Marble Supplier

[Sean Bullock]

Has anyone done business with Lasersketch?
They are listed as a supplier on the Sawmill. I am looking for something to the equivilent to the Laserbits MPA 020 5 x 7 black marble plaque. It seems they have a product similar:
M-AB-6x8EP: LaserGrade Absolute Black Marble, 6" x 8" x 8mm, EP, Polished (5F)

I need a supplier cheaper than laserbits, but want to be sure these people can deliver.

What say you?

[Jim Good]

Laserbits carry LaserSketch marble. You may be able to find the exact piece that you want. I would call and ask them.

Jim

[Craig Hogarth]

www.marblemax (http://www.marblemax).com carries the same plaques, but not for much cheaper. The 5x7 are $12, 7x9 are $16, 8x10 are $21 and 9x12 are $24. Also available in white and green (add $1 for green)

they also carry some very unique designer plaques utilizing two different colored marble. pretty cool stuff.

as for lasersketch, they're not the best company imo, but they're reliable. The stuff they carry is a different type of product from the plaque you referenced.

[Doug Bergstrom]

Lowes is now stocking the absolute black tiles that are 12x12. They engrave very well and are only about $5.00 each.

[Robert Rosensteel]

My order was on time and the products were good. But two of marble hearts had small nicks on the edge, so I called them and it was no problem they were mail the same day. Will order again, customer service means alot to me.

[Scott Shepherd]

Lowes is now stocking the absolute black tiles that are 12x12. They engrave very well and are only about $5.00 each.

That's black granite, isn't it? I'd love to find local suppliers for black marble, solid black, that is.

[Nicole Hernandez]

I have done a lot of business with Lasersketch. I live close enough to them to pick up materials and have had the privilege to meet them in person. They are very nice people and never have given me any trouble in the event of a damaged piece. I see that they have other warehouses now too.

[Janet Liddiard]

Doug - if it's really marble that Lowes is carrying, can you post the Item and Model #?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions on how to polish the edge so that it looks like the stuff that use to come from laserbits?

I'm still having the hardest time finding good marble. I tried Rio Marble and Stone Locator samples. They were both okay, but had minor scratches or chips in them. And, the edges are unfinished. I think Lasersketch is a bit expensive, but they might be my last hope???

[Craig Hogarth]

Cost should never be taken into consideration at the expense of quality. The stuff from laserbits/lasersketch produces a much better engraving, is much lighter and easier for you and the customer to display. I never seen the lowes stuff, but assuming it's the same as the old HD stuff, it's nowhere comparable to the stuff made for lasering. Edges are unpolished and chipped. The weight makes it impossible to hang on the wall without building a frame and requires a heavy duty stand to display. There's always a speck in the wrong spot often giving the appearance of a bad engraving or a mole on the tip of the nose.

The lasersketch/laserbits stuff is about $12 more than what you pay at lowes, but that cost is easily paid by the customer and they are much more pleased with the finished product.

I can understand wanting to save a few bucks here and there, but in the long run, does the cheap product actually increase profits?

[Cary Fleming]

I've bought marble form LaserSketch several times. They ship quickly and the quality of the product is great. They are my first thought for marble plaques and coasters.

[Jack Harper]

Doug - if it's really marble that Lowes is carrying, can you post the Item and Model #?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions on how to polish the edge so that it looks like the stuff that use to come from laserbits?

I'm still having the hardest time finding good marble. I tried Rio Marble and Stone Locator samples. They were both okay, but had minor scratches or chips in them. And, the edges are unfinished. I think Lasersketch is a bit expensive, but they might be my last hope???

Janet,

I get mine from MS International. You have to be a business and I'm not sure what their minimum order is (I order 2000sf at a time). The cost is reasonable at about $3.80 sf. As for the edges, the machines needed, and more costly, the grinding pads, make for quite an investment. You can find them at any stone equipment supply house.

However, there are some tricks that work pretty well without the equipment investment. The first step is to get some color enhancer/sealer to place in the edges. The color enhancer component will darken the edges to match the polished surface. If you want to go one step further, add an additional gloss sealer on top of the first sealer. I must caution you though, I have had poor luck with the gloss sealers from Home Depot. I recommend buying this sealer from a stone supply company like hardrocktool.com. This type of sealer is topical and as such remains on the top of the stone. One more word of caution for this gloss coat, do not use it for a floor application as it will be slick/unsafe.

Oh, the price psf is with shipping included.

[Janet Liddiard]

I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. I've sent an email to order some samples through LaserSketch and will look into MS International. We're just starting out and a small business right now, so I'm not sure that will be an option, but I'm glad for a lead to look into.

I really appreciate all the help from this forum. It has been so valuable in trying to start our business.

[Robert Rosensteel]

Lowes Black Absolute Skew number 2911331003 $5.89 EA.

[Doug Bergstrom]

Sorry, the stuff at Lowes is Granite but quite honestly it engraves the same as the marble. We offer both in our showroom and they look identical except that the granite has a light silvering speck which gives it a more natural look. If you want the shapes they have and can sell them they are fine. I haven't had any issue with the weight of the granite. We purchased a tile saw and cut and finish the pieces here. We have mad everything from clocks to displays and coasters and our customers love them. Also at the price we get them we make more profit which is what we want, correct? We also cut and engrave natural slate which has a lot of imperfections but adds to the beauty of the engraving and sells very well.

[Sean Bullock]

Sorry, the stuff at Lowes is Granite but quite honestly it engraves the same as the marble. We offer both in our showroom and they look identical except that the granite has a light silvering speck which gives it a more natural look. If you want the shapes they have and can sell them they are fine. I haven't had any issue with the weight of the granite. We purchased a tile saw and cut and finish the pieces here. We have mad everything from clocks to displays and coasters and our customers love them. Also at the price we get them we make more profit which is what we want, correct? We also cut and engrave natural slate which has a lot of imperfections but adds to the beauty of the engraving and sells very well.


Doug

I would be interested in viewing some of your slate engravings. If you feel generous we would all appreciate your posting some examples of your work.

By the way, a potential customer backed off when she could not get the pricing for the 5 x 7 marble plaques for the museum she manages. After spending a number of hours researching and communicating it was finally revealed that she wanted to pay me only $14-15 for each plaque (and that is after my engraving on them) while costing me $13.70 for just the blank, so she could get a keystone markup from her customers. Laserbits suggests an SRP of $44.95. I find people like this very aggravating.

But I appreciate the feedback.

[Doug Bergstrom]

Lasersketch has the 5x7 marble for $5.35 each.

I will try to post some soon..right now all of the pieces we are doing have images of people on them and I do not feel comfortable posting on the internet. I have a job with some landscape stuff coming up soon and will post those.

[John Bowden]

I picked up a box (5 pieces) of the “Lowes absolute black granite” yesterday after reading about it here. $5.89 each and NO SHIPPING! I have worked with better material, but I have to say that I’m pleased with the results. What I’m not happy with however, is the digital camera I took the attached photograph with. The actual engraving is much sharper than the photo shows.

John B.

P.S. This is only my second time posting here, but I have been a daily visitor (lurker) since mid August (when I bought my laser).

[Janet Liddiard]

That image looks awesome! What settings did you use? And, did you just put the image through Photograv? Nice job!

[John Bowden]

Oops, I forgot to mention the settings!
Photograv - Ver. 3.0
300 DPI (ignore the recommended power and speed settings - as always)
I pretty much stuck to the default (black granite) settings.
I have a 25 Watt Pinnacle (GCC Mercury) Engraver
Power 25%
Speed 80%
300 DPI

I should also mention that having the right picture helps a lot too (actually it's the most important thing).
The picture is “Song of the Angels” by William Bouguereau
I originally came across the picture while working on a memorial for a young man who was killed in a car accident.
I was looking for an image of peace and tranquility.
And this one just seemed so… perfect.

[Dee Gallo]

Hi John,

That is a beautiful job with a beautiful picture. Did you have to color fill the granite or is that how it came out of the laser?

thanks, dee

[John Bowden]

The painting is in the public domain!

I just thought I'd mention that before anyone jumped in with copyright questions.

[John Bowden]

No color fill... that's straight from the laser.

OK - I'll go back to lurking now, and give someone else a chance.

[Allen Isakson]

http://www.mcgillswarehouse.com/ItemsList.aspx?groupID=10421&GN=DIAMONDPOLISHINGPADS

Here is a site to obtain a diamond polishing pads for the marble, Works fantastic and inexpensive. be sure to use lots of water when polishing.

[John Stephens]

Jack, can you please supply me with more informational on MS Interantional, your marble supplier . The web site I located dead ends. Do you have a web site or location for them?

Thank you,

John

[Jack Harper]

John,

Here is their contact info.
msistone.com

MS International Inc.,

2095 N Batavia St.

Orange CA 92865

714-685-7520

[John Stephens]

I appreciate it. EOM

[Kevin Warren]

Hi John: How does one go about accessing photos like “Song of the Angels” by William Bouguereau on the net? I am just starting engraving photos etc. on marble. Thanks: Kevin

[John Bowden]

Wikipedia - search on the artist, and you'll see a whole collection of his work. Click on the one you want and you should have the option to download the large version (at 300 dpi). A little Photoshop work and a run through Photograv...
Works for me

[Janet Liddiard]

Thanks to a tip by Jack Harper, I contacted MS International to try and get a good price on absolute black marble.

They gave me a local distributor in my area (so I didn't have to pay for shipping) and he honored the $3.80 price (12x12) that Jack mentioned.

I'm picking it up tomorrow, so I haven't had a chance to use one yet, but I wanted to pass along a Thank You and also give my supplier's information just in case others want to order some.

His name is Less with Utah Wholesale Interior and his phone number is 801-604-5099.

[Jack Harper]

Thanks to a tip by Jack Harper, I contacted MS International to try and get a good price on absolute black marble.

They gave me a local distributor in my area (so I didn't have to pay for shipping) and he honored the $3.80 price (12x12) that Jack mentioned.

I'm picking it up tomorrow, so I haven't had a chance to use one yet, but I wanted to pass along a Thank You and also give my supplier's information just in case others want to order some.

His name is Less with Utah Wholesale Interior and his phone number is 801-604-5099.

Your welcome Janet. One tip on using this stone if I may. Occasionally you will see a crack show up in your image that you do not see in the stone prior to lasering. If you see this hairline crack just use some white Van Son printers ink to color fill and it will disappear completely while further brightening your image. Good luck.