The Dinosaur Rises!!! - Engraving Etc. Forum

From:	UncleSteve	29 May 2006
To:	ALL	1 of 18

3964.1
After digging, mining and excavating, our own Harvey ( well, really Dee's ) exposed a wonderful old dinosaur known as the New Hermes GM!!! Even had a few sets of type entombed with it! :-) Out of the goodness of his heart (or maybe out of vengence or spite ;-) ) he has put it on loan and display in MY museum! :O Yes, engravers, I am now a real, official panty graph, er, pantograph operator and can call myself an engraver! The machine (?) is fully operational and going into a productive, profitable rebirth. If anyone has any extra bits (1/8" x 1.5") cluttering up their shop or junk drawer, contributions will be gladly accepted. Also would like to "upgrade" the machine by adding a motor and rotary spindle so I can go beyond basic flat work and into desk signs, etc. Thank you Harvey! You may have created a monster! ;-) "Genius ain't anything more than elegant common sense." Josh Billings
EDITED: 29 May 2006 by UNCLESTEVE

From:	Stunt Engraver (DGL)	29 May 2006
To:	UncleSteve	2 of 18

3964.2 In reply to 3964.1
Steve, Congratulations! Ya gotta start somewhere, and believe it or not, you'll find some money-making areas for the dinosaur. A few items that come to mind, are putting initials on lighters, small jewelry items and ID bracelets. Basically, to get your foot in the door, you'll need 4 sets of type: Double Line Century (5/8") Double Line Connecting Script (or single line script) 3/4" Single Line Condensed Block (5/16") Single Line Miniature Script (3/8"?) Those suggestions are based on my experience with on-site engraving for Nordstrom. I'd take my computerized system to the stores, with my full array of typefaces; and guess what? No matter which items were thrown my way, (and there were a wide variety) the "Lion's Share" of the time, all I needed were a simple block and script typeface. Of course, it's nice to have a much larger library, but to get started, you'll only need "The Fab Four." :-) David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri DGL Engraving Port Hueneme, CA

From:	UncleSteve	29 May 2006
To:	Stunt Engraver (DGL)	3 of 18

3964.3 In reply to 3964.2

David,

Thank you.

The two initial venues I am looking at are smoking accessories (lighters, cigar tubes, cigarette cases, etc.) at two local tobbaconists and working with the local animal shelters to do fundraising using the pet tags.

Next step will be setting up an eBay store for the personalized tags.

I have already contacted some of the running clubs to do the ICE (In Case of Emergency) tags that lace onto the sneakers, but they are now using the tags with the sensor built in to track the runner's at check points. :-(

I expect it to be enjoyable going onsite and maybe even get into small giftware in time for the holiday season.

Oh, the type styles that I received are a two-line block, a two-line script and an interlocking (?) monogram set.

They can have any style they want as long as it is on the chart... ;-)

ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â PS. You had a COMPUTER in your machine? Mine doesn't even have a plug! :S

"Genius ain't anything more than elegant common sense." Josh Billings

EDITED: 29 May 2006 by UNCLESTEVE

From:	Stunt Engraver (DGL)	30 May 2006
To:	UncleSteve	4 of 18

3964.4 In reply to 3964.3
Steve, Sounds like you have a good sense of what to do with the machine. On-site engraving, if you have the right temperment, can be fun and profitable. Not many people want to put themselves under the microscope of public scrutiny. Once you feel a demand growing, it will be important to move up to a computerized system; even if it's an oldie but goodie. As a person who continues to use a pantograph, regularly, I'm at your service, with any help I can offer. Good luck! David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri DGL Engraving Port Hueneme, CA

From:	Paul (JACKPETTY)	2 Jun 2006
To:	ALL	5 of 18

3964.5
I still have an Old Hermes (not sure now what the model is) and I'm trying to get rid of it but feel bad about it since that's what I learned on 30 years ago. I just don't have the space. I have a number of fonts that I was going to put on Ebay one day. Some are specialty fonts so if you're interested, I can take some pics and email them.

From:	Paul (JACKPETTY)	2 Jun 2006
To:	UncleSteve	7 of 18

3964.7 In reply to 3964.6
No, I'm not Skype ready nor do I have it on the horizon. But, if it's helpful and I have a few minutes, I can download it and try it out. Do that many people really use it? Never really gave it much thought.

From:	logojohn	2 Jun 2006
To:	Paul (JACKPETTY)	8 of 18

3964.8 In reply to 3964.5
I mount our old hermes vice on the xenetech rotary. Great for holding deep itmes. http://www.engravingetc.org/forum/getattachment.php?webtag=EE&hash=5f8798c68fc03d9eedf6ee0e70872a24 We finally talked the owner into getting another laser. I picked a 24x36 Xenetech. Noticed you got that to. Do you actually use that much space. Figured it was best to err on the side of too much even though most of what we do is smaller than that now. .

From:	Paul (JACKPETTY)	2 Jun 2006
To:	logojohn	9 of 18

3964.9 In reply to 3964.8
I never thought the space would be handy but this busy season, the table size really helped. We do more plaques than any other item and this year, we seemed to have people order more, larger sizes. I had one job for 34 identical plaques with just a name and title different (ok, not 100% identical). I was able to do this job in 3 groups in just about an hour. This job had tons of copy on each plate and even discounting the engraving I did about $1000 of engraving. I ran the XLT at 90% speed where my older machine would have taken at least 3 times longer. Plus, since I'm without extra help, I can 'set it and forget it' and do other things-----I know, never leave a running laser alone. :O

From:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	2 Jun 2006
To:	Paul (JACKPETTY)	10 of 18

3964.10 In reply to 3964.9

I would never worry about leaving the laser with brass plates. I would even go shopping if needed.

Plastic is a very different story.

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

Harvey's Tips Page When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

From:	Paul (JACKPETTY)	2 Jun 2006
To:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	11 of 18

3964.11 In reply to 3964.10
What's shopping? B-) I'm not in a very large area so leaving the system with short jobs is not a worry. But, after seeing the pictures from some BBQ'd systems, I'm trying to be responsible.

From:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	2 Jun 2006
To:	Paul (JACKPETTY)	12 of 18

3964.12 In reply to 3964.11
Shopping is the thing you have to do because your wife is working 90 hours a week at the store in the mall. Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem) Harvey's Tips Page When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

From:	UncleSteve	2 Jun 2006
To:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	13 of 18

3964.13 In reply to 3964.12
So ( to bring the thread back on topic >.< ), you are saying that "the dinosaur rises" to go do the shopping cause wifey is slaving over a hot rotisserie engraver? er, rotary? ;-) "Genius ain't anything more than elegant common sense." Josh Billings

From:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	2 Jun 2006
To:	UncleSteve	14 of 18

3964.14 In reply to 3964.13
Something more or less than that. :O Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem) Harvey's Tips Page When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

From:	UncleSteve	18 Jun 2006
To:	ALL	15 of 18

3964.15 In reply to 3964.1
Okay, okay! The dinosaur bit me! >.< It has been about two weeks and I am looking at upgrading (?) to an IL, an IL II, and an ILK-2.... slightly newer and with a rotary spindle and motor..... Already getting requests for plastic name badges. Any input as to which model would be a good choice (they all seem to be pretty much the same to these newbie eyes) and what a reasonable price would be for a used one in good condition would be appreciated. "Genius ain't anything more than elegant common sense." Josh Billings

From:	Stunt Engraver (DGL)	18 Jun 2006
To:	UncleSteve	16 of 18

3964.16 In reply to 3964.15

Steve,

I'm not familiar with those models, by number. I could offer an opinion, if you have pictures.

I know it's not one of the choices you mentioned, but if you plan to do pantograph engraving, even after the day you upgrade to a computerized system, the GTX-Universal will be the machine you want.

Capable of engraving 15" diameter Revere bowls and large trays, as well as anything other pantographs can do, not to mention some things many new computerized engraving systems can't.

They don't call it Universal for nothing. :-)

David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri
DGL Engraving
Port Hueneme, CA

EDITED: 18 Jun 2006 by DGL

From:	Stunt Engraver (DGL)	18 Jun 2006
To:	UncleSteve	18 of 18

3964.18 In reply to 3964.17
Steve, I saw the pictures. If you already have a demand for flat plates, any of them should be fine. Versatility has always been my battle cry, so the flatbed machines were never in my lineup of choices, when deciding on a machine. "Ya gotta start somewhere" If the price is right, those machines should make a good start. David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri DGL Engraving Port Hueneme, CA