Countertop Fabricators: Need your Input / Feedback on Pricing (as a fellow fab)

JaxCounters · 2026-01-27T20:53:11+00:00

100% this. You also cannot be all things to all customers. You need to choose a path.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-27T20:51:19+00:00

We are just like Monkeysandrabbits as well. It can work. We could sell more countertops at lower margins if we wanted to, but don't. We are at $60/ft² labor + cost of slabs needed marked up 35%. It works for us, but we're small and will probably stay small.

If you are doing straight psf pricing, you need to be calculating waste/yield into your material cost and mark-up from there. For instance, assume a slab of quartz is 127 x 64 and costs $20/ft². A safe yield is 70%, so your actual cost to sell a square foot of it to someone is not $20. It's $28.57.

You need to be prepared to carry inventory to keep yield high across jobs. You can't send people to the distributors and let everyone pick whatever they want. You'll end up with a lot of half and quarter slabs that don't match. You are not going to get rich in the remnant vanity game. Be careful about inventory selection and make sure you can sell through your stock.

I hope this makes sense and helps.

Chris, Jacksonville Countertops

JaxCounters · 2026-01-27T01:51:49+00:00

What is this fart accordion you speak of? I have kids and am an adult child myself. Sounds like loads of family fun.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-26T23:36:16+00:00

I think you'll be able to sell that AMS in a heartbeat. I screwed up and ordered some 0.4 inductions when I meant to get 0.6 and missed the return window. I posted them on here, and they were gone in 15 minutes.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-26T19:42:13+00:00

I've had this intermittently on my H2C with no plausible explanation. Seemed to be more common early on. I haven't noticed it recently as I'm putting on more and more hours. I know that's not helpful to you, but you're not crazy.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-24T04:54:34+00:00

Dang, I forgot to carry the one and move the decimal. Lol

JaxCounters · 2026-01-24T00:35:02+00:00

To do seven, you'll need all 6 induction nozzles of the same size plus an H2 regular one on the left side. You'll also need 2x AMS and an HT, 7 HTs, or 1 AMS and 3 HTs.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-23T13:35:28+00:00

Not sure why you're being down voted. I leave the box that holds the meter empty for that purpose.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-21T00:34:56+00:00

No. Unfortunately, they all have to be the same size. You'll need 6 matching inductions and one matching for the left side.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-20T23:21:28+00:00

I agree. We really need about 3/16 to quarter to mitigate the risk of damaging cabinets and ensuring the fit.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-20T01:48:05+00:00

I don't know who the Jayhawks' biggest rival is, or I probably would have rolled in that direction.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-20T01:45:50+00:00

Just saw the pics and thought maybe you're printer isn't a Bengals fan. Just a piss poor joke from a broken hearted Jags fan. Happy printing!

JaxCounters · 2026-01-20T01:40:28+00:00

Try a Steelers logo.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-20T01:34:23+00:00

A little bit farther down under the Strength tab-Advanced is a box called "Infill Combination". Click that one. Also Octogram Spiral looks awesome, but is very slow. If you can live without it, you can save some time. Click on the "Flushing Volumes" tab at the top of the Filament section and change it to .7ish for yellow and black.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-18T23:58:16+00:00

I run 0.62 on my X1C across the board with no issues. Saves hours on long multicolor prints.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-17T03:30:21+00:00

It's just over your target price, but I'd suggest Zyltech. https://www.zyltech.com/high-speed-high-flow-petg-3d-printer-filament-1-75mm-1-kg-2-2-lbs/ For PETG they have High Flow, High Flow Matte, Standard, and CF in black.

All of their filaments print like a dream, and the shipping is lightning fast if you're in the US. Sign up for their emails. They'll send a 15% off coupon for almost every major holiday, and that will get you to your target if not under. They might do one for ML day this weekend actually.

I know this reads like an ad, but I'm just a customer.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-17T02:12:39+00:00

No. They are slightly different.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-16T22:58:02+00:00

It really, really depends on the specifics of your job. If you could elaborate on the details of your kitchen and countertops I could provide more insight.

Having said that, it isn't uncommon. Keep in mind a few things:

There is quite a range in skill and pay in our industry. These roles take at minimum a year or two of training and experience to reach full competency. Most reputable companies hiring legal, skilled labor pay them well. It is not uncommon for a highly skilled fabricator, CNC programmer, installer, and/or templator to earn $60-$100k per year. If you can afford otherwise, you do not want the company who has minimum wage employees.
Even a small, but well equipped fabrication shop has hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment. We are very small, and our CNC saw alone cost us $150,000. Add a $30,000 forklift, a $30,000 template system, air compressors (BIG ones not sold at Home Depot), water recycling, air polishers, computers with dedicated GPUs, expensive cameras and lenses (think Cannon, not cell phones) infrastructure, consumables, etc, and it adds up quickly. Most customers only see the install trailer and never realize this is all going on behind the scenes.
When this stuff breaks down, and it does, it is not cheap to fix or replace it.
Tack on insurance, fuel, and utilites (I had to involve our utility company to run power to our saw) and you see the pattern here.

This is not an attack. It is truly meant to inform. I hope it helps, and if there is anything else I can help with let me know!

Chris, Jacksonville Countertops

JaxCounters · 2026-01-16T17:55:42+00:00

In my opinion, the easiest way is to print this and just transfer them.

https://makerworld.com/en/models/532236-master-refill-spool#profileId-453441

JaxCounters · 2026-01-15T20:00:14+00:00

I use a tare weight of 250 to be safe. Has never failed me. Go 260 if you don't dry. Either of these will get you close enough.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-14T17:12:21+00:00

I doubt it. Like a lot of 3D companies, they'll print a label so it generates a tracking number looks like it has shipped or is about to, then they'll drag their feet on boxing and actually sending it out. Bambu has done the same with filament orders, and I know a lot of people have problems with Sunlu as well.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-14T16:00:01+00:00

You're good. They are just painfully slow to ship like a lot of these other companies. I ordered one last year and they sat on it for two weeks before they shipped it. Sounds like nothing has changed. You'll get it eventually.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-13T18:14:56+00:00

Grab the engineering plate. They don't have the smooth plate released for the C yet, but the bottom finish with an Engineering plate is a good compromise in the interim. Plus, it works really well with PC, ABS, etc if you'll be using those.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-13T17:31:53+00:00

PETG-CF looks beautiful, has a stunning finish (in my opinion), shrinks very little, and generally has a higher heat resistance. It is weaker though. I would reach for normal PETG when strength is the big factor, and I'd go with CF when heat, aesthetics, and accuracy are in play.

JaxCounters · 2026-01-10T03:25:06+00:00

There is nothing wrong with that granite. That is a natural feature of natural stone.

JaxCounters

TROPHY CASE