Large yard sign

[caretech]

A client would like me to price a family crest. (Didn't even know what those were before, ha...)

He wants it rather large, at least 4' square or larger, with posts that can be driven into the ground so it is self-standing. He provided me some graphics as samples of the design he is looking for. I'd need to create my vector files based on the images he provided me. Not a super complicated design, but it would certainly take a few hours to prepare for cutting.

For something this large that needs to stand outside and be properly robust while looking good, I'm thinking of recommending 3/16 steel. 10ga might be fine too, but the client wants it sturdy and knows that means thicker material and higher cost.

Am I way off to say we could be around $600 before tax for something like this? Keep in mind I'm in Canada, where the dollar isn't worth as much and supplies are all more expensive.

My breakdown was as follows. (numbers rounded)

1. $180 -- 16 sq feet of 3/16 at $11 per square foot (yeah, I bought pricey steel, ouch)
2. $80 - steel rod for posts (size as yet undecided -- this figure could be considerably off depending what sort of posts he envisions)
3. $150 -- design time
4. $180 -- plasma cutting, welding, and painting time & cost

Figuring $50 / hr for design. Shop rate is $80.

Feel free to point out any omissions or problems in my logic. Just be kind, ha. Or chime in with how you handle requests like these. Probably some will think I'm way overcharging and some will think I'm working for nothing...

[SegoMan DeSigns]

You think metal is high look into what a gallon of paint now costs..

For outdoor signs I prefer to powder coat my signs as it is more durable, by the time you figure cost of quality materials and your labor (prep, prime and top coat) it is cheaper to P C.

The high price of E: ( All of the above) is making everything pricey..

[caretech]

Yeah, $100 per gallon for the "cheap" paint here. (Tremclad, etc)

I want to powder coat -- sometime. Entry level guns aren't that terribly expensive but I need to build an oven and currently don't really have the time or spare cash.

[tnbndr]

I don't see any profit figured into those numbers!!!
A custom sign that size, I would be at about $1500 US.

[mdwalker]

Here is a Excel spreadsheet that I use to calculate pricing. I think I posted the original one about 12 years ago on here but this is the current one that I use. Feel free to modify it to suit your needs.

CNC Plasma Price Work Sheet 04102023.xls

[ROKCRLER]

Thanks Danny for the new worksheet!

[adbuch]

Danny - thanks for that spreadsheet! It looks very simple to use and well laid out.

David

[tomhall86]

I’ve made a few family crests, they are a fun project and a lot of work. I would start at $1000 in any currency, I always way underestimate the design time, and because it is very personal expect a lot of customer tweaks and only powder coat with zinc based primer for outside use. Good Luck

[caretech]

I’ve made a few family crests, they are a fun project and a lot of work. I would start at $1000 in any currency, I always way underestimate the design time, and because it is very personal expect a lot of customer tweaks and only powder coat with zinc based primer for outside use. Good Luck

Thanks for that advice. Yes, I highly underestimated design time in this case too. The customer provided two JPEG samples of the family crest, one more traditional and one more simple. One was color, one was black-and-white. Both had more detail than he wanted, he said; he was after something simple.

The JPEG images provided were small and pixelated; not good candiates for auto-tracing. Me being some kind of mad perfectionist, I spent way too much time in Inkscape coming up with various options. All of them were more detailed than the customer wanted, so I ended up scaling back the detail. Shouldn't have spent so much time; if I'd have kept it so simple to start with, it would have only taken a couple hours to knock out the design.

I'm not set up for powder coating yet, so I sprayed on a self-etching primer and industrial semi-gloss black paint. The customer sent me 2 pictures of the sign after he had it set up. Posted these over here: https://plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=35971