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Yes, it is a mistake to set prices based on what others charge. Too many variables. I used to call other (friendly) shops to help me with pricing and even to figure an hourly rate. After I hired an accountant on a retainer plan ($30 per month), I realized my mistake. Three allies you should be...

Gemini may have discontinued the acrylic brackets because of constant breakage. Switching to metal would have eliminated the problem. When acrylic is machined, thousands of micro fissures occur along the edge of a cut or a drilled hole. They're practically invisible till you wipe with a lacquer...

I want to add a comment on plagiarism, though it is somewhat off-topic. Plagiarism is not illegal, as many know. But it is certainly unethical in copywriting. Plagiarism is passing off as your own the work of someone else, and it is a serious sin in the academic world. At the very least it can...

Sanding and etching aluminum is important for adhesion. It is also good to do a solvent wash prior to sanding. Sometimes contaminants can be ground into the metal by the sanding process. After sanding, I do a second solvent wash, and then a tack cloth, before using one of the Matthews acid etch...

Some John Deere trivia: The Model A was built from 1934 to 1952. 2-cylinder, 321 cubic-inch, which put out over 34 HP. Over 300,000 were sold. The Model B was built from 1935 to 1952. Still a 2-cylinder, but with a 190 cubic-inch motor yielding over 24 HP. Over 300,000 sold. The B was...

DISCLAIMER I am not a lawyer. I am a sign goober just like everyone else here. Nothing I write on the subject of intellectual property should ever be construed as legal advice or even good advice. Nobody's comments, including mine, should take the place of competent legal counsel from an...

It's important to remember what the purpose of trademark law is. Trademark law is part of the body of law that works to prevent unfair competition among businesses. Trademarks are symbols of the identity and reputation of the source of a product or service—part of the goodwill that a business...

A simple flat hem can be done with a brake. But a hem with a rounded bead like this is more of a problem for hand tools like a brake or rolling mill. I'm sure it can be done, but not easily or quickly. And making it stay flat and not warp will be a problem. Surely this was done with complex...

zeppelin: This is not really germane to your question but beware of sign makers that don't know what a mil is. Many of us sign goobers use the term as if it were slang for millimeters. As a machinist, you know that a mil is one-thousandth of an inch and is not metric. I have seen some anxious...

Exactly. Going back with a pan face is the best route to take. Costly? Make your customer pay for it.:) Seriously, trying to cheap out on a large face is unwise and may be unsafe. Let someone else make that mistake. Also, at that size there should be a hanging bar, even on a pan, in my opinion...

She's still a good friend. My partner, Michelle, likes her a lot. But she doesn't work for free anymore. :(

Sarcasm is not always easy in speech, even with the advantage of voice tone and facial expression. In writing sarcasm is even more difficult. An ex-girlfriend, a writer, would sometimes proof for me. She would say, "I know your trying to sound cute or ironical, but you didn't. You just sound...

This is true. The noun kern and the verb to kern are not new terms, but old ones, though the shade of meaning has changed considerably from previous centuries. From Royal Dictionary, page 663, by Charles Fleming (1844 edition): " To KERN, v. Among Letter-founders; to hollow out the under part...

"Frutiger of the Loom." That's what I'm calling it from now on. Brad

There is nothing wrong with a hanging sign that swings. But you absolutely must not allow it to move sideways very much or it will beat itself up and even fall. The problem is the chains—they are too long. The ideal is one link between eyebolts. This minimizes side motion. Or, another way is to...

First, in the US, most logos are not protected by copyright. This has long been the stand of both the US Copyright Office and the US Congress. Most logos consist of nothing more than lettering and/or common shapes, and such things have never qualified for copyright in the US. Many people confuse...

We are looking to match colors of Lumicor with Matthews. Has any body matched any Lumicor colors and have Matthews formulas?

What makes for a good logo? Obviously, it must be original, a custom design. A piece of clipart is not a logo, though many of our customers have this impression (Image-licensing services such as iStockphoto and AdobeStock specifically forbid the use of their images as part of a logo or branding...

Flat cutout acrylic letters are less expensive than formed letters. Stud mounted, with spacers, effects a "projecting look." It's just that there aren't any returns. I have, over the past 40 years, installed hundreds and hundreds of acrylic letters in 3/16" and 1/4" thicknesses, mostly hand cut...

ACM is not the best material for flat cutout graphics. It tends to delaminate, though not always. Most vendors do not offer long warranties because of this. Nudo Products, for example, gives only a "5 Year (Limited)" warranty. They want you to put a trim cap on the material. I would do ACM...