Would anyone be interested in taking a 2-day Sign crafting on your Shopbot Course?

[kerrazy]

Hey folks,
Just a feeler to see if there is enough interest of me organizing with ShopBot a 2 day course on Sign Crafting on your Shopbot.

The course would include:
sign lay out
creating renderings for your client
the sales process
Tooling Strategies
Appropriate fonts for different applications
Sign Blank Preparation
Sign Finishing
Pricing
and I am sure a few other goodies.

do to the cost of travelling and accomadations and time lost at my shop their would unfortunatly have to be a charge for this and I would require a minimum number of particpants.

Let me know what you think.
Dale Kerr
Traditional Sign Werks

[pete]

Dale - I don't have enough room to accomodate a teaching session, but I would be interested in attending a session in another location. Thanks, Pete.

[paco]

Dale,

I could be interested; when would it happen?

[paul_n]

Dale - Sounds very interesting, and I would be interested.

What is your thinking as far as time frame and location?

Paul

[phil_o]

Ditto on Paul's post.

[kaaboom_99]

Dale, count me in as interested as well. Keep us posted how this developes.
And Thanks

[kerrazy]

Ok here is the $54000.00 question? Would you guys pay $600.00 for a 3 day course, if knowing when you left you would have a very good handle on Signcrafting.
It would be a Friday to Sunday, the date and location is yet to be determined.
When I was at the Jamboree a just scratched the surface and there was a lot of information offered in a short period of time.
Essentialy we could cover with hands on experiece the entire signcrafting process.
As I was putting some notes together last night I realized it would not be resonable to compress it into 2 days, it would actually take 3 days to get you armed with enough infomtaion and application expeirance that you could tranfer it back at your own shop.
I may host a session at my new shop, and if the numbers are there we may host one @ shopBot, but agian this is just in the preliminary stages to see if it is feasable.
Thanks,
Dale
Traditional Sign Werks

[jhicks]

Dale, count me in.
Would it include any info on alternate sign making materials, vinyl, Channel letters or just bot carving, pricing, and finishing?
Name the time and place.
If I am coming to Canada, I would like to add a bit of fishing to the back end of my trip so if there are any good Northern, Walleye, or Bass lakes nearby, that would only make it more desireable.
Let me know when the new shop is ready and the scheduled dates as soon as you line it up.

[bobstand]

Dale,
This sounds like something that I would attend. Let me know when your shop is ready. I am also in the process of moving and setting up my new shop so I know what your going through.

[WCSG (Unregistered Guest)]

$600.00 sounds a little to much mixed in with travel expenses. A lot of those topics people would have to know in order to stay in business, plus those get covered in various sign convention workshops.

If anything a dedicated workshop for just signs and how they involve CNC would be a bigger plus over 1 day or 2.

I'm just blabbering ignore me

[kerrazy]

WCSG,
Could you please xpand on your last statement? This way I can ensure that we are hitting the general needs.
Thanks,
Dale

[gerald_d]

Dale, I think what WCSG is saying is that his interest is in the things that make a CNC sign shop different to a non-CNC sign shop.

[kerrazy]

Thanks Gerald for popping in.

WCSG, Of the 10 or so topics I listed above, atleast 8 of them are CNC related, either by use of CAD/CAM software and or machining strategies. Even finishing techniques, although often overlooked can be made easier by setting up the job appropriately in your CAD/CAM software.
All of this information will also be transferable to other aspects of CNC operation. If you do not recover your money with in the first month of job quotations then sign crafting is not for you. But if you find you have idle time with your machine, this will open up a new market that you can enter into with minimal investment.
If anyone else has questions please feel free to drop me an email and I will respond with any answers.
You can reach me @ dale.kerr@sympatico.ca (mailto:dale.kerr@sympatico.ca)

Thanks,
Dale

[kerrazy]

Here is one example of the type of signage that will be covered during the 3 day course. I have included the original rendering and a picture of the completed sign.
Thanks,
Dale

8901

[WCSG (Unregistered Guest)]

From the topics you listed it sounds more like it would be for the new beginner or someone who might want to come into the business.

If it's for someone who already is in the sign business and knows what their doing but would like more emphesis on CNC my ideal topics would be

Tooling
Materials
Paint & Materials
Techniques
ADA (Braille & Basic Reg)
Dimensional Lettering (Multi, Sub, & Engrave Layering)
Hold Down Methods (For all Above)
3D
Foam 3D and multi Layer Slicing
Artcam Software techniques
Mold Creation

This is just off the top of my head I'm sure I would have more. But hey if all those can get covered from what I listed and less about sales, layout, renderings, fonts ....

Count me in!!!!

But if the target is newbies then I understand

[kerrazy]

WCGS,
You are right in fact the course is designed for the person who has purchased a machine for an entirley different application, and finding that it is sitting idle.
The items you have discussed unfortunatley would require more than 3-days.

I do appreciate your candid commnets, and keep an eye on the forum, as you may see future sessions on those items, but broken down into smaller segments, as several of those items would require some in depth education in order to ensure success in transfering the knowledge back to one's own shop.
Thanks,
Dale

[jeff_rowley]

Hey Dale,
This sounds like something I would be interested in. Have you made any decisions on when and where?

[jseiler]

Its a long trip for me, but I'd be interested in buying a recording of the class? I'm sure there would be others interested. One of my friends does weekend seminars and I'm certain his DVD recording sales are even more than the live event sales.

Good luck,

John Seiler

[jsfrost]

Dale,

I have the interest, and feel the price is reasonable. I am working my last real job, and until I retire, either voluntarily or suddenly, I can't manage the time away. In person would be better, but John may have a good idea.

Jim

[jseiler]

Its amazing how easy it is to cut a DVD anymore. A good digital camcorder (I bought mine for $350 from Sams), moviemaker 2 (free download from Microsoft), DVD authoring software (I use ULead 7.0 I got from ebay for $10) and a good burner (I bought mine from newegg for under $80). A tripod is about a necessity. For under $500, one can easily make reasonably professional DVDs. I'm sure Dale could recoup his costs + a lot more.

John

[rookie432]

Boy, I really like John's suggestion here. I have no doubt that a sign seminar taught by Dale would be worth th every penny he's asking. I just couldn't afford the time away right now. I'd pay a few hundred for training videos on dvd by Dale and I do signwork on a regular basis.
What do you think Dale. Could we talk you into this if we get more positive reponse?

Bill

[matt_r]

Boy, I second the motion. John is on to something here. For those of us who live too far away, or can't spare the time, a DVD would be an awesome alternative. Dale has been a great help to me in getting me started, and his class would be great.

Matt

[kerrazy]

I did call a production company today regarding a video, and well we'll see . But to let you all know I am persuing that avenue as well.
Thanks,
guys,
Dale

[wiese]

I would be very interested in the DVD!

Jay

[wayneo]

Likewise.......

Wayneo

[WCSG (Unregistered Guest)]

I make little videos all the time

You wouldn't even need a production co. I can easily do all that with iMovie, and finished up in iDVD.

Poof! Ready for distribution :D

[kerrazy]

WCSG,
where is your sign forum, I can not lacte it anymore.
Thnaks,
Dale

[WCSG (Unregistered Guest)]

http://thesignsyndicate.com