidors can go as high as $1000 but lighters, cutters, knives and ashtrays as well as pocket cigar containers can all be engraved.

My son is an aficionado and I purchased what I thought was a nice humidor for him and engraved it. Then I went into a cigar store and saw how much their humidors were.

Well, at least his is personalized.

[Scott Shepherd]

I'd go for more like $8-10 per cigar. Chances are you aren't do it for someone buying their cigars at CVS. You're talking about big ticket items with big ticket spenders. I just finished some inlay work on a humidor that will be in the $2,000 range. Sitting in his shop, he's got about a $15,000 humidor he's finishing up.

It's a status thing as well. Don't undercut yourself on cigars.

[Mike Null]

I must have been in a discount store without realizing it.

[Joe Pelonio]

I just finished some inlay work on a humidor that will be in the $2,000 range. Sitting in his shop, he's got about a $15,000 humidor he's finishing up.

When you work on such an expensive item, will your business insurance cover it if you ruin it, say with a stray vector cut while engraving, or beam head crash into the wood?

I made sure, and did have a claim they took care of when an employee ran a slice through the paint on a van while installing lettering.

[Scott Shepherd]

Luckily, I'm only working on pieces of it, like the lid. It's in an unfinished condition when I do my work. So there's time and material involved from the customers end, but certainly not at the finished product level.

I take a lot of precautions when do work on it, since it's usually some rare hardwood. I usually tape a piece of poster board to it and run the graphic in the paper enough to change the color. I measure it all out and make any adjustments and then I usually watch it while engraving. I don't worry about z crashes, but I do pay a lot of attention to the job when it starts and when it's running.

So far, we're all good.

I went out at lunch and went into a local cigar store. Saw lots of $1000 humidors in there. Probably the same stuff Mike's seen. The stuff I'm doing work on is custom made to order.

[Joe Pelonio]

The finished $1,000 dollar ones are what I was looking at yesterday, and after I spoke to the guy wondered what I might be getting myself into. Something like that due to the risk has to be worth $100 on a $1,000 item. I use your posterboard method sometimes too, great "just to be sure" trick, like measuring twice and cutting once.

[Scott Shepherd]

I concur with your pricing on that Joe.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Hey Joe,
just an FYI but if you get a 4" lens it lengthens the depth of focus, allowing you to engrave on a radiused item. It may not be a intricate as a 1 1/2" or 2" lens but it definitely allows you to have a larger window for text and when you add a 1/4" to a 1/2" area that's 50% more engravable area.

Spell check and Merriam can't locate "engravable" as a word but I think it is:).

[Stephen Beckham]

Joe - my problem exactly... I had a friend that brought me a humidor that cost him a couple 100 and he loved it. When he took it back to show the store owner he purchased it from, the owner had me do a couple more... The better they looked, the more expensive box he'd bring out...

Today - I'd jump all over it. As a neewb, I told him respectfully I didn't trust myself yet and I'd get back with him when I was more efficient with my laser. Now that I'm up and confident - I'm still a bit reserved to take on a couple thousand dollar item in my machine.

Next question was do you have them sign a statement of understanding? Will that scare them off? How much do you refund if it's wrong? Have them sign off on final artwork? Man... I like etching $2 pieces of glass....:rolleyes:

[Darren Null]

I just tell the customer that I will do my absolute best to do it right, but stuff can and does happen. And you only get one burn. If the customer looks like a wanker or if the object looks particularly expensive, I get them to sign that they understand this- usually on the back of a paper napkin.

My worst f--k up so far is engraving 'Frederico' instead of 'Federico' on a quite expensive watch box (a mistake only an Englishman in Spain would make). Luckily, the chap was doing a bunch of 'em for Xmas; had bought a couple of extras to get a better price on the whole and had a few spare. Since then, I now check every name and foreign word letter by letter, even if I KNOW I've got it right.

[Larry Bratton]

I'd go for more like $8-10 per cigar. Chances are you aren't do it for someone buying their cigars at CVS. You're talking about big ticket items with big ticket spenders. I just finished some inlay work on a humidor that will be in the $2,000 range. Sitting in his shop, he's got about a $15,000 humidor he's finishing up.

It's a status thing as well. Don't undercut yourself on cigars.
The price some people will pay to enhance a habit that causes death. Makes no sense to me at all. But they would make good customers coz their nuts to begin with. Tobacco kills.

[Darren Null]

Driving causes death. And breathing. And eating. Life is a fatal disease.

There is no point whatsoever getting hung up on the small stuff.

[Larry Bratton]

Driving causes death. And breathing. And eating. Life is a fatal disease.

There is no point whatsoever getting hung up on the small stuff.
Darren:
This is not the place for a debate on this. I feel pretty strongly about though as I saw my dad lie and suffer from lung cancer and died when I was 12 yrs old. He smoked when no one was really aware of the dangers. He has been dead 50 yrs this year. Sorry, not a hang up, but just a strong feeling.

[Frank Corker]

Larry, calm down, I really don't think Mike was upholding thoughts he has on smokers. He might be anti smoking himself.

[Joe Pelonio]

I must remind all that this post is about laser engraving a product. While we can acknowledge that the product is unhealthy it is legal and any discussion of whether it "should be" is controversial and political and will not be allowed to continue.