The Commish

[Pete Jordan]

I was commissioned to do a platter honoring Vevay Township's 175th anniversary. This cherry platter is 17" by 1.5" and finished with spar varnish.

I am very happy with how it turned out and will be getting it to them on Monday. There was only one place in town that could do the lasering and it cost $60. I was hoping to do more platters to sell to the township members but the lasering would kill me. I am doing ornaments instead and am hand wood burning those. Thanks for looking!

[Richard Madden]

That is a fine looking piece, and some good looking wood. I had no idea laser engraving was that costly!

[Keith Outten]

Sorry guys but laser engraving is actually pretty cheap. Some laser engravers cost more money than most woodworkers invest in their whole shop and the investment has to be recovered somehow. When you add the other necessities like software, supplies and things like dust collection you can easily have 50K invested in a laser engraver before you ever turn the machine on. The time spent to create a drawing for your platter Pete was probably half the cost of the engraving fee.
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[Keith Outten]

Pete.

OBTW the platter is outstanding!
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[Roger Chandler]

Sorry guys but laser engraving is actually pretty cheap. Some laser engravers cost more money than most woodworkers invest in their whole shop and the investment has to be recovered somehow. When you add the other necessities like software, supplies and things like dust collection you can easily have 50K invested in a laser engraver before you ever turn the machine on. The time spent to create a drawing for your platter Pete was probably half the cost of the engraving fee.
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Thanks Keith for the info on the process of laser engraving and the associated costs. I think we sometimes do not realize all that goes into such an endeavor....the investment of resources. When you get the perspective you have shared with us here, it explains a lot of questions as to the why of things.


Great platter and nice work here, Pete!

[John Keeton]

Our local WoodCraft has a laser machine and I have had several platters and a couple of other piece engraved. I usually have two passes made for depth. With a platter, there are two setups - one for each level, the rim and the center. So, there is more time involved. It also takes more machine time to make a wide pass - 17" rim, as the laser goes back and forth for every pass the entire width. My platters have been about 14" and the engraving runs about $40, but I am sure it depends on the location, etc.

[Brian Kent]

I wonder if a conversation with the engraver could produce an affordable price and some profit for the engraver for a run of x number of platters.

[Keith Outten]

Brian,

If the time spent to create the drawing and layout was $30.00 for the first platter and you spread that cost across ten platters the total engraving cost would probably drop from 60 bucks to about 33 bucks each. The engraving time is the same for each platter so there isn't much wiggle room there.
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[Mike Cruz]

Hmmmm, I didn't see Pete's post as saying that laser engraving is overpriced...just out of his budget. Just like the person that picks up one of my turnings, sees the price, and has sticker shock. REALLY? The wooden bowl costs $200!!! Well, yeah, I've got $30,000 in shop equipment...over $5000 worth in lathe stuff alone. I've put 5 hours into making the bowl AND shop supplies, not to mention I'm spending 17 hours at this show today to offer it up for sale to you. If I charged a reasonable hourly rate and tried to recover all my costs, Miss, I'd be charging you $600 for it.

Just because is out of her budget, doesn't mean it is overpriced. It is just more than she can/is willing to spend.

That is how I saw the OP's post...

[Keith Outten]

Mike,

I agree with you 100% which is why I stopped dealing with the public several years ago. Pete's platter is a custom piece and the majority of the people can't afford custom anything. Considering the investment in equipment alone the prices people are willing to pay for incredibly beautiful work is pitiful. Add to the hardware investment the skills that take years or decades to acquire and the compensation is so low that many prefer to give their pieces away rather than be insulted by a ridiculous monetary offer.

I own a Jet mini lathe and I turn lots of pens. This doesn't make me a turner but I at least have been able to gain some respect for the people who are and their talent. Once I even considered stepping up to a large lathe and I got an education when I started looking at the costs involved. So, in a nutshell I agree that Pete's project is not overpriced.
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[Michael Stafford]

$60 sounds pretty reasonable for something that looks as nice as that does on your platter. A beautiful platter for presentation such as this is deserving of quality work. I think you paid for quality work.

I think you could still offer to make platters to sell to township members. Just tell them up front the cost of the platter is $x and the engraving is $x non-negotiable. It is a fixed cost out of your hands.

[Lee Koepke]

very nice platter.
I had a bowl lasered once and its a little more complicated for the set up to follow the curve of the platter and keep the spacing right.
again, beautiful platter and it has to be quite an honor to be asked to do something so important for your community!