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Year end purchase
- Thread starter MFA
- Start date
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
If you don't need it, don't buy it. It's usually spending a dollar to save 10 cents.
MFA
Same Day Signs
Thanks for the comment Boudica. I'm thinking along those lines and was curious about trends. I wasn't looking for advice about whether or not to spend my money. I was hoping to get some idea of how other signmakers think about shop improvements. Maybe I should have given up a little more up front. I have Flexi 12, Graphtec 8600-75, Gerber Edge, Envision plotter, Fletcher Cutter, H5 panel saw and a Shopbot PRS Alpha with an indexer. I'm at least the third owner of the Shopbot. I got it off Craigslist and it more than paid for itself the first year. I find it frustrating to use the Gerber Edge with Flexi and wish I had coffed up the extra bucks for Omega when I bought the used Edge. Now I wonder if it's worth investing in an FX and Omega software. I outsource all my large format printing and use the Edge for small stuff.
Boudica
I'm here for Educational Purposes
I checked out your profile... I'm not personally familiar with your equipment, what you do is fairly vague. It sounds like you're leaning towards software? If you're current tools and equipment work for you (only you would know) then you need to help the contributors know what you're looking to spend your money on. Or as notta said, save it.
Johnny Best
Active Member
If I had $25 grand to spend it would be on a complete vacuum system to take sawdust from the woodworking tools and take debris from CNC and put into large bag to empty into dumpster located outside and have a clean and dust free shop. And included in there a clean air filter for my printers.
In other words a clean environment to work in so I am not breathing through a tube when I retire.
I am sure I would need more than $25,000 for all that.
In other words a clean environment to work in so I am not breathing through a tube when I retire.
I am sure I would need more than $25,000 for all that.
Depends a little on what you do for a living. Signs, banners, CNC, fabrication??
Do you have a wide format printer? They are money makers with the right workflow.
Do you need a flatbed laminator? Great for laying vinyl down on large hard substrates.
How about a down payment on a flatbed printer (if needed), Vanguard is a good starter machine.
Maybe even use a few of the $$$ to freshen up the ole' website.
It has a lot to do with what your local market needs and what you supply them.
Have you taken a bonus lately? Pay the taxes and put the balance of the money away for your future.
Now that's a novel idea.
Do you have a wide format printer? They are money makers with the right workflow.
Do you need a flatbed laminator? Great for laying vinyl down on large hard substrates.
How about a down payment on a flatbed printer (if needed), Vanguard is a good starter machine.
Maybe even use a few of the $$$ to freshen up the ole' website.
It has a lot to do with what your local market needs and what you supply them.
Have you taken a bonus lately? Pay the taxes and put the balance of the money away for your future.
Now that's a novel idea.
victor bogdanov
Active Member
I would place a big material order and see if I can get a better price on the larger material order. That's what Im doing actually, buying as much material as I can to raise expenses for the year
d fleming
New Member
For me in the sign shop I would get a nice laser just to play. I'm getting close to retiring and play toys are in, lol. I did just purchase a small print/cutter that I installed this week for myself and one customer whose jobs are every week but too small to send out. It was just killing labor time trying to make small stickers with even smaller type in cut vinyl. On the distillery side I would definitely build a stripping still large enough to increase production.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
A dumb question will get dumb answers. You don't give much background on what you do or where you think your heading. You want to keep up on "trends"? I've had a lot of questions but never about what to spend my money on. If you're in business, aren't you thinking about your systems and already have plans for how to expand or grow? You're the best one to answer your own question. I have a list of stuff that I would "like" to have. Believe me, if I just HAD to blow X amount of $, I know what I could do with it... some pills and coke and tinder would be a fun way to spend some extra $.
gnubler
Active Member
Exactly. I recently moved into a larger shop and have been on a buying spree for all the tools/equipment I desperately needed but had no room for. Saws, new dual monitor workstation, shelving, a second work table, ladder, etc. More equipment to come next year after more research is done. Purge what you don't need or isn't worth the space and try something new.
FireSprint.com
Trade Only Screen & Digital Sign Printing
We're getting more printers, and more automation, mostly in 2023 though. With our building purchase in '22, we spent it all...
I love that you outsource your wide format printing, but having some ability to print in-house would be my go-to.
I love that you outsource your wide format printing, but having some ability to print in-house would be my go-to.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
You liking the new setup?
Gino
Premium Subscriber
The last two years won't do ya any good. Ya need to know what you've currently been spending on an average the last 3 or 4 months. You might've had a huge order 2 years ago and/or some other oddball scenario. You need to figure out, if it's increasing currently. If you farm out banners/wraps or other printed media 2 days a week, keep doing it. 3 is the 'on the fence' part. Anything over 3 days, should afford you enough to get a 54" printer and a 60" laminator. Remember, ya need the real estate to set up a laminator work station, even if it's on wheels.
When we were in the market for a flatbed, we couldn't quite do it, although we had almost enough work for it. A job came along that not only paid for the unit, but all the cost of setting it up, buying ALL the media for that particular job and we still made a nice profit. Not all jobs will yield that kinda turnaround, but if you can count on 3 days a week of work, that should be a payment on those two machines.
The other part is..... once ya have it, you'll promote the livin' sh!t out of it and drum up even more work.
This is all based upon the fact that you are not independently wealthy and just doing it for fun...............
When we were in the market for a flatbed, we couldn't quite do it, although we had almost enough work for it. A job came along that not only paid for the unit, but all the cost of setting it up, buying ALL the media for that particular job and we still made a nice profit. Not all jobs will yield that kinda turnaround, but if you can count on 3 days a week of work, that should be a payment on those two machines.
The other part is..... once ya have it, you'll promote the livin' sh!t out of it and drum up even more work.
This is all based upon the fact that you are not independently wealthy and just doing it for fun...............
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
Don't forget about you time... I'm a mostly one man show and everytime I look at the printer situation, I always land on subbing out because it nice just having those prints delivered ready to go. But I'm also geared towards installation
