jdragun

Hi all, I was just told be a shop I do the neon for that Walgreen's stores are NOT going to be fixing any of the neon that is out or channel letters. They told him to do nothing with the bad piece of neon in the mail lobby and just unplug the WHOLE sign and let it go dark. I am in NY and am wondering if this is a NY thing or national thing? Has anyone heard this? What are they crazy??? Let a good looking neon sign in the lobby of all the buildings just go dark? I saw one by me in Watertown, NY, and it is dark..........anyone have an in with Walgreen's to get this reversed? Makes neon look bad to do this.

Amen. Let's get the public educated.

I agree, but how do you setup such a thing? The big boys won't want to play.

I agree about the obscure stuff......I use West Coast Designs for some of that stuff.........always liked transco's boot though.......I bet my $$ the Ventex will now kill the neon transformer lines.....back to France and Alison i guess.

We need it badly. Not just the shotty work, but the lies that some people spout about L.E.D. vs neon etc. L.E.D. has it's place, but that isn't everywhere and out sign reps at the wholesalers have no idea about neon anymore. I ask questions and they have no clue. It's been this forum and Mark at SVP that have saved my ass in the past and most likely will again in the future. I only learned to bend glass in 1995, and was taught by the shop I worked in. I learned my builds, wiring, etc from books or the guys in the shop.......better leadership by people in the industry who CARE about our industry is needed....... Thanks.

It's outside. Ran the GTO inside through Electrobits Passthru, two France 15k's Wired with virtual ground, from trandformer to glass is about 1 foot, then all glass together and a long GTO run back to the other unit. Since we could drill throught the building anywhere we wanted, easy to setup the GTO for short runs to glass and one long run to vconnect them back. Hope to have that other duck back up next week. It's always something on an install..... John

I know...one blue out....tinked an electrode on the install, rebending it now..... :(......It happens though. John

Woot Woot! I just did a project for a local outdoor supply company. The lead orange goose is 4'x5' and op about 45 feet......they are painted orange and blue with back-lit neon.......hoping the trend continues!

They LOVE to drop ship everthing to me.........I hate to use them.

I'm on your bandwagon! If we stick together there is nothing we can't do. I like the "shining of the light" on them, I'm on the East coast, so we have it all covered. We can use our buying power to make changes, like it was said, stop buying from then and they will change thier tune pretty fast..... On a side note, I've been pretty slow here and making things on spec, so I stopped by a "Big Boy" company that I used to bend for when they had overflow etc. They told me they ONLY use led now, and don't have a neon department anymore and just let another shop handle the little bit of repair work they get......They told me "Neon is dead." I told them, well, it is slolwer than before, but it will never die. LED cannot do waht neon does. Maybe you should check out the Sign Syndicate's web site to get the real comparisons of neon vs. led in real world situations........ Always trying to educate.

Here,Here Erik! A good debate is just that, good, but bull and misinformation does nothing to promote anything. My little neon shop is gettting busier and busier. Neon will NEVER go away. NOTHING can do what neon does. period. Time will tell when that signs starts to show the signs of wear that the LED does, and then will they even be able to get replacements or just trash them and go with whatever is the newest thing now? Where if it was clear neon, just bring it to ANY neon guy and have it repumped or repaired. I love neon and know it isn't going away, hell it' sbeen here for over 100 years!

There are a lot of people just reading.....oh well....Time to bend.

I was imvolved in a bucket accident 18 years ago. Family business I was the neon bender with the owers son who taught me, and I was doing an install with the father. I was in the bucket, no strap, and my truck was hit by a huge box truck. I few 3 stories to the ground in the middle of the hiway. Shattered my ankle, broke parts of my back, pretty well screwed up, but alive......took me years to get back and many surgeries later. Now I just bend, no istalls for me thanks. This is a tradgity for the family. We can all be alittle more careful.

Just read that thread......I agree with you, but anyting tha w ill get the public to look to neon as an option is good in my book. Talking to some builders here, having neon listed as green gives them options with neon as architectural lighting options, and more for me to bend....... Anything that gives correct info about LED vs neon is good in my book because neon will win that fight with proven reliability etc. I wonder how many refits we will all be doing when the sun kills all the plastic etc and the lumens of these led units drop to levels the salesman never told them about........oh well Keep bending!!

BTW if anyone missed it here is a link to the Signs of the Times artical about neon being listed as green: http://www.dragunsigns.com/files/signs_of_the_times_neon.pdf I will still be makeing and repairing neon, just ask someone when you show them a neon next to an led which they like better......

I am in NY, Way up, and have family in Flagler area. They are getting older and starting to need some help there and we are thinking of relocating there. i was checking out the area and it is right between Daytona and Jacksonville. I see only one neon shop in Daytona and a few in Jacksonville and nothing in between. Anyone out there have any info about the area etc? I know it seems to me that every year there are less benders out there and that everywhere I have plopped down to bend I have found work....... John

I'm WAY up in New York, by the Canadian Boarder, and Glantz will not deliver out here. I have to drive an hour and a half to meet the truck to get any supplies. I've sourced out all I can with other guys that will UPS glass etc to me, by 4x8 sheets are still a pain as the shipping on that is crazy, so off I go to meet a delivery truck. Looks like S&F will be picking it up in the city.....oh well, I'm thinking of leaving NY for Florida soon anyway...... John

lol......I know I kinda like that in my 40's I'm the young guy in the business! As for the bar I have a degree from the Culinary Institiute Of America and have been a Chef for more years that a bender, but this business is starting to kill me, so I'm back at the cross fire and making neon, which I tink is more fun and much more profitable. The thin gis you older guys have all the knowlage, and al lthe books I have and read all the time don't really teach the nuance of bending glass. Talking to people and trial and error are the real teachers. Thank god everyone I've met in this business is more than happy to chat about how they do things, because it seems we all do things a little diffrent. John

Heeh...oh yes, I am a babe in this industry, all they guys that I know in it are getting way up there in years! And No, That's my last name, Dragun, so I use that for the website. Hey some of us younger guys need to keep the torch burning , or neon that is......

I learned to bend in 1993 when I apprenticed in a neon shop. That was a fmily owned shop that was mainly vinyl and paint, but their son went to bending school (Wisconsin I think) and then the shop did it all. I stayed there for a few years then just freelanced with other shops helping when the workload was big enough. I opened a bar and restaurant up here in NY, and have a glass studio attached. I bend all my own beer signs etc. Work started comming in through there. In the last 3 years opened a shop in the North Country of NY state (65 miles south of Canada.) It's funny how much things change, they stay the same. For all the great improvments, neon is still the only thing that LOOKS like neon. My shop as been getting busier and busier as the years are going by. I am the only bender for about 100 miles (and staying in the USA) and have picked up loads of wholesale work for all the local sign shops. That is the area I'm pushing, no customers to deal with, no sales tax to deal with, just a Corel file to plot, ot broken glass to fix. I have started getting people intrested in decor lighting latley, so let's keep it alive and well. http://www.dragunsigns.com John