Think about getting into the full color sign business

[imagep]

have been doing cut vinyl & installs for 5yrs.

ron

Ron, I tried to tell 'em but they don't listen some times. I think some people have to eat some crow now.

I am also expanding my sign capabilities, and have occassionally run into the same crap. Overall there is no better group to learn from, but a lot of people entertain themselves by pretending like they have some special skill or knowlege that should only be obtained by years of working for someone else.

Some of the guys here think that they are way more skilled than what they really are. It's like they are afraid you are going to discover their "secrets". But the truth is they have no secrets, they don't know what they are doing either.

Our background is very similar to yours, We have 20 years of experiance in offset printing, 4 years in screen printing, 3 years in cut vinyl, and now about 8 mths in ecosolve printed vinyl.

Our sign business has really taken off since going into the wide format printing, it is so much easier than any of the other grapic products that we offer, and is much more profitable. We are now printing several dozen pieces a day (banners, posters, vinyl for automags, etc.), and without doing any advertising at all. We just let our offset and screenprinting customers that we offer full color vinyl - and they start getting that from us.

Soon we will likely expand to one of those "hybrid" machines that can print on roll or flat stock, largely just to take some of the volume off our first machine.

 

[THATgirl]

Some of the guys here think that they are way more skilled than what they really are. It's like they are afraid you are going to discover their "secrets". But the truth is they have no secrets, they don't know what they are doing either.

very true!

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

well thank you ....for introducing yourself ..it surely clears up alot ... and wish you the best of luck in your full color plotter pursuit addition, it even sounds like ya could use and most likely can afford one ...

 

[totalimage]

And when they get caught up in their lies and bullcrap they disappear...

 

[bjones]

This place could be good but it seems it's just LOADED with keyboard commandos that look for any reason no matter how small to blast people. They say things they'd never in a million years say to someone in person. If everyone thinks this is GOOD for the forum long term i'm sad about that. Just because a new to the forum person doesn't follow a protocol that they probably have no clue about doesn't make them clueless or idiots or automatically a cricut owner.

I guess that's what it's all about here now, chest thumping like friggin apes. When I first started it was a lot friendlier and helpful, now you have to be clairvoyant as a newbie to ask just the right question just the right way and give a complete family history or risk getting torn to pieces. This very thread is a perfect example of a guy getting ripped that in all reality turns out probably has more experience than 50% of the people here. Bravo keyboard commandos!

 

[signage]

Hey Ron.....

I think that if you have been here reading and researching since March 2008 you would have know to introduce yourself and give some background! Good luck!

 

[Joe Diaz]

...My name is Ron and I'm from Fayetteville ,NC (Fort Bragg). I have been a screen printer for 16yrs and have been doing cut vinyl & installs for 5yrs. I'm well versed with Corel draw, Flexi & and just about every product adobe has to offer outside of cold fusion. I have been ordering Full Color media from Signs 365 and just simply marking up the price. Also I have searched this forum for countless hours looking for the proper equipment for my needs....

There you go! You should have started with that.

That is a perfect way to start your first thread here. You have to keep in mind people on here don't know you. It has nothing to do with ego, in my opinion. For all they know, you could be the same type of person as some of these other hobbyist that so many of us disapprove of. The guys that are on here at least once a day demanding the same thing over and over. But we can see now that you are not. So... Welcome.


Also keep in mind people can't help you fully if you don't provide them with enough information, and if they don't know you.... well you get the idea.

In your second post you gave us more info. You say you use Corel and that you were possibly interested in a Versacamm. Well we use both Corel and Versacamm for our setup and we love it. I would recommend buying the printer from a near-by distributor, because tech support for printers is very valuable. You don't want to have to pay a tech guy to drive 400 miles to fix your setup if you go down, or to purchase a printer from a company who can't supply you with tech support at all.

So I would start there. Contact your closest distributor and ask about the the Versacamm and if they provide support for your shop. They will be best able to provide you with the answers you are looking for.

Good Luck!

 

[The Big Squeegee]

Welcome From OK

 

[biggieg]

Welcome Ron! I am sure you will find the info here you are looking for and I would also suggest visiting a trade show.

 

[Joe Diaz]

Welcome Ron! I am sure you will find the info here you are looking for and I would also suggest visiting a trade show.

That is another great piece of advice. We did that when we were choosing printers. What better way to find out about hardware then by seeing it in action!

 

[TheSnowman]

Also, at a show, they will point you towards the right guy to float you the money if you are going to take out a loan.

 

[markosdigital]

Thank for the postive feedback and welcomes!

I actually had a good laugh at all the negative post, I guess some folks live to feel superior. I will be going to the ISS show in atlantic city in march. I normally go there every year and have noticed a few booths there selling the wide Format printers. My whole reason for asking my original question was because I got a super huge job and thought this would be a good time to actually get a machine versus being a middle man and ordering it from a wholesaler. I was hoping there was someone in the Lancaster, PA area or close by that would partner up with me on this huge job. But after seeing how some people treat you around here that doesn't seem like the way I should go. I got a job doing 80 Box trucks in Pa. Anyways thanks for all the help and advice, and I believe you know who you are.

Thanks again
Ron

 

[Jester1167]

Buying and running a digital printer is not too bad of a learning curve, but but with that much production right up front you might regret it. Space would be a huge issue. Digital prints must be cured for 24 hour before laminatings. They will not cure rolled up. On flat with rivits you could cut that time frame some. If you don't cure it, the edges will curl on themselves before you can squeegee it. It will stretch like silly putty making alignment a pain, and the adhesive will be super agressive. It also affects the long term durablity of the adhesive.

After that is your biggest potential hurdle is laminating. Even if you are good with your hands, you will waste prints early on. Especially if you are trying to make long runs.

At $3 a square foot I would outsource the prints and concentrate on the install. Now you have enough money for the printer and time to train without the added pressure.

 

[wannabe]

Hi Ron! Welcome from Shreveport, Louisiana. I, too, was admonished for not wording my question properly a while back. To this day when I do my searching, I make sure I look for info on equipment "with and without training wheels". After many hours of searching I still didn't feel like I had enough grasp on even the terminology to be able to ask the right questions. I did suggest a dictionary or an index to help. Hmmm I have to check on that idea again. Ah but I digress...please don't let the negative responses drive you away as it did me for a while. I let my feelings be hurt and still carry the emotional "newbie scar". Ok enough blah blah blah.
WELCOME!

 

[Bigdawg]

Encyclopedia

Located in the panel top right in the module jump dropdown menu

 

[iSign]

I actually had a good laugh at all the negative post, I guess some folks live to feel superior...

...I was hoping there was someone in the Lancaster, PA area or close by that would partner up with me on this huge job. But after seeing how some people treat you around here that doesn't seem like the way I should go. I got a job doing 80 Box trucks in Pa. Anyways thanks for all the help and advice, and I believe you know who you are.

Well, I enjoyed reading this thread, as it provides all the ingredients of a social experiment ...including various sides being taken & judgments being made... I laughed at the term "keyboard commandos" & was happy (this time) that I had not posted, and knew I was not the target (this time) ...but, I will go out on a limb now, in addition to welcoming Ron, and comment on the continued drama.

Ron, now that you are laughing, and being offered many more welcoming comments, I see that you seem to ignore the multitude of posts placing some degree of blame for the fireworks on the way you made your first post. This is not to say everyone who seemed to mistreat you is justified in their comments, but more to say that not everyone who made remarks you didn't like is to blame.

It's not as simple as you should introduce yourself, and when not doing so, all of us simply need to reduce our comments to asking for an introduction. When someone says "I'm looking at getting into the full color sign & vehicle wraps business" ending with "Thanks, Ron" ...we consider that an introduction & as such, we consider the introduction to clearly identify yourself as someone not yet in the business, and not yet educated about what's involved in this business. You make a statement criticizing those who "assume" you didn't search the forums before asking what to do. Again, your introduction was not absent, it was incomplete, therefore the assumptions people made are as much a byproduct of your own incomplete post, as of anyone's "unfair" assumptions.

anyway, I'm sure your involvement here can only go uphill, & I wish you the best. I am not a keyboard commando , but I am one of the blunt & opinionated regulars here, and I call 'em like i see 'em. Your last post seems divisive, wishing to call out others for delusions of "superiority". Would making that statement not imply the same for yourself? Your post goes on to wave the possibility of sharing 80 trucks in front of the PA members... before yanking them back to yourself again.

Yeah, you took a bit of a beating on your first thread here, like so many before you... and the way some members (including myself) handle their comments can easily share the blame for that at times. You can share it too, both in your first post, and in your last post. Better luck next time.

 

[Gino]

I must say what Doug wrote there is quite true. It seems now….like you Marko…. is doing the mean-streaked nasty deeds.

There’s no right or wrong way to come on board anywhere. There’s no right or wrong way to conduct yourself with your peers. It all comes from hanging around the place and getting to know each other. Are some full of themselves ?? You bet, so what ?? We just hired a guy from New Jersey and we’re making fun of him for what he even calls a sandwich vs. how he tapes things up. His knowledge is better in some areas and less in others, but we still are giving him a rough time. Now, back to your little trick…. dangling that bit about 80 truck wraps is just downright dumb. You wanna make friends…. Don’t offer things after the fact if you really don’t have it. You’re gonna tell me that you’ve been searching for weeks about your question, came up empty and still have 80 trucks to do and haven’t done a thing yet ?? That’s plain rubbish. If your business and you’ve been doing the things to the degree you’re describing…. NO frickin’ businessman would still be sitting on 80 trucks with no idea of what to do yet. You’d have those tools in your shop right now plugging away at the ½ million dollar order. You had to have some idea of what to bid and what your costs were going to be if you bid it and were really awarded the job. You do actually have the job…. right ??

Don’t BullS**t a BullS**tter. You’ve made a claim as to that’s what you think of the vast majority here…. and it boils down to you don’t like us very much, so why do you pretend to want more companionship with those you despise ??

:Oops:My earlier comments weren’t directed towards you, but they seem to fit a little better now.
​

.

 

[imagep]

Ron, with an 80 truck order, keep in mind that you need to focus on print speed as much as anything. All the machines that I have looked at all print great, but speed varies alot.

And, I do agree that with such a big order, it makes sense to go ahead and take the plunge. Sometimes, when the cost of the equipment is less than the cost of farming it out, why the heck not go ahead and get the equipment.

A few years ago, I needed a sign, I asked a couple of places for quotes, one sign company wanted $2,000 just for the vinyl (I would actually have had to supply the substrait and install the sign), and the other just never got around to giving me a quote.

So I thought "screw them", and bought a cutter for less than the cost of having them print vinyl, and had my sign up a few days later. Then I realized just how easy it was, and just had high/unrelieable some of the local sign companies were, so what the heck, I went into competition with 'em.

 

[wildside]

So I thought "screw them", and bought a cutter for less than the cost of having them print vinyl, and had my sign up a few days later. Then I realized just how easy it was, and just had high/unrelieable some of the local sign companies were, so what the heck, I went into competition with 'em.

that's a loaded statement! wow

 

[markosdigital]

here we go again

Gino how's about I come and meet you at your shop, I will be in lancaster on the march 21st. There is know need for you to down talk me and say i'm a BS'er on a forum, because if you have something to say to a man I'm sure you can say it to his face. So I have no problem taking a visit to your shop in reading, considering I have alot of friends there I could also visit them at the sametime. By the way a good businessman plans ahead, the truck are all scheduled to be done in may. The owner is stripping the old logos from the trucks as to save money and not get a extra charge for me to strip them. The problem is you over think things way too much, worrying about my business in which you no nothing about so you begin to assume. But it's cool just tell me where your shop is so we can meet up, heck we may become good friends who knows...............

Ron