All,

Does anyone have a solution to gather most, if not all, of the shavings created from the process of cutting trophy columns? Is one's level of success simply based on the suction power of their vacuum?

I used to use a shop vac to remove chips and sawdust from my equipment and sander. Those darned things burn out fast. They cannot take being on for a half hour at a time. I even had one throw a piece of the commutator through the side of the top of the motor.

After three of then in less than three years, I bought a commercial dust collector for woodworking. Never a problem since.

It is a 1 1/2 HP model from Enco, (800-use-enco http://www.use-enco.com ). It was about five years ago and still working. Enco does not have the best equipment, out is far less expensive. If you call, get their full catalog, the fliers are only specials and are missing a lot of items.

This chip, (maybe called dust), collector is a two bag unit that totals about 5 feet tall. The upper bag filters the air and the chips drop into the lower bag which is easy to empty. For use on multiple pieces of equipment be sure to use a blast gate at each. Thess can be closed so only the one in use gets the suction. The blast gates are cheap.

I did have to do a little modification. The air movement was great but it dropped rapidly when restricted a bit. There was too much clearance between the top of the impeller and the top of the housing. I cut a piece of 1/4" acrylic, (there was 3/8 clearance), and mounted it inside the top impeller cover. More airflow and far less drop in suction with restrictions.

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

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

Harvey,

Thanks for the link. I will be using it in my not-so-distant future plans.

I have not delved into heavy trophy production to date. I plan to make the development of this niche a marketing project for some college interns I will be working with this summer. I hope it is a win-win for everyone.

Now, I just have to get that third garage cleared out so I have room to store the pallates of trophy components that will be needed. :-)

David,

I don't know about your area, But If I don't see another trophy order I would be a happy man. The garage/basement operators have killed the trophy prices around here. I wish them well but they have not accepted the idea of charging fair prices if they ever would like to get a store front. They make very little mark-up because they don't have to cover the overhead of rent, insurance, taxes, utilities, etc........ I have caller-id on the phone and have "busted a couple of companies trying to get our prices so they can undercut us. One guy even worked at one of the BIG airplane companies and was told to stop selling trophies on company time. He is still around though. I just adjust my prices to try to make a decent profit and concentrate on plaques, acrylics, screen printing & embroidery. The trophies have a lot more labor costs than my other lines, so I try to stay away from them, but they keep finding me anyway.

Good Luck though.

btw, how many "competitors" do you have in your area? I would assume you rely on more than just the immediate St. Joe area for your market.

John,

Your comments are the exact reason I haven't persued the sport trophy market my first four years in business. I am still contemplating getting into custom framing and matting as a complimentary service, as opposed to trophies. The margins on framing are even better than trophies and the demand is very high in our area.

The trophy market in my town is competitive, but mostly from the three retail store fronts that market almost exclusively to the sport trophy and plaque market. I am not aware of any low-ballers, but then again, I haven't done any detailed research into that subject yet.

Before I do anything, I need to put together a plan for the additional space requirements. Extra space is not in any plans for another two years.

Wow,

I would not have guessed that many retailers in town, what is the population of St. Joe?

I have 7 others listed in the phone book for a population of approx 350,000. (not counting home based and surrounding towns)

I have a customer in St. Joe that drives down here 2 - 3 times a year for some engraving..............I wonder how many people from here go a great distance for their work? I know the internet sells quite a bit. Today I had a local university call me for 20 plaques because the company they normally do business with out of state couldn't get their order out in time. Now they want 2 crystal vases in addition to the plaques. Of course this dosen't happen during slow periods.........what slow periods, I forgot, I don't have slow periods - just busy & busier! I need to find out how to do less for more $.

Simple! Just become a "Stunt Engraver" and promote what your competitors can't/won't do.....

Right, David? Grin!

John,

Our population is about 75,000, but we really serve most of northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas. These rural-area residents have limited brick and morter retail options, so most of them find their way into St. Joseph weekly. I am always amazed how much out-of-town business walks in my door. Of course, this type of business often requires same day service as a convenience.

Well, I'm a "SE" in training.

I've got two other shops that send me all the hard stuff....like lasering on glass, lasering 10 brass plates with a logo that needs to be scanned in (and they do have the same laser and scanner that I h ave!).......sublimation.......etc. I'm amazed at some of the "easy" stuff that they have me do. Oh, well.

I have engraved on a lot of "weird" things. So I have a lot of 1 time molds made to hold them.

How neat, I just assumed they would want to save those items until they got to go to the "Big City".

When I went up to MN a week ago, I didn't see your sign out on I-35 - you must not have paid your elect. bill, since I went thru at night. And I know you've already got all the people off of I-29 coming in.

John,

I don't have any billboards on I-35, but when you drove through Des Moines you may have seen some of my work. Six percent of my total business is done with Des Moines customers. I have been able to establish this base thanks to the help of old childhood friends and relatives who live in that area.

And yes, I have paid my electric bill. My gasoline bill may be a different issue this month.

But, at least your gas prices were less than here!.................Now, California is a different subject, I heard they are around $2.75 for regular unleaded in central part of the state - LA must be $$$$$.