posted January 13, 2009 02:06 AM
I was at the checkout in a favorite art suppy store a while back. I had a good sized handful of decent quality brushes which I was picking up for our students to use at our workshop for painting the routed samples. There were enough brushes to more than qualify for a bulk discount. We were expecting more than 20 guests at the upcoming workshop so I had to stock up a bit to make sure we had enough for everyone. We can never have enough good brushes in our collection - no matter what the occasion.
The person behind me gasped as each brush rang up on the till... $15, $20 $25 and sometimes more for the larger ones and there was quite the bunch on the counter. She kept looking at me as the clerk rang them in... waiting for a reaction as they added up but I didn't flich... not even a little. I know what quality costs - especially in the brush department.
When the clerk hit the total button the person behind me almost fainted... and insisted that I should be shocked. Even the clerk gasped a little at the total. I calmly paid the bill and smiled. I assured them it was OK. The brushes were a good investment.
Those brushes will last for years, properly cared for. And they will turn out many hundreds times their worth in product before they are done.
I also knew a good brush was a delight to use, far superior to one bought with only the price in mind. And if you think buying one good brush is fun you can only imagine how much fun it was to buy that many!
It was a brush with destiny in Yarrow...
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted January 13, 2009 06:56 AM
chuckling over your pun, from "downtown" Chatham Center
-------------------- 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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posted January 13, 2009 07:37 AM
Dan ... been there, done that!
GOOD signwriting brushes are hard to find these days with the changes in industry, and costs have gone up for the quality ones of course!
BUT ... where else can you get a $5000 nett profit out of investing in a "machine" you paid $25 for?
To get those rates I just quoted, I did a rough guess on the average "life" of one of my 1" Haydn Truck Brushes on Blackboards. It's a tough life for them though! I hammer them at least two days every week and they don't last very long under ravages of their driver using full throttle all the time (even around the bends) and the fact because of coarse paint and rough boards they lose hair faster than I do!
Was fortunate to be at Letterhead Meet in New Zealand where a Sign Supply Merchant had a display of Haydns. Not just the 1/4" to 1" range of Trucks but also their excellent 200 and 500 long series.
I was lke a kid in a lolly shop with dad's open wallet!
"I'll take one of those. One of those. Two of those etc etc" ..... and she thought I was asking for single brushes ... not a display card with six of one size! Only realised I was for real when I paid up with a card and a smile.
Enn from Christchurch NZ, where Haydn Factory is, managed a deal with them to "top-up" my stocks enough to last me a couple more years. Thanks.
Total price buying all those brushes was LESS than two 45m rolls of Vinyl!
Sorta better profit margin! EH?
Edited for speling, and to say if I could find a brush with SpellCheck I would make even more profit not having to go back and repaint over errors.
Best one was missing an "R" out of 8x4 blackboard ... "Carrots 79c/kg"
[ January 13, 2009, 08:35 AM: Message edited by: Jon Butterworth ]
posted January 13, 2009 08:43 AM
I striped and hand lettered a trailer last week. Let's see $5.00 worth of black oneshot. The customer supplied the orange color, the pounce pattern and a nice shop to work in. $20. worth of tape to mask the strips. Wear and tear on the brushes and misc. $40. It took me 10 hours including travel and set up.... $1580.00 plus tax... and it was fun!!! What a nice break from working "On the Grid" Okay, now I'd better go fire up the router so I can pay the rent on my 5500 Sq. Ft. shop.
posted January 13, 2009 09:10 AM
Good point Duncan...There was a week where all my jobs were hand lettered, the garbage truck comes here every Tuesday...I didn't have anything for garbage or anything for recycle...that's quite a thing and I never really thought about it before, until that morning ...and alot more profit in my pockets...interesting eh ?
posted January 13, 2009 09:29 AM
Well, that's easy for you to do Dan....you have that money factory.
(Hey, I've learned to put those smiley things at the end so y'all won't jump on me. Karyn taught me. Bless her heart.)
It's good to hear that Dan is upgrading his brush collection. When we were there in October we had to use a stick with miniature horse hair taped to the end. Bless his heart.
[ January 13, 2009, 09:33 AM: Message edited by: Raymond Chapman ]
-------------------- Chapman Sign Studio Temple, Texas chapmanstudio@sbcglobal.net Posts: 6306 | From: Temple, Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted January 13, 2009 10:35 AM
Nah Ray .... the HARDLY NORMAL SIGN COMPANY was formed BECAUSE us three instantly understood each other's common language: talent, love of the art, sharing it and most of all the ability to laugh at ourselves and our faults and "stuff-ups"!
HNSC was spawned in Edmonton Canada 2007.
Some collateral damage is now resulting with others ... epecially at other Letterhead meets.
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