Rocco

Wow, I wish I could get $5 each, let alone $25. On my last scrap run we got about 10 cents a pound though scrap was low at the time. Has copper gone back up high again? Phillip, to be quite honest, I wouldn't want the old transformers even if you gave them to me. "back in the day," my dad would send me out quite often to put in a used transformer as way to save a customer some money. At least 90% of the time I was back within a couple of weeks/months (or even days) putting in a new one and all we got was an annoyed customer. I'm sure that these are in great shape, but I won't put in a used part due to those experiences. I use my old transformers as weights around the shop when I glue something up. I'll be doing just that tomorrow morning.

This hits it right on the head. Say "LED" to someone and it's immediately assumed that it must be miles better than old fashioned neon lighting. I've had more than one customer ask about retrofitting a sign from neon to LED's and they have already assumed that the LED's will cost next to nothing to run. Add in the labor costs and most retrofit jobs need to be very carefully examined to be worthwhile. There is one thing that does "help" with the cost, at least in a public relations way. You can get much positive press for changing to a "green" lighting solution even if it isn't really worthwhile. I'd bet that Genesee Beer got lots of free advertising this way. ;)

TBH, table saws are pretty dangerous, especially when the guards are removed. In fact, I can't remember being in someone's shop who hasn't removed the guard. My father lost part of two fingers to a table saw by being careless so I know first hand (no pun intended) that the results of a table saw accident really are gruesome. What Big Brother will eventually come up with will surely add to the cost of these saws. However, if it adds $50 (or even $250) to the average saw cost it will probably end up as a net win given the huge cost of health care, especially emergency room fees. When I get back later today I'll have to find MY guard and put it back in place. Thanks for the reminder. IIRC there is a product that will stop a saw in mili-seconds if the blade comes in contact with a body part. And no, I don't recall how they made it work. They had a video showing someone touching a hot dog to spinning blade and the saw stopped without cutting through the doggie. I think the cost was around $250 as an add on, but would be much cheaper if produced in mass quantities. I'll have to try to remember to research it and post a link here. Keepinig all my fingers will be worth the money to me.

OMG. For some reason my browser showed this as a current thread. Sorry about that. BTW - I still like Dewalt better than Makita, but I'm well known to be quite weird. ;)

I have several of these drills. While they will never take the place of my Hilti, they are great for a few tapcons, etc. Next time get one of kits. I have bought several and the last one included the hammer drill and the impact driver for about $75 more than the drill alone. The driver is much lighter but still powerful enough to set lags, drive 4" screws, etc. Of course then you'll need the saws-all, light, angle grinder, etc. At last count I think I have four chargers and 9 or 10 batteries plus loads of tools. My only prob with Dewalt is that the batteries wear out after a few years of hard use. Hmm, I don't have the radio. That will go on MY xmas list this year!

I don't know the exact reason why Ocean Decided to leave NJ, but I don't think that the cost of electricity is the only reason. Property taxes (though I expect they get a huge break from the local township) are really high in NJ and have been going up regularly. As an example my home property taxes have gone from ~$3500 in 2000 to ~$6700 this year. OK, so that might not be much compared to L.A. or NYC but for a 1/4 acre lot in 08110 that's been quite a jump. Also, auto insurance costs are very high. I've been told that NJ has the highest auto insurace rates in the nation, though that is just via hearsay. I will ask my insurance agent when I see him tomorrow to sign the paperwork for my annual renewal. My business ins package has "only" gone up $500 this year. Sigh. Then there is the cost of living in NJ, in general. I regularly work in Allentown PA, have family who have lived in that area, and can tell you that it's much cheaper for an individual to live there. OK, so that doesn't directly effect the company, but they can hire local workers who will accept a lower wage scale because thier cost if living is less. Plus IIRC there isn't as much of a union presence in Allentown. Yes, most places say that they are business friendly, but try doing business there. I haven't done any work in Bordentown in a while so I don't know what the township is like. Let's look at something we all do - get a permit for a sign. Getting a sign permit in many, many places in NJ is difficult. There are places where you get your paperwork back in a week: sometimes less. One town even approved paperwork overnight and it took 36 hours in the hospital for my heart rate to get back to normal ;) But there are places where you have to go to a review board (or two) to change the lettering over a door or, God Forbid, put up an electric sign. Then there was the town that insisted on sealed plans to install a set of styrofoam letters on the wall INSIDE a storefront behind the glass. IMHO, on average getting a permit in that part of PA is easier than in NJ. Let me stress the "on average" part. There is one town just outside of Allentown that takes about five-six weeks for a sign permit (plus reams and reams of paper) and God help Ocean spray if they moved into "name withheld to protect the annoying* township. Just because the address says "Allentown" doesn't mean that it's actually the City of Allentown. By the way, Allentown proper has the most helpful set of city officials that I've ever run into. On the other end of the scale in Pa there is Philadelphia, who couldn't care less about your permit and/or business. I've had a permit rejected in Philly because the site plan (not the sign drawings or mounting/electrical details) was off scale by the width of half a pencil line - yes, really. Has anyone noticed the recurring theme, that I HATE getting sign permits. And yes, I know folks in CA and NYC who have told me some real horror stories. Permits are the hardest part of this business anymore. The bleeping things are probably the main reason why my hairline is er, um...gone. Permit rant is now over. All in all, moving to Allentown PA is probably a good move for Ocean Spray as a company. Oh, and for the record, NJ is #11 (2008 data) on the list of most populace states. It's not a small state by any means. OK, so CA has 37 mil (about NY and FL put together) but at 8.7 mil it's not the size of say Delaware. IIRC, it's also the most densely populated state but I could be wrong there. 250 jobs is a drop in the proverbial bucket, but O.C. is a household name. Losing that name is what hurts the Gov more than anything else I'd bet. I'm not trying to be a hard case, just pointing out that NJ isn't a small state in terms of populace. Physical size on the other hand... :)

This may be too late, but I haven't had time to get on here in a loooong while. In the Phila area it's Icon and Priority Signs. I'm not sure if they are doing FL though.