FAQ

What do you mean by “Personal Service?”
Usually we have been contacted by the customer and have quoted the work to be done so we have some idea of what is coming.

When we receive an order This is how we proceed.
We first review the order; Do we have all the information we need to complete the project? What do we need to provide to complete the order? Are there special instructions?
At this point we address any questions we may have and contact the customer for clarification if necessary. We will provide a sample layout for final approval before running the actual project to insure we have everything right.

Once we are satisfied that the job is set and ready we will complete the work and pack and ship the completed work to our customer. Our customers expect and deserve quality work and attention to detail no mater the size of the order, from single piece orders to short production runs, each customer receives the same consideration.
Now… How may we help you?

You do other types of engraving now, too?
Yes, we purchased a Trophies & Awards shop from the retiring owner. We now offer both laser and traditional engraving, giving our customers the widest range of options. We are expanding our online catalog with a wide range of new items including desk Sets, Clocks, whistles and gavels with new items being added regularly. Click to Shop Online

Do you have and engrave Brass tags?
Yes, I have Brass as well as aluminum, Stainless steel and anodized aluminum in many different sizes, shapes and designs. Please Contact Us with your specific need and we’ll be happy to help you.

How does laser engraving work?
A laser is a light-amplifying device that produces a highly focused beam of coherent light. This focused beam vaporizes the material it contacts. A computer sees the engraving machines as another printer and controls the path of the beam, the power and the speed at which the laser moves across the material being engraved. The advantages of the laser over a mechanical cutter are many.

How long will it take to get my engraving order back?
As an example, we receive your order Monday afternoon. We review the order and write up the job sheet where we detail the orders requirements and prepare an instruction sheet for engraving. The order moves from shipping & receiving to the engraving IN area. The order is then scheduled. Depending on our current schedule most orders are processed in under 2 weeks. The completed order is then sent to  shipping & receiving where it is packaged and  then shipped with the days orders. Larger orders my take longer to process. We will schedule small orders while a larger order is being processed so we keep the orders moving even if this means breaking down a setup to process even 1 piece for a customer. Please allow enough lead time for your project and allow for shipping to and from our shop. In fairness to all our customers, we process jobs in the order received.

I have a Project, can you supply the material?
We can supply commercially available materials and items, we can order custom sized wood plaques and we do have 1/8″ thick Cherry-wood and Alder sheets 5″ x 24″ sheets. We are not a fabrication or woodworking shop though.

Copyright Protection

We receive requests to engrave a logo, image or work that was obviously created and copyright protected by somebody else rather than by the customer themselves.  There are severe fines and penalties for copyright infringement violations for companies that profit from the use of other peoples work without obtaining permission. This is where you hear of things like licensing fees and permission to use the material. Material in the Public Domain are free to use although there are times you may be required to give recognition to the original creator or company.

The bottom line is; if it isn’t your own work and it is not in the public domain and free to use, you will need to provide us with written permission from the holder of the copyright permitting us to reproduce the work or we will refuse the job. The fines and penalties involved just are not worth it. Look back at the Record industry and how they prosecuted people sharing music downloads!

See our Blog Post or Contact Us for further information

What’s the largest piece you can engrave?
Our machine can engrave an area of 12″ x 24″. The largest solid piece we can engrave is 17″ x 29″ with the engraving area centered on the piece. We cannot feed through longer solid materials as the machine is not designed for feed through as a safety precaution. Material such as leather and cloth can be draped down in our machine and moved through which enables us to engrave such material in nearly any length.

How do I order from Touch Of Wood?

 We have an E-Commerce web site, www.TouchOfWood-2.com. Our site offers secure check out offering PayPal checkout. Don’t have a PayPal account? No problem, PayPal accepts credit and Debit card payments.

Send your work either U.S. Mail, by a service of your choice or bring your work to our store.

Our address is; Touch Of Wood, 71-B Woodland ST., Manchester, CT., 06042

Our E-mail address is; touchofwood@touchofwood.com

Voice/Fax (860) 643-7459

We accept for payment; PayPal, Check, Money Order, Visa, Master Card and Discover. Please make checks and money orders payable to Touch Of Wood. We do not accept the American Express card.

Does your $10 minimum for engraving include shipping?
No, shipping is in addition to the $10 minimum for laser engraving.

I only have one line of laser engraving; do I have to pay shipping plus $10 just for the one line?
While we try to make laser engraving affordable for everybody we do need to cover the time necessary to process small jobs. Our minimum charge for laser engraving is $10.00 plus shipping and handling. One suggestion we can make is include items to be engraved as sample pieces for your customers to see.

I have a wood piece to be laser engraved. What do I need to do to prepare the wood for engraving?
Your piece needs to be prepared through its final sanded finished and the surface sealed. The laser engraving produces a smoky residue which would stain an unsealed surface and further sanding may mar the laser engraved image. With the wood sealed any residue simple cleans off with a damp cloth. We clean the surface for you after laser engraving. A clear coat of lacquer works well as a sealer. Paint may be laser engraved as well. We do ask that should you seal the surface with anything other than lacquer that you provide a sample piece for testing to us.

What’s the minimum size order you will accept?

 We will accept orders from a single piece order to a short production run. Our minimum engraving charge is $10.00, shipping & handling is additional.

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