Railworks America

All kinds of competitors out there, but look at the complaints. We don't get that kind of publicity here cause they run everything by the jarhead in the shop first ;)

I'm probably better at Photoshop than these guys.
Maybe I sould start a business!

Chacal wrote:I'm probably better at Photoshop than these guys.
Maybe I sould start a business!

It is big business. If you can turn a photo into line art you'd have it made. Out designs are basically clipart. Or like a coloring book with the thick black lines. I need the thick black lines to be .085 inch to blast into granite. Someone in Germany developed or is developing some software to do it now and he is talking $250,000 for it. Yeah right. The monument industry has only been computorized about 16 years. Too many old guys who do not want to change in it right now, but the young blood or generation x like me are pushing it through cause we can do way more with them than with out. We have new blasters being made that will take the cad I make and only blast the areas that need blasting. Rght now any blank space on the stencil also gets blasted for no reason. It is set up with limit switches to cover an area, upper left to lower right.

I'm confused. When they say the stone was outsourced, do they mean the actual work on the stone ...or... they imported a blank stone and did the work on it here? I know outsourcing happens all the time, but you'd think a memorial to American troops could at least be made here. I'm just curious how much they saved by doing so.

Just curious Bob.... any interesting story as to how you ended up in this field? Is your stone local or does it come from the southern states? Being so heavy, that stuff must be expensive to transport. I often wonder why the military uses marble headstones if it's so soft. You'd think they'd want something more durable.

This is exactly like the sign trade. When I started in the early 70's, it was all hand lettered. I served an apprenticeship in New Orleans, and had the trade yelled into me by old farts that knew much more than me. I finally received my journeyman's card and was a full fledge union sign painter. Painted billboards all over the USA. Move to the present day: Computers and plotters are the norm, along with digital printers, which I use at my company. You have ex-shoe salesmen setting up local sign shops, little Johnny cutting letters in Mom and Dad's garage.
Fortunately, I have some excellent clients still sending me enough work to keep me happy.
I should have got into the plumbing trade, its going to be a while till computers take over that trade.
Thanks for the rant

Outsourcing is having someone else do your work and you take the credit for it. If we get some really fancy duplicate job and if we are really busy, we will out source stuff. Maybe 4 or 5 units a year come in to us already cut. Most of them have a sculpted piece onit, like an angel or a bust of Jesus or Mary. I can't sculp. Sculpting school is a 3 year term and they can not lose me for 3 years here. We get granite from all over the world. Some of the places can actually carve the stones, some cant or wont.

After Nam, I got out of the Marines and was working at Fisher Body welding El Camino frames together. Got the job as they thought there would be a strike and they wanted to staock pile. It lasted 7 weeks. Went back to work with my uncle the roofer which I had done since I was 10 years old carrying half bundles of shingles. In between there my great grandfather died and my great uncle called and told me the guy at Nelson Memorials is looking for help. He can't find anyone to work. I went over and said I heard he needed help. he asked me if I can cut stone and I said no, I have no idea what you do here. Here said what were you doing before and I said playing games in Vietnam with the Marines. He said You were a Marine!?. Your hired.

3 years later I was running that shop. I am now at my 4th shop which I actually was at twice now, once for the father and now for the son. Me and the father didn't fit well, but I did not take any crap from him, so it was constant arguing. I did my job well, and in the end that was all that mattered.

The outsourced company should be ashamed, but those who let it slip through and delivered should be jailed.

I feel sick.