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VITO CORLEONE

Neon Sign Fabricator · Las Vegas, NV
vito@example.com (702) 555-0186 janebends.example.com Historic Westside shop, by appointment

Glass on the Wall

I bend, pump, and hang neon for a living. 19 years at the torch, roughly 1,400 finished signs, and 3 pieces restored for the city's sign museum. I run a two-bench shop off the Strip and still answer the phone myself. My repair callback rate last year was under 2 percent, which I check because customers keep score in this town.

Where I've Bent Glass

Owner & Lead Bender Corleone Tube Works 2014–present
  • Fabricated 120 to 140 custom signs a year, from 8-inch window pieces to a 22-foot rooftop cocktail glass with animated pour sequence.
  • Restored 3 signs from the 1950s and 60s for the Boneyard collection, matching original argon-mercury fills and porcelain enamel cabinets.
  • Keep a 4-week turnaround on standard commissions; trained 2 apprentices through their first 500 bends each.
Senior Fabricator Desert Glow Sign Co. 2009–2014
  • Produced casino marquee tube work on a 6-person line, averaging 90 units per quarter with a 3 percent breakage rate on 15mm glass.
  • Built the shop's pattern library of 240 letterform templates, cutting layout time on repeat orders by about a third.
Apprentice, then Journeyman Vega Bros. Electric Sign 2005–2009
  • Learned bending on 10mm and 12mm soda-lime glass; logged over 3,000 practice bends in the first 18 months.
  • Handled service calls on 60-plus aging installations, replacing transformers and re-pumping tubes on site.

Tools of the Trade

Ribbon burner Crossfire bending Bombarding & pumping Argon / neon fills Pattern drafting GTO wiring Transformer sizing Cabinet fabrication Historic restoration Flicker diagnosis

Schooling & Papers

Certificate, Electric Sign Fabrication Mojave Trade Institute, 2005
Nevada Sign Contractor License C-6 current, held since 2011
OSHA 30, aerial lift certified renewed 2024