Pricing Help.

[toych]

Rookie sign maker here.
My wife did logo design, letterhead etc. for a client and they are interested in having a sign made. I need a little help on pricing.
The sign will be 1" Signfoam, 2'x3' with 1/2" foam lettering around 16" high. Plain black background and two coloured letters. The sign will be post mounted.
Thanks in advance.
Darren.

[aaasigncom]

$ 525.00 INSTALLED -- INDIANAPOLIS AAASIGN.COM

[hol]

$480.00 + post + install

[jamesgilliam]

$600.00 + post + installation. Price of installation would depend on how far away, material to set post, and time involved. Don't forget your time driving. I use the current IRS guidelines to figure what it is worth by mileage. Last install I quoted was someone elses sign, vinal letters on Sintra, and was close to $600 because of the mileage.

[toych]

I quoted $650 based on the fact that the letters are 3D so there is a little more machining time. Customer was happy with that and asked for another sign for inside their shop.
Thanks for the help guys.
Darren

[jhicks]

Good for you Darren, Now that you have the order dont forget to analyze how you did as far as your true costs for material, design, finishing etc.
Indeed you will end up with a nice piece of scrap sign foam for future experimentation or orders so thats a good thing to have.
Given this is your 1st sign, plan your fabrication strategy to make it as simple in finishing as possible. Finishing methods are the key and take more thought and time than the machining anyway.
Once you start looking into primers, masking methods and materials, paints to use, sanding time, second coats, final finish quality, brush vs spray, assembly, mounting, etc, you may want to consider your machining strategy and process sequences carefully before simply rushing into a cut file, then trying to figure out how to finish and assemble.

Lots of techniques out there and on this forum so my best advice is think through the entire process to determine the best overall strategy before cutting into that HDU.
When its all done, ask yourself how you did on an hourly basis, a square foot basis, design time, material sopurcing and procurement, and how you might improve your process on the next one.
Enjoy the adventure and post photos when its done.

[mitch_prest]

G'day Darren

could ya please post a picture of the finished product... I would like to see the amount of work you are doing for the price.. thanks

[toych]

Thank you all again for the advice and sugestions. Sourcing the HDU has been a problem. The local distributor stopped stocking it 3 years ago. Next closest is 90 minutes away, plus very poor selection, delivery by frieght only and a dis-organized staff. Working on a new supplier.
I ordered more than I needed and picked up a few Belin bits so I could cut a couple of sample signs for the shop. Use speeds and feeds from Onsruds site, semed to work well nice chip from the belin foam bit but just dust from my 120 deg. v-bit, lettering turned out pretty good.
Again thanks for the help. This forum was the deciding factor in me buying a Shopbot as apposed to...the other one I was looking at.

[mjindustry]

Darren,

If you ever in need of HDU or sign foam. Try Harbor Sales. They will cut the sheets to your specs and deliver via UPS the same day you order. Shipping is free for over $300+. So typically two full sheets of sign foam would be over $300. I have had them cut into 2ft by 4ft pieces and shipped. You specify your size on there website in the checkout cart.

Start here:
http://www.harborsales.net/fullsheetlookup.cfm?categoryID=7&subcategoryID=9&c at=Routing%20Carving%20--%20Sandblasting