Poor Templates

[paul luszcz]

We do a fair amount of high end work that includes dimensional letters, which we very often buy from Gemini.

Is anyone (everyone?) finding the quality of their mounting patterns is not up to speed?

We have no complaint with the quality of the letters, but are tired of dealing with poorly installed or welded stud holders and inaccurate templates that simply don't align with the studs.

We've had to bend, pull, plug, oversize, fill, etc. a variety of substrates recently to get the letters straight in spite of poorly drawn templates and we're getting tired of it.

Is this the new normal from Gemini?

Is there a good alternative we should try?

 

[eahicks]

We lay out the templates on the table and match up the letters to make sure everything lines up before going out to install. Because we don't like to discover their errors during the installation.

 

[Marlene]

haven't had those kins of issues with them. what have they had to say about it? we did have some issues with patterns that had more than one piece. they would put it on separate patterns even when I gave them a proof with letter sizes and overall height and lenght. they now have our account tagged with "has had issues" so they pay attention.

 

[paul luszcz]

Marlene, they say the templates are made by hand, so some inaccuracy is unavoidable. Providing the drill pattern to them hasn't helped either, because they still mount or weld the stud holders by hand on many styles. It's particularly annoying because they charge $4.50 a letter for a pattern (and more to use your placement) and sometimes that costs more than the letter itself.

We mount the letters to substrates here in the shop more often than not. I'm very curious how exactly you test the pattern before drilling. If you're going to use a modified pattern to drill, you must be pretty sure you're right. If you do that, would you not bother paying for a pattern?

 

[Billct2]

I use their patterns only on jobs that are "average". If I have a job where there is any concern about the precision of the install we make our own pattern. I have never dealt with adding studs to metal letters, though we have done it on plastic ones

 

[Chasez]

We haven't had this issue with Gemini Canada, but also it is very rare that I let Gemini choose the stud placement. I always order letters flush stud and supply the pin pattern (with aluminum spacers if spaced off wall - painted to match if requested by client). It costs a little bit more but there are never any issues and I can just print/reprint my stencil any time I need it.

As far as quality, always top notch from G. Canada!

Chaz

 

[fresh]

We haven't had this issue with Gemini Canada, but also it is very rare that I let Gemini choose the stud placement. I always order letters flush stud and supply the pin pattern (with aluminum spacers if spaced off wall - painted to match if requested by client). It costs a little bit more but there are never any issues and I can just print/reprint my stencil any time I need it.

As far as quality, always top notch from G. Canada!

Chaz

i didn't even know this was an option!