Cutting someone else's material

[jim shula]

Just curious how other guys deal with this. I'm debating whether to quote a job vcarving a logo with 17" high letters into a piece of stock that's 10' long. The letters will take up about 8' of length. They are supplying the material and it will be red cedar or cypress finished with a Japanese technique called Shou-Sugi-Ban, which is a process of charring the wood and then sealing.

I don't know the exact monetary value of the material when I get it, but if I take the job I will be stressing out every second hoping we don't get a thunderstorm, millisecond power outage, or the stepper motor skips a tooth. It's happened twice in eight years.

How do you handle cutting very expensive material supplied by the customer? Even if I double or triple my rate I'll be out a lot of money if anything goes wrong. Does anyone say upfront they won't be liable for "Acts of God" so to speak?

[knight_toolworks]

it is pretty much all I do and it is stressful. I do all I can not to screw it up.I put a pen in my machine and draw the text on the wood so I can see text placement. I save my tollbooths so I can use a known good one and I am not starting fresh each time. I will put the machine in preview mode to check to make sure I am running the right file. I will raise the bit above the wood and do a air cut. then I will pray to the shopbot gods and cut it.

[jerry_stanek]

I also give them a disclosure that I am not responsible for mistakes.

[knight_toolworks]

I also give them a disclosure that I am not responsible for mistakes.

I have debated on this but not sure how it would go over. I mean if I screw up that is on me but I can't always afford to replace the material. it is the bad part of cutting other peoples material.

[Ralph Balanik]

Besides an air cut do a test on a piece of scrap before you use their material. something cheap and bill it to them. It is for their benefit as well.

[waynelocke]

If I were using my own material I would probably order 1.5 to 2 times what I needed. Perhaps you could specify the quantity of material you require your client to provide.

[myxpykalix]

The only time i was nervous was when i guy brought over a huge thick piece of Spanish Cedar worth 3-4 hundred bucks and he was going to chip carve some design and all he wanted me to do was to pocket out about 1/4 depth and i went slow and it took about an hour with no problems. I do feel though that if something screws up, it's your fault and responsibility and i was sweatin it till it finished.

[knight_toolworks]

3 or 4 hundred childs stuff? the worst I did was a 1500.00 of graphite it was a rush job but I had just done it in wood but still I was sweating bullets the whole time. several large wood blanks in the 1000 range I hate to do as they take so little time to cut I don't get enough for them.

[gc3]

8 blanks...5K of Alder, cut for another shop...

go for it...you pull it off and your confidence soars...sure it's nerve racking but if you charge enough it's worth it. Client came to you for a reason...

[myxpykalix]

Yeah at some point with the value of some material i think you have to tell them up front that "the risk is not worth the reward" and that i'm not replacing this $1500.00 worth of material just to make $100.00 and either get their agreement or just turn the work away.

[MogulTx]

I have done a lot of work on "customer owned materials" in my other work... and a little in my shopbotting, too. I basically am comfortable telling a customer that I will do the job for XXX dollars "at their risk"- and will inform them of the risks. (Then prepare to ensure that I do not allow any of the risks to goof me around!) Or I will do the project at YYYY dollars and I assume the risk.... But there has to be a reward for taking risks. Don't take on risks, without the appropriate reward being in place for managing that risk.....

[knight_toolworks]

I turned down a carbon fibre job the material was 15,000 but it was only a hour of work but the surface had t one perfect and I am such a klutz no way can I not scratch it.

[Rob Gunn]

I ALWAYS have a disclosure that I am not responsible for issues out of my control. I will take a hit when its my own fault but I will not take a hit when something unforeseen happens. I also do a ton of practice cuts in cheap blue foam as a test of the tool paths. I rather have a issue on a $8 blue foam than a $800 piece of high end material.