Full Version: New to this business
From: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#16]
12 Feb 2007
To: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#14] 12 Feb 2007
Chuck:
I still can install with the best--learned Marble, Tile, Terrazzo from father. Have been in high end stone work most of my life. I did install a large mud job last month, but try to refrain from doing the hands on--it kills me, I'm 58 and in good shape but belive me thousands of pounds of sand n cement n tile and on da knees 8 hrs, hurts.
Insert laugh here.
Mike
From: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#17]
12 Feb 2007
To: Mike (MIKEHUNTER) [#15] 13 Feb 2007
Mike:
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I think industry and the architectural market will pan out well.
Mike
From: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#18]
12 Feb 2007
To: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#16] 13 Feb 2007
Mike, I understand. My friend Gary is 67 and STILL laying carpet....mostly because his wife won't quit spending money or work and he won't put his foot down...but that is another story.
Have you considered tile murals as a possible endeavor? It can be quite lucrative and it seems you will have the connections in place already.
From: Ray (STAMP) [#19]
13 Feb 2007
To: Mike (MIKEHUNTER) [#15] 13 Feb 2007
Hi Mike,
First hi to everyone on the forum from a newbie..
I'm a pre owner of a engraving store meaning that i'm in the research
process right now.I suscribe to the engraver journal, i call company for info on their product and prices and i Google 8 hours a day with my partner and still i can't decide witch laser i should get. Help
I live in a small town but beside a military base so the potential is there.
There is 1 engraver in town equiped with a old rotary and don't seem to do much for trophy and award.
buttom line what can u help me with, and what laser should go for???
i look at epilog,laserpro,xenetech and vision..oh forgot trotec who seem to have a co2 and yag on the same system..
For rotary is vision max pro or xenetech better?????
I want as many opinion that i can get.
Ray
From: Mike (MIKEHUNTER) [#20]
13 Feb 2007
To: Ray (STAMP) [#19] 13 Feb 2007
Choosing the machine is difficult because you have to live with the results for a long time.
I have an Epilog (chosen after much deliberation) which has aspects that I am not totally happy with after 2+ year's use. This is at least in part because of over-high expectations on my part (which, of course, the dealers I spoke to did nothing to dash).
I suspect that the same would be true if I had bought ANY of the other big-name machines. They are all very similar, but all have their own strengths, weaknesses and foibles.
It has been said on this forum many many times - Choose the machine on the basis of the dealer and manufacturer backup that you can expect, not on the brand name.
All the dealers will appear to be very nice people (they all want your $20,000). Some really are very nice people - they pop up here and give useful advice. Others you will have to test by pestering them!
The market for machines is very competitive and so the manufacturers upgrade and change models frequently. This means that the research I did three years ago would be no help to you in buying a new machine this year.
One thing I would urge - stick to the well-known brands for a first machine. During the (steep) learning curve, things will go wrong (or at least appear to). If you have confidence in the machine, then you know where to start solving the problem(s). If you are not sure of the machine, then problems get out of hand because they could be anywhere.
EDIT - Just to make it clear: if I needed to buy another machine, it would probably be an Epilog, though I would take the opportunity to check out the latest models from the competition too.
EDITED: 13 Feb 2007 by MIKEHUNTER
From: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#21]
13 Feb 2007
To: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#18] 14 Feb 2007
Chuck:
Funny you mention that--about the murals. I just finished a rather large--4000 sq ft, granite mosaic that graces the 4th Av Bridge in Olympia, WA. I have a patent on a process to manufacture mosaic. The last Co. I worked for, my client was United Airlines. We made a mural on canvas that was compose of thousands of smaller images. At that time we archive ovre a million images of UAL (and others). I have an idea to create something really magnificent with this little machine.
Thanks for your time and input.
Michael
From: Ray (STAMP) [#22]
13 Feb 2007
To: Mike (MIKEHUNTER) [#20] 13 Feb 2007
I will take that into consideration, yes i do believe too that after sale service is essential.
Oh by the way r u a epilog rep ??l ;-) ol
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#23]
13 Feb 2007
To: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#21] 13 Feb 2007
Michael,
A patent to produce mosaic with which process?
From: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#24]
13 Feb 2007
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#23] 14 Feb 2007
Dave:
The patent actually covers 42 separate claims to the process. I developed and built machinery to cut tesserae, move tesserae and place them on mesh sheets. The way the tesserae are set broadly includes the methodolgy of how it is done, to include placement by hand. There are separation membranes, release agents, etc. It allows a small drawing to become very large and detailed. It is a long story and one day when I have time, I'll fill you in on the details. In the meantime, if you know anyone in the art or architecural community that would be interested in large mosaics, please let me know.
Thanks,
Mike
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#25]
14 Feb 2007
To: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#24] 14 Feb 2007
Very interesting. Do you have pictures of completed projects?
Ventura and Oxnard, cities in Ventura County, California (especially Ventura) are making a push for public art, and are taking proposals for murals and other works of art.
I'm not sure which dept. to contact, but I'm sure a call to either of their city halls, would be a good start.
From: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#26]
14 Feb 2007
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#25] 14 Feb 2007
Dave:
Thanks for the tip--I'll let you know what I dig up. I only have one pic on this computer of one of the overlooks for the bridge. If you go to Olympia.org and follow the site to the 4th Av Corridor project you will see the finished photos.
I can't believe how much time I'm spending on this site doing research--this is a great forum!! Retail store got it's remodel finished yesterday--computer should arrive tomorrow or Fri, laser is due here end of month.
Thanks again for the tip.
Mike
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#27]
14 Feb 2007
To: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#26] 14 Feb 2007
The photo you attached was an impressive example.
I went to the site you mentioned but couldn't find the 4th Ave. corridor reference.
In any case, I can see why you're adding laser to your mix, in working with stone.
Very exciting! Looking forward to some of your upcoming masterpieces. :-)
From: ChiefD (CHIEFDCCD) [#28]
14 Feb 2007
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#5] 14 Feb 2007
Dave,
What settings did you use on this photo. I just bought photograv, but am not getting this kind of results I am getting a more sillouette look). Do we have a string here already on using photograv? If you have a digital photo, what is the process from the point of importing to CorelDraw to finish laser?
Chief D
From: Dave Jones (DAVERJ) [#29]
14 Feb 2007
To: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#26] 14 Feb 2007
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#30]
14 Feb 2007
To: ChiefD (CHIEFDCCD) [#28] 14 Feb 2007
That one was done on Lasersketch marble. On a 30-watt laser it was run at 97% speed and 30% power.
There are no two photos that are the same. Every one takes a bit of tweeking here and there to get the best results. I use Corel PhotoPaint to manipulate the image, then run it through auto-processing in PhotograV, then import into my CorelDRAW layout.
From: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#31]
14 Feb 2007
To: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#21] 15 Feb 2007
Michael,
Sounds intriguing. Keep me posted please. ( if you dont mind sharing that is)....
Good luck. I hope it works out for you.
From: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#32]
15 Feb 2007
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#30] 15 Feb 2007
Dave:
When you say manipulate the image--what exactly are you trying to achieve? I do understand imaging quite well. I worked with a large format imaging co. near Chicago. I was their marketing director. In the photographic high end we used LVT's, Lambda's and AutoPans. Normally, we had the leading edge in speed, color adjusment, ditigal manipulation (we manufactured large format graphic designs for Greyhound), storage, and web presence. At any rate--we processed for high end pro photographers as well. We would do it the old fashion way as well by dodging and burning in the dark room. I want to achieve high end photography in stone. I am purchasing a rather high end scanner (junk in--junk out)--and am (or was) capable of manipulating a photo to the point touching up, cutting, cropping, and adding affects in Photoshop 5. I plan on pushing real hard to learn the capabilities of both Paint & Draw. I do want to understand the order of things like this. At what point do I adjust my image size to gain maximum effect? I assume that depends on the size. If I want to do an 8"x11" that's one issue. If I want to do the side of a building--that becomes another issue. These kinds of digital files--high quality--take special consideration. I recall we once created a file so large it took 22 hours to rasterize!! We dealt mostly in color imaging. There were still some good black and white things we did. Now I need to understand the grayscale I guess to get the results I want. Thanks for your input and time EVERYONE!
Mike
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#33]
15 Feb 2007
To: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#32] 17 Feb 2007
Mike,
When I say manipulate, I am referring to removing the background, feathering (softening) the edge of what remains, changing to grayscale, adjusting the contrast, then changing to 8-bit bmp format.
It gives me pain just thinking about all of the tinkering (time) that has to go into getting a photograph to engrave acceptably. The other thing is that this type of service is almost exclusively onesie orders, which is contrary to what I focus my business on. I guess that explains why I practically hide my engraved photo samples.
From: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY) [#34]
15 Feb 2007
To: Mikey (MIKE2449) [#32] 17 Feb 2007
I can answer the question that you almost asked.
Do not blow up a picture in one step. Do it in at least three steps and use oddball amounts in the percentage area. Never use something like 2 or three. Use something like 123%, then 145% then to final size. It gives a much smoother result. You can then sharpen the image a bit to end up with surprising results.
From: Ray (STAMP) [#35]
17 Feb 2007
To: ALL
To all,
Let's see if i buy a 30 watt machine what r the limitations of a 30 watt compare to a 40 watt.
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