A Eagle design suspended over my store/shop

[PlasmaDesigns]

I will be happy to email the parts if anyone is interested. This was one of those projects you design and after you quote the price the customer say's "no thanks" , I had a good deal of time in it so I made it anyway.........Sorry if I have posted this before but I don't think I have. Anyway, Cheers!! John

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[grindergary]

Wow, very nicely done.

Thanks for the posting.

Gary

[cbassjr]

Awesome!!! Would love to see the DXF... I can see that over my barn or maybe even a new wind vane. My wife's be after me to replace ours. Also awesome looking shop maybe someday I'll have something that nice when I grow up....

[quadboy]

that's awsome

[Biker]

Yea, I hate it when I spend a lot of time in a drawing and then the customer don't want it. The Eagle sure does look good.

[beefy]

Yea, I hate it when I spend a lot of time in a drawing and then the customer don't want it.

John, sorry to hear about that, hope it doesn't happen too much.

Would love to know how many of you charge in advance for design work. Then if the customer doesn't like the quote to make the item, at least you got paid for your time. Seems a bad business model when you do stuff for free HOPING the customer will go ahead.

Any opinions on this ?

Keith.

[PlasmaDesigns]

Keith, I have tried that partial payment for design time and it works for very complex jobs but not for the the web shoppers who are getting multiple quotes.....All I can say is do some kick ass art on everything so you can either make it or save it for future jobs..............If any of you on here ever need this file or any others please email me I love to swap and trade and for that matter just help when it's needed..................plasmadesigns@gmail.com John

[Capstone]

Great looking Eagle!

I think I speak for others here when I say we'd really appreciate a post from you in the "Marketing/Advertising" section with a run down of how you were able to pull off a brick and mortar location. While I'm sure it was a huge undertaking, many of us would absolutely love to have that setup and want to learn more on how you are making it work.

[PlasmaDesigns]

Capstone, sorry for the belated response I have been a little busy. I hope the panoramic photos are visible on here. I just got lucky I found a building right on a main hwy. that was only 500 a month and I fixed it up every time I had the chance and slowly ended up crammed into the back with very little room to move around. I have two showrooms and I sell to people all over the country via the web. There is a lot of competition out there and what I sell is quality. I tell people right up front if you are shopping prices I will not be competitive. I use mainly 11Ga 1/8" and only run fine cut tips. I get people all the time who say I found someone willing to do it for less and I say "why the hell did you call me then?" I am not to good with the public but in most cases I win the jobs. In the very beginning I started out driving to each and every metal fabricator / iron worker with a cheap vista print brochure. I also called on steel suppliers who were used to order everything from King but now they call me. It's a lot of work a lot of hours and like any successful business takes an enormous amount of time. I will say this on my pieces that I consider high volume I have them laser cut at 50 to 100 at a time and it's typically cheaper than cutting them myself. There is a tool you can purchase from one of the beta testers for Corel that sells it and you can convert any DXF in Corel into a CAD file for water jet or laser. Most all of my aluminum jobs over 1/8" I use a water jet as for obvious reasons. I have started selling high end corporate signs and attached is one i just completed that one was about 8K.....................................I wish you all the best I will share and help where I can so please just ask. John

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[PlasmaDesigns]

I also am a full service sign shop and do a lot of vinyl overlays on metal shapes that I cut. That revenue stream is very helpful and it's no different than a CNC torch. On my vinyl there is X,Y, and Z axis, and even running servo motors just uses a blade instead of a torch......You know those jobs that you are asked to do but the torch burns them off unless you spend hours doing design work???? I do the large parts in steel and the fine detailed pieces in vinyl....The Zero gravity is a mixture of paint, vinyl, aluminum and acrylic. The acrylic was cut using a CNC router and the lights were embedded and sealed to create a halo effect. I subbed out the router part I am out of room in my shop . I keep about 20K of finished goods on the floor at all times. John

[illusivedf]

Awesome show room!

[PlasmaDesigns]

Thanks, it's evolved from one room to two over the past 9 years.. In this business it's slow and steady that wins the race! I have so many pictures just no time to post them generally. I hope you are wildly successful with your plasma cutter. I just purchased a drone it's a new toy so I'll try to fly it around my showrooms with the gopro and post at some point. John

[radicalrescue]

cant wait to see the gopro pic sounds cool

[michmetalman]

You do amazing work, some of the best I've seen! I Have been selling all over the country also, and do extremely well here in the touristy part of Michigan (Traverse City) I am very close to opening my own store and very excited and nervous. I have always imagined my store with all the things I make hanging on the wall, and seeing yours gets me pretty excited. Truly awesome!

[PlasmaDesigns]

Mitch, I wish you all the luck in the world I am in the process of selling my business and moving on. It's been a lot of fun but I will still be in the sign business just the higher end stuff.....Chasing 5K to 100K jobs instead of the 100.00 to 300.00 jobs. Very excited about the move once I find a buyer. I do about 300K a year and make a good living doing it....Attached are a few samples of stuff I will be marketing to corporate America.

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[michmetalman]

Thanks! And those signs are amazing! With that kind of talent you will have no trouble making it after selling you metal art business.

[Capstone]

Thanks! And those signs are amazing! With that kind of talent you will have no trouble making it after selling you metal art business.

I second that. Good luck!!

[bigcreek]

I third that! Good luck.