During the last Ice Age (1977) David was working in a jewelry store that routinely needed items engraved, and the existing vendor was too far away for speedy service. So Cindy bought her own machine and started working for several stores in the Dallas area. It wasn't lucrative, but it did teach us both to get it right the first time.
It wasn't until 1984 that the business grew to a point where we quit our day jobs, and the first computerized machine didn't grace our shop until 1990. Now we have three machines and serve scores of security firms, office buildings, and municipalities throughout the US.