I'm a signmaker. I work mainly in vinyl decals applied to a varity of
substrates, but I need to make dimensional signage from time to time.
Problem is I can't afford a CNC router, and I'm a total newbie with
power tools.
Sometimes I get MDO Plywood (not MDF) letters from this company.
http://www.woodenletters.com/lettershop.htm They use a CNC router and
are very good. Problem is if I quote a customer for 12" letters for
example, my cost is over $18 for Arial and for Times we're looking at
$23+ per letter. That means before painting and mounting, Vetinary
Clinic is around $300 my cost. For the rest of the work and mounting I
quote $400-450 and I get nothing. I can get formed plastic letters for a
little less than wood. They also save me a lot of work, as there's no
painting involved, so perhaps the quote is now $300... and my cost is
about $200, which still isn't low enough.
My guess is there's somebody in my market with a ShopBot. He's charging
the customer 1/3-1/2 less for MDO than I can buy wood for because he's
doing it in house.
I bought a $90 belt/disk sander from Grizzly. I bought a $100 16" scroll
saw from them too. Finished out my Grizzly shopping spree with the small
ShopFox oscillating drill press for $115, which I use for sanding more
than drilling. A friend lives in the Muncy, PA area so we incorporated
this trip into a visit. I'm strongly considering a $200 router from
Sears that's both a fixed base and plunge router, as perhaps it is
easier to use than the scroll saw.
The only power tools I owned before this endevor were some $15-20 B&D
tools from Wal-Mart, a drill, jigsaw and 1/4 sheet sander. That jigsaw
actually pulled to the left no matter what. I returned it and the new
one did too. Never found much use for them.
I cut templates with my plotter, lay them down on the wood, and just
don't do all that good of a job. I suspect it is because I have no
experience. I also suspect to a far lesser degree it is the tools.
I don't know if I can find anyone to cut letters for less than I'm
paying for them now. I'm not looking to rip someone off, but seriously,
an unfinished 12" MDO letter seems expensive at $18-23+ depending on font.
Any advice or offers is appreciated. Thanks.
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