“I’ll take two just alike,” the young lady said, sweetheart at her side.
It’s always a challenge to get two items done precisely the same…more of a tough one for four! Told her I’d do my best, so here they are.
On the first one…bottle on the right…I placed a piece of tape at the angle I wanted the lines to slant, burnished it down, and rubbed a bead of Silver Leaf Rub ‘N Buff along the edge. Pulled up the tape and had a razor-sharp baseline.
Shot from the hip as to where to begin the Jazmin. Not perfectly centered below the medallion, but close. Did the same thing for the line and lettering the Abernathy. I missed it a bit, being too much to the left, so I added a long flourish for the t and put a big ‘sparkle’ out to the right to partly cover my sins. The date centered almost perfectly below the first names but not the last.
The second bottle, on the left, shows some improvement in the layout, but still not perfect.
At first glance, without the critical comparisons, they look pretty much like a set of twins, with one who has wart on his chin and one ear slightly askew from the other. Still twins.
Here’s the best part of this customer’s order. At $6. per word and $12. for the date and $12. for the color on each bottle, they were $42. apiece. Total time for start-to-finish for both bottles was 13 minutes. (I had a short phone call in the middle of the second one or elapsed time would have been less!)
You engravers and wannabe engravers take note. That’s at a rate of doing 4 sets of those in an hour. Punch that in and get an hourly rate of about $325. an hour. If you’re in the boonies where the rent is cheaper and so are the customers, half that would be a great hourly rate (just ask your plumber!)
As I’ve said before, it has taken me years to develop the courage and feather touch to do these. It’s still a crap shoot. I do NOT recommend you engrave sparkling bottles but if you do, remember what you’re working with.
-Ken 214.250.6958
The next KEN BROWN ENGRAVING WORKSHOP, where you learn a skill that will be productive beyond your wildest dreams, is April 13-16.
Oh yes…..our site has be spruced up a bit. Take a look.
One other thing. Sprinkled around my site from time to time…maybe quite frequently…will be names and goodies in tiny type tucked her and there. If you see yours, make a comment below the blog to tell me you want to claim yours. Happy Hunting.
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