Twisted Willow Fabrication and Laser Engraving, 5537 Crossett Road, Geneseo, NY (2026)

06/21/2026

We thought we would take a minute to share parts of conversations that we have had with customers and other local businesses with the hopes it might help you work with your local small businesses better. This post should in no way be seen as disparaging or rude. The following are parts of conversations we have every day, and we know other businesses we deal with have the same conversations.

"At least you answer the phone" - We do when we can. So do other small businesses. In our case we make a lot of noise and sometimes we can't answer the phone because we don't hear it or it's just too loud. If we're meeting with customers in person they have our full attention. The phone has to wait. You can leave a voicemail, but in most cases a text or email will get you a faster reply because we can do those things when the shop is loud.

"I stopped by and no one was there" - Twisted Willow Fabrication and Laser Engraving prefers to meet by appointment. We wear the required PPE for the jobs we are doing. When you stop by unannounced you are walking into our shop without protective gear and that could be dangerous. We also make noise, so unexpected conversation can be difficult. Occasionally we leave to pick up supplies or install custom builds. Sometimes, as the photo suggests, we're doing CAD work in the house office instead of running the entire shop when we don't need to. And very much like you, we have personal appointments. It's always best to call before you stop by.

"That seems expensive", "can you do better", "I don't want to spend too much money on this" - We have a saying here and it's not meant to be rude. What we do, as well as what other small businesses are doing for you cannot be compared to buying fast food or Caribbean T shirts. Most small businesses that we know of work very hard to provide the best of themselves at the best price. We have the same personal expenses as you as well as managing business expenses. Our prices are carefully considered. Estimates and quotes take time from our busy day, time that we could be using doing our work. It might help to provide a budget for what you would like done, but if you have no idea what to expect we will discuss it with you and do some loose estimating to see if you're interested.

We have another saying here. We both have to eat, we will give you a price that's fair to both of us. We're aware of your rising expenses, our expenses are doing the same thing. The one thing that will never change with us is you will always be treated with respect. We will provide an estimate based on a discussion we have with you and we will break that estimate down so you understand where that price is coming from. We're both in this game of life together, let's work together to get things done.

05/31/2026

Plaques are used to recognize, memorialize and identify. We've been doing plaques since Twisted Willow Fabrication started. Back then our plaques and signage were all metal and often layered to get the desired effect. We then got into tagging and marking parts using fiber laser engraving. That opened us up to single layered plaques. We could not do traditional cast copper based plaques, and we actually considered getting into casting. When we were considering this we took note of the rapid increase of materials and cost of doing business. We instead added a CO2 laser that allowed us to do multimedia products. That led us to the purchase of a CNC router, and we now have the ability to work with many different professional sign grade materials. These materials can take the place of traditional materials used to make plaques.

There are times when you want or need traditional materials like brass, bronze or stainless steel. Plaques made of these materials come at a higher price, especially when we consider the secondary processes associated with them. Secondary processes include brushing, sanding, and finishes. We still do plaques made of stainless steel, aluminum and steel. But advances in sign grade materials provide the opportunity to offer traditional looking plaques at a price that might better fit budgets that don't seem to go very far these days. These materials are highly engineered plastics and aluminum. We call them "one and done" products because we receive them as a finished base product, process them and then apply them. The secondary processes are eliminated, saving time and money. These materials can be applied in a number of different ways. The photo of the plaque on the brick wall duplicates the look of a bronze plaque. The same material with brushed stainless steel look was used to cover the slot in a deposit drop.

05/03/2026

This is a job we did awhile back and another first for us. This carriage that is used in competition was involved in a bad accident. It is an all aluminum carriage that had extensive frame damage. New aluminum parts had to be fabricated and welded in place. Ornamental features had to be repaired. We also made upgrades for the operator and navigator. After all repairs were made the carriage went into our paint room for painting and paint corrections.

04/26/2026

It's that time of year. This is when we get all those phone calls for mower decks in need of repair. We just want to provide you with some quick information regarding your mower decks.

There are two types of mower decks, welded and formed. Welded decks are on higher end and commercial mowers. Formed or stamped decks are on the typical homeowner mower, usually sold in big box stores. Commercial mower decks often have thick sheets of metal welded together with reinforced areas throughout to handle the amount of mowing they have to do. Homeowner mowers are built to meet the price point of the average homeowner. They have formed (stamped) decks and use thinner sheet metal. Formed decks are more prone to rusting through and damage compared to welded decks.

When you call us and ask about repairing your mower deck, we're going to ask you what type of deck you have for a reason. We can almost always repair a welded deck. We cannot always repair a formed deck, at least at a decent price point. Sometimes it is more economical to purchase a new formed deck shell rather than having us repair it. We will warn you about this on the phone, but we will take a look to see what we can do at no charge. And just a warning, we're going to poke at it with a big ugly awl to see if we have anything left to weld to, which often causes the same customer facial response as a horror movie.

04/19/2026

As a custom fabrication shop we have had clients tell us that they have been looking for a year or two for the right company to do a custom build. This one holds a new record. The owner of this motorcycle trailer has been looking for 10 years to have his trailer customized to match his motorcycle. He travels North America, you would think he would have found someone to do the customization. But he is very specific about what he wants, and that's why we're here. This client was having work done at Full Throttle Finishes, another Livingston County Specialist. He was sent to us to see what we could do for him. The decision was made to use a wheel matching his motorcycle on the trailer, which required a custom swing arm. By using 3D CAD, we were able to explain exactly what we were going to do and show him what it would look like. We fabricated the custom swing arm and fender mounts. We then worked with Tripp Plating Works for the required decorative chrome plating. The wheel was sent to Full Throttle Finishes for powder coating that matched the motorcycle wheels that they had already done. The long wait is over.

A special thank you to Full Throttle Finishes for sending a valued client our way. Also, another special thank you going out to Tripp Plating for being so easy to work with. It's nice to have another business relationship with another area company who believes in excellence.

Address

5537 Crossett Road
Geneseo, NY
14454

Telephone

+15859918544

Website

https://twfab.com/

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