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I just got myself a handy-dandy grommet press, and can't believe I piddled around with a hammer and punch die-set for so long!!! I'm in love with this new toy!
I'm also laminating prints with a squirt bottle and a squeegy. Just wait until I finally get a laminator...I'll have to change my pants!!!!
What tools do you have that you can't believe you took so long to buy???
Suelynn
-------------------- "It is never too late to be what you might have been." -George Eliot
Suelynn Sedor Sedor Signs Carnduff, SK Canada Posts: 2863 | From: Carnduff, SK Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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Hiya Suelynn, I couldn't live without my grommet press. While working with a previous employer, I was lucky enough to sell a custom banner that required a couple hundred grommets. The machine paid for itself on this one job. Depending on the model you bought, you may want to add a plywood base to help stabilize it and make sure you charge for your grommets. I normally charge $1 per. As a sign maker, a laminator was a luxury. As a digital printer, it is a necessity that can be used to apply vinyl too. The only other tool that I can't beleive I lived without is Outlook. Sure other tools like a hammer drill or a scaffold would be nice, but I can rent those as needed. Outlook has proven to be a great organizational tool and an efficient way to keep track of my day. Between communications, contacts, appointments and tasks, I am able to budget my time as efficiently as possible. I'll still swear that Micro$oft $ucks, but right now it's working for me until I find an equal alternative.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Suelynn, I just recently became a cable junkie. Can you believe I never had cable tv until now? I still don't watch an overwheming amount of tv but I'm getting into the home decorating shows now.
I could still get away without it, ... but it is kind of cool to have.
Isn't it funny the little things that make you feel like you're moving up in the world. heehee
Nettie
-------------------- "When Love and Skill Work Together ... Expect a Masterpiece"
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LOL Nettie! I'm doing the opposite. I have cable but did a serious downgrade to my package becaused I wasn't utilizing it. AT ALL. I now look at all the decorating shows I use to be addicted to and think, "Wow, that's still on?" LOL Seems like years ago I watched them and it was only about 4 months.
Funny how you can get out of the habit as quickly as getting into it. But what a way to unwind!
Back on topic... I'd have to say my laptop inside the house. When your shop is a few steps away in another building, it sure is nice to have a portable computer so you can pick and choose where to burn off some net time.
Seriously I have work platforms called Gorilla Ladders that are the cat's meow. They are like 2.5' high or so, 3-4 feet long. Great for those jobs where a ladder would have to be moved constantly but isn't too high. I also use them a lot as sawhorses.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Wireless Network! It's the bomb! I put it off quite a while, but, a year later, I don't know how we did without it. When I was bounced out of my office in April to make room for another designer, wireless made it a breeze! You can have an office anywhere in the building.
[ July 06, 2005, 12:57 PM: Message edited by: Rick Beisiegel ]
""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3485 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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I finally got a grommet press a few months ago, I'm with you on why did I wait so long!!! I have the Gorilla ladder, wonderful!! Scaffolding and hammerdrill from doing contractor work already in stock. My work table is 8' x 24', I wondered when I built it why I didn't do it before, along with my 32' wall easel! I really want a CNC router! I also want a pad printer for promotional printing jobs. All with time I think. The laptop is the bomb! I need one...but then I'd have to learn how to post pictures and make a portfilio in it. I have a few on my main computer but no free time to ppost or organize pictures! I'm just the opposite of Netie though, I have to buy a TV before I get cable. I never watch so I don't have one.
Still thinking on how to spend money Michael
-------------------- Michael A Latham Tee's Me Shirt & Sign 16462 Jefferson Davis Highway Colonial Heights Va. 804-835-3299 signdogopie@aol.com Posts: 379 | From: Colonial Heights, Virginia | Registered: Feb 2004
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i'm thinking what i need right now is an mp3...can ya believe i don't have one????
a grommet press was like one of the very first things i got...worth every dime!
this year....a GOOD laminator...i can't believe i haven't ruined a print yet....(watch now i will). so glad i spent the extra $$ like advised and got the seal.
-------------------- Karyn Bush Simply Not Ordinary, LLC Bartlett, NH 603-383-9955 www.snosigns.com info@snosigns.com Posts: 3516 | From: Bartlett, NH USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Janette Balogh: Dave does have Fred Flintstone feet.
Suelynn, I just recently became a cable junkie. Can you believe I never had cable tv until now? I still don't watch an overwheming amount of tv but I'm getting into the home decorating shows now.
Nettie
STOP WATCHING THE DECORATOR SHOWS!!!!!!!!!! Please, before it's too late. Denise and I are hopelessly addicted and I've gotten so in touch with my feminine side I've started to sit down to pee.........please, stop now while you still can!!!!!!!!!!!!
All kidding aside, you will come up with all sorts of neat ideas.
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
Now I have to call Rick B. and get the scoop on wireless routers since the new toy, errr tool, has built in wireless.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
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Air-powered hole punch- it only does 5mm diam holes, but where you need to rivet a sheet to a frame, the holes are a huge timesaver.
Drill-Doctor drill sharpening tool. I'm surprised I wasted so much time with self-sharpened wrongly-ground blunt drill bits!
Zig zag folding ladder.
Sheet metal folder. (small- bigger will be nice!)
12 x 6 ft pivoting table (home made).
Laptop! (no cable here, just plain tv which I barely watch)
20 ft wide overhead gantry, plus Kubota tractor with front-end loader.
Electricity! ( after 12 years on solar, battery & genny power)
(What do the grommet punches cost, and the corner rounders?)
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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Corner rounder is well worth it. Grommet press is really handy now that we print our own banners on the Versacamm. I have to say the number one addition that I couldn't live without is the panel saw! Boy does it get a workout. Coroplast (6mil), Dibond, MDO, Plexiglass (gotta change the sawblade)and even Sintra(pvc) sheets are a breeze ripping them horizontal or vertical. Worth every dollar we paid for it. I still can't believe I spent the money on the corner rounder, but it does save a lot of time! I'm still in awe of the versacamm....just love watching it print full color anything! Sign-cerely, Steve Luck
-------------------- Steve Luck Sign Magic Inc. 2718-b Grovelin Godfrey, Illinois 62035 (618)466-9120 signmagic@sbcglobal.net Posts: 870 | From: 2718-b Grovelin Godfrey, Illinois 62035 | Registered: Dec 2004
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I hardly use x-acto knives anymore. The little Olfa knives are sharper, easier to control, and less likely to snap tips off. I had one bad cut with an x-acto about 15 years ago. Since then I've been cut-free. I must have learned the lesson well.
My mind wanders. And that's not a good thing, 'cause it's too small to be out there alone. Posts: 3129 | From: Tooele, UT | Registered: Mar 2005
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Can't believe I (had to in some cases) wait so long to get:
An air compressor. That's an incredibley handy thing.
A computer.
A plotter.
But the best thing I ever waited/wished/waited/worked/waited for:
After owning a Chevy van, a Datsun pick-up, an S-10 extra-cab (those lil' fold-down seats~ACK! ), then two different 2-door Blazers (one was 4WD), a 4-door Blazer, a Scottsdale single-cab Chevy pick-up, a *Chevy 1500 extra-cab, and then finally, another Chevy 1500 extra-cab . . .I can not imagine what more I would really need in a vehicle.
I will never go back to a single-cab again, even when my kid's gone . . .
Don't really need a bunch'a bells & whistles or glitz & glamour . . . don't need no stylish rims or 4-wheel drive . . . . don't need a huge pick-up that looks like a Semi . . . don't really care what colour it is . . .
just need one vehicle with a good AC and a plain ol' radio that I can 'go-to-town' in all dressed up, or go to an 'on-site' job in paint-clothes . . .somethin' I can get groceries in, or 6x6x16's in.
Somethin' that's easy to get parts for and easy to work on.
Somethin' I can add about 200,000 more miles to and it STILL keeps runnin.
A vehicle that can function like a car with plenty of cab room for kids, dogs, or stuff, and a truck with tool box and fleet-sides for signs, dogs, or stuff...
All in one ride.
SO pragmatic.
*The Chevy 1500 I sold before I got the one I have now was well taken care of: (only the transmission had been replaced before I bought it) It had 167,000 original miles on it when I bought it. I sold it with 297,000 miles. The guy is still drivin' it to and from his job everyday . . .it now has over 310,000 miles on it . . .take care of anything, and it'll last!
-------------------- Signs Sweet Home Alabama
oneshot on chat
"Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a dog" Posts: 5758 | From: "Sweet Home" Alabama | Registered: Mar 2003
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Just upgraded to a Roland Camm 24" plotter- got tired of Mickey Mouseing around, and making do... Also just got a bench-top sand blasting cabinet and compressor for doing glass work- never ceases to amaze me how the right tools for the job make it go so much better! DUH!
-------------------- Catharine C. Kennedy CCK Graphics 1511 Route 28 Chatham Center, NY 12184 cck1620@taconic.net "Look at me, Look at me, Look at me now! I't's fun to have fun, But you have to know how!" Posts: 2173 | From: downtown Chatham Center, NY | Registered: Feb 2004
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I used to have a road map, you know, one of those annoying pieces of paper that you needed an engineering degree to fold. Well now I have this GPS mapping system that talks you through every turn. Anytime I have to do a job outside of my familiar territory I just plug in the destination and this little voice inside gets me there. I’m still trying to figure out how that got this little person inside of this GPS like they did with the old intercom systems used in Bedrock.
Posts: 5 | From: Titusville, FL | Registered: Jul 2005
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Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6714 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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when I took over this shop I sold the scroll saw and regretted it ever since. Stopped at a neighbor's garage sale the other day and found a nice one for 65 bucks. I'm having so much fun cutting out HDU letters and other stuff.
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This tread has shown me how lucky I am. I have nearly everything listed above. I'm holding out for a personal jet down the road. Then I'll be smiling ear to ear.
-------------------- Bob Stephens Skywatch Signs Zephyrhills, FL
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Yeah, guys are into the decorating shows, I've realized. Hey when all else fails, paint! Splash it with colors! 'Bout time we could get dramatic on the walls and furniture! Life used to be so boring when the monotones were out. I could have screamed with the pastel 80's!
No cable here anymore, just because I don't sit in front of the tube very much.
I guess the best tools I've acquired: plotter, computer, digital camera, and a wonderful workbench, in which I'm building another but larger. I like the 16 foot ones for two 8 footers at once or long banners. I would love to own a scroll saw and router, or a shopbot, for favorite tools.
-------------------- Deb Fowler
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Walt Disney (1901-1966) Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
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), then two different 2-door Blazers (one was 4WD), a 4-door Blazer, a Scottsdale single-cab Chevy pick-up, a *Chevy 1500 extra-cab, and then finally, another Chevy 1500 extra-cab . . .I can not imagine what more I would really need in a vehicle.![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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