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neongod

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Everything posted by neongod

  1. I have a good friend who is still tube bending at 86 years old. He made a Frankenstein for his kids 40 years ago and he broke it putting it away yesterday. Does anyone have at least a 2' piece of 9mm or 10mm uranium glass? Many Thanks in advance.
  2. Howdy, Does anyone have 5lbs of either FMS 3000 white or anything 3500 white in 10mm they'd be willing to sell?
  3. I have a customer asking for an outdoor digital menu board(s). Does anyone here have any experience with a company that makes these that they could recommend?
  4. I'm sure this has been asked before here, but has anyone ever used Krylon Fusion paint for jewelite?
  5. No, just a kick in the shin to an industry already down.
  6. I love the wink and a nod comments like "Not your average employee" or "Difficult to work with" whilst still maintaining your deep repsect for "Professional Tubebenders". How generous, and let me say as a Professional Tubebender that I have done more work for hack shop owners (Who I suspect may be on the hooch) than I can shake a blowhose at. While I'm sure that there are many reputable shop owners, I found many, very hard to deal with. Back before their conscinece hit em,they would bring in a busted 30 yr. old unit, covered in dirt, mercury, and tell me to fix it(No longer),then bitch about the cost of repair (which hasnt changed in years). It's funny, now that I think about it, the same people who came to me to repair their mercury units never spoke about their worries concerning contamination and cheerfully broke up their mercury units in our dumpster when a full changeout was needed. Now of course these same folks are "Enviromentally Friendly" and like to trot out the Neon/ Mercury problem as a dirge against a fine product. We have disposed of our mercury units for over 20 years by sealing them in approved containers then paying hefty fees to properly dispose of them. Meanwhile, were currently working on some cold cathode for a Church who, for the first time in 50 years, needs a couple of units made. 2 units. How many LED's would I be changing out in the same time frame, and tossing into a landfill where their various toxic componets would slowly leak into the ground water? Don't mean to stir the S__t pot, but smarmy comments about a trade I practice and respect from people who most likely have left a sizable mercury footprint in their many years of buisness, need to look up hypocrisy in the dictionary. Sorry for the diatribe, probably Mercury exposure.
  7. Thanks for everyones help, we ended up going with the Hitachi DS14DL 14.4-Volt Lithium Ion. All the reviews were positive, good battery life , great warranty, we'll see.......
  8. We are ready to change out our old 12v dewalt cordless drills in the shop and am looking for some input as to what to buy next. These are for general shop work, so battery life and rechargability of the batteries is important. I keep thinking 18v is better, but it's hard to find one with a 3/8" chuck. Any suggestions?
  9. Has anyone has done buisness with US 1 Sign Maintenence / US Signs, Houston TX ? Good company to work for? Pay on time? Many Thanks for any info!
  10. Frosted paint? Is there a product that you have used?
  11. Actually, this is a job in hand. I've already stasted building.
  12. You can buy frosted acrylic. You can use frosted vinyl and leave the portions that are to be clear. 3 form is SUPER expensive. gn Frosted Acrylic I could find fairly easy, the problem is that spec is for Polycarbonate, These are merely decrotive panels w/ no backlighting and held to a framework with stainless standoffs. I also thought of sanding, but not sure how it would look wet (running a test piece now) maybe sand or blast it then spray a UV clear coat over it, though that might negate the frosted look.
  13. Howdy Folks, I have a job calling for 1/4" polycarb with a frosted look, has anyone ever done this either with paint or sandblasting? They also want some portions to be clear. 3form has a product but it's Uber expensive.
  14. It is only a step from boredom to disillusionment, which leads naturally to self-pity, which in turn ends in chaos.

  15. QTY. (8) Master/Slave Daktronics AF-30102464-9 Message Centers for sale, These were changed out during a Campus wide Retro, all in working condition, Great for "Rental" trailers. All Units have nice white enclosures with lockable Vandal covers. Mounting angle still attached. You will need to aquire the Software. Also have a few Single Face Units Slightly Larger. Would like to get $1000 for the Master Slave Units and $600 for the Singles. Mount these to a $500 Home Depot Landscapers Trailer and you're in Buisness. Will Negotiate if making an offer on the whole lot. Ask for Kerry
  16. I think most Neon shops are struggling against a PR machine led by the LED manufactures who spend millions of dollars in propaganda with quite a bit of erroneous information to promote a product that in reality has some good limted potential, but isn't the panacea for all lighting applications as they claim. It's a real David and Goliath situation except David is getting his Ass beat like a Gong right now. And for all that, the only way for your current or future customers to take another look at Neon and Cold Cathode is for you to introduce them to the differences in both products. Now, the typical small shop owner is already overburdened with trying to make a living, let alone setting out to add a new marketing strategy. But I believe the grassroots approach can work if you access good reputable information online from sources like "The Neon Group" The Neon Group of which we are a founding member. On the site you'll find excellent, easy to understand resourses that you can direct your client base to and at least start some dialog. Is it time consuming? of course, but what's the alternative? And you never know who you'll convince. Improved power supplies and pumping techniques, along with maintaining good bending practices can greatly reduce failure and easily beat LED's in light output and end user longevity. The neon industry needs to police itself to bring the kind of changes that quell the LED marketing juggernaut. I think though, that the most important thing to promote when it concerns Neon is the Apples to Oranges aspect of the 2 products. Strong Design, Skilled Bending and use of the huge array of colors available, is Neons strong point. The LED industry has made the battle of Neon vs LED's over power consumption and ease of use while ignoring how different the 2 mediums are design wise. And there lies the rub, It's only the occasional new Neon sign that has any real style, you go down the street and it's one long line of Block red letters, blue border, black plex etc...etc...Everyone has seen at one time or another, the Cool mural neon for a restaurant or vintage shop of one kind or another and said "that's what I should be doing". For us here, pushing for that kind of creativity to a customer can be frustrating when youre up against a "bottom line" mentality. Each individual in the craft needs to evaluate what he /she can offer designwise and still make the needed markup. Neon shops need to get angry and promote what is easily the Most Iconic sign type ever, get on Flickr and check out the "Vintage Signs" and other sign related folders, it's a good way to recharge your batteries and get your own ideas worked out. That's my Scree, I'm sure you won't agree with everything, and I know alot of people are already attempting to and have made great contributions to making sure that the medium doesnt get regulated to "Headshop Sculptures" only. But there is a need for a mass voice to get the word out that Neon is still viable and fresh.
  17. I go to Church more often anyway........
  18. In Michigan and especially the Detroit Metro area, there is a decided slowdown as you would expect, especially here although very few states will dodge the bullet when it comes to less work overall. People are bidding on fewer projects, though you still see some municipal and educational projects going forward. As far as small retail, most companies can't compete with the butcher shops and the pricing is almost comical, I've literally seen quotes for channel letters that might net the shop owner $200 or $300 max. and the install is practically break even at best. I think that any Sign shop that wants to continue in this business should re examine is overall marketing strategy and remain open and flexible enough to keep up with their social networking, which is a skill that is often not used when we're (hopefully usually) busy. Definitely strange and weird times for all of us.
  19. Sign Craft, Sign Business, in my nickel analysis, I feel that most trade magazines probably have a preponderance to focus on their advertising bottom line, with no little effort being made to create articles designed to keep those advertisers coming back. This results in "The same old thing" month after month......Of course I still make it a point to scan all the rags out there and still find some good ideas. Forums like this and others are really closer to the soul of Signmakers for info and ideas.
  20. We just bid one of these for Detroit Metro Airport, yeah 3M is not our friend these days, and I think that the contract to install ultimately went to the carpenters. Yuck.
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