Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 31 to 36 of 36

Thread: Ever felt okay 'bout losing a customer?

  1. #31
    It was my largest customer who asked for the quote. I talked to a competitor about joining in the bid and he agreed; otherwise, there is no way I could handle that volume with a basement operation. Had I got the bid I would have bought another machine but all of us pretty much anticipated the results. Yeti, either by themselves, or with a local partner has offered engraving for quite some time. I have no hard feelings about it--with that volume the customer could have and, probably did, become a distributor.

    In all reality Yeti has been a boon to my business for 2 years now. Either their product or clones have given me income I didn't have before.

    I am working on an order for 1000 for another customer (they are currently using Walmart and they removed the labels) but if I get the order they will buy JDS cups from me and I'll save them a few dollars.

    I happen to be running their order today and it's red powder coated. Be advised that for this color and brand (Ozark Trail) I have not found the ideal solvent to clean the residue. Orange cleaner won't do the job; Simple green is like water, DNA attacks the paint and acetone, which I am using with a soft cloth works, but I have to be careful not to rub too hard or it will also attack the finish. I have done many black Yetis and use orange cleaner with no problem.
    Last edited by Mike Null; 09-16-2017 at 5:31 PM.
    Mike Null

    St. Louis Laser, Inc.

    Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
    Gravograph IS400
    Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
    Dye Sublimation
    CorelDraw X5, X7

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Grand Rapids, Minnesota
    Posts
    305
    Mike -
    It's been ‘long, full day of engraving; I’ve got tumblers on the brain!
    ‘Suppose, not knowing all the facts, I came off sounding ‘bit too harsh, uh? (‘bout Yeti’s “free” engraving competing with your bid and, for that matter, all of our businesses.) Sounds like you took it in stride. And, that you’ve still got plenty else to keep you busy!


    Love this business 'cause there's always something new to learn! I haven’t yet tried engraving the colored tumblers of any brand. Didn’t think I could. Haven’t had ‘chance to test one out. Does the laser cut thru the color resulting in bare steel showing? or, do you still use Cermark? Is the residue you’re talking ‘bout stem from removing the label, or from the engraving process on the finish? When I asked earlier ‘bout ways to clean the (sticky label) residue off of Ozarks, I got just ‘bout every suggestion under the sun! (WD-40, turpentine, orange cleaner, acetone, Goo-Gone, baby oil, DNA ... even peanut butter!) One Youtube I found showed ‘guy holding the cup over a flame! Didn’t look smart, nor practical.


    At any rate you, and others, have kinda persuaded me not to forgo tumbler business. After that incident I had with "my large customer” - ruining 120+ cups - I was thinking ‘bout giving it up. Risk v.s. reward kinda thing. But, like you, I’m realizing, now, it’s business I didn’t much have ‘fore, business I can use! Oh, and BTW, my 400+ order is coming ‘long with no errors; so far, so good! (knock-on-wood). - BILL
    (Using Epilog 35W Mini 24)

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Posts
    1,843
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Null View Post
    ... Be advised that for this color and brand (Ozark Trail) I have not found the ideal solvent to clean the residue. Orange cleaner won't do the job; Simple green is like water, DNA attacks the paint and acetone, which I am using with a soft cloth works, but I have to be careful not to rub too hard or it will also attack the finish. I have done many black Yetis and use orange cleaner with no problem.
    This is what I love about my Chuck Rotary. If needed, a 2nd pass is no problem. The old gravity rollers was hit or miss, mostly miss on a 2nd, or 3rd pass.
    Tim
    There are Big Brain people & Small Brain people. I'm one of the Big Brains - with a lot of empty space.- me
    50W Fiber - Raycus/MaxPhotonics - It's a metal eating beast!
    Epilog Fusion M2 50/30 Co2/Fiber - 2015
    Epilog Mini 24 – 35watt - 2006 (Original Tube)
    Ricoh SG3110DN
    - Liberty Laser LLC

  4. #34
    I do powdercoated mugs twice by default. I've found two 380 line passes at 40 speed takes only about 30% longer than one 500 line pass at 30 speed, and usually the 30 speed pass needs a second run anyway.
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  5. #35
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Georgia, USA
    Posts
    394
    Mike -

    >>Be advised that for this color and brand (Ozark Trail) I have not found the ideal solvent to clean the residue.<<

    Kev's recommendation of "nourishing" nail polish remover scrubbed with cut sections (not too small though) of generic magic eraser pad worked great on my red Ozark Trail tumblers. It has to be the "nourishing" type (fairly common in drug stores - I found mine at Wal-Mart). Red takes some extra work compared to other colors though. I use a "first pass" piece of magic eraser which will get a lot of gunk on it and then I finish with a second pad that is not gunked up. One thing I have learned is that the nourishing nail polish has a limited working time in regard to cleaning power (probably related to why it doesn't attack powder coating). At about 30 seconds you can tell it is starting to weaken a bit.

    If I really have to scrub the powder coat for quite a while to clean a tumbler, sometimes there can be a very slight bit of gloss differential on the powder coating when inspected under bright light. Just wait until all parts of the tumbler are completely dry (and thus the powder coating is completely hard again) and just do a bit of buffing on the powder coating with a dry, clean magic eraser. It brings back an even gloss level.

    Again, thanks to Kev for sharing this.
    Last edited by Doug Fisher; 09-17-2017 at 2:26 AM.
    700mm x 500mm Ke Hui KH-7050 Laser
    80W EFR F2
    S&A CW5000 chiller
    Chuck style of rotary attachment

  6. #36
    I have run my powder coated pieces twice in the past but was determined to do a one-time run then clean them. This works quite well with black but this was my first time engraving red. There is definitely a difference between the Walmart paint and the Yeti paint.

    If I get the 1000 piece order they will also be red. I'll pick up a sample pack from JDS next week to do some testing.

    I can run a precision second pass with my Trotec cones but it takes 2 to 5 minutes depending on the image size. If I can find a good solvent, such as I have for black, I can clean the residue in a matter of seconds. That's a lot of time saved when you're running large orders.
    Last edited by Mike Null; 09-18-2017 at 7:35 AM.
    Mike Null

    St. Louis Laser, Inc.

    Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
    Gravograph IS400
    Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
    Dye Sublimation
    CorelDraw X5, X7

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •