Outsourcing our blasting work over the years, and the issues that occasional ensued led us to eventually have to take the process over ourselves. The quality we were looking for was not always consistent and when we do client owned projects we require the utmost level of professionalism. So we decided to handle our own blasting and make our services available to the public at a level we feel is fa
r beyond what we were seeing. Back then, just like other Custom hot rod shops we used a midsize pressure pot sand blaster to do small jobs, up to about a quarter of a car. Anything larger became a hassle and we were forced to sub the work out and pay for those services. We had everything from Custom Hot Rods to Nostalgic muscle cars as well as antiques and whatever else we might find ourselves working on at the time. Just like you we were trying to get the absolute best foundation possible to start our project off right. Unfortunately, the results we would often got back would Fall short of our expectations and would always be less than an “optimal surface preparation” meaning more Work was needed to properly prepare the surface to receive a top coat. This would leave us with more work in order to get them up to par and even though these blasters surely worked very hard, there were many times when additional problems where created as opposed to the original ones we set out to resolve. While media blasting (when professionally and properly done) is in fact the very best possible way to restore a surfaces back to its near original and purest state. When improperly done without proper care and or done by an unexperienced operator, serous or even severe damage is possible and in some instances possibly even beyond repair. This is when we became aware of the common and general lack of proper knowledge and understanding of the mechanical functionality of aggregate blasting by so many throughout the media blasting industry. When we tried to find the right blaster there seemed to be only two types of services available out there. One such service was mostly focused on doing it as quickly and as cheaply as possible to make the maximum profit. An example would be those that Might suggest a fixed, ultra-low low cost to you without even knowing the exact scope or the extent of the work necessary to get correct and lasting results. This is a major red flag! It absolutely SCREAMS NOVICE, (They know how to beat the crap out of any surface until absolutely everything falls completely off, and not only will it be unbelievably cheap... But they will spend as little as possible by cutting every available corner to get the job paid and once again, Never mind doing it right or the consequences of not!) Our motto is “If you’re going to do it, do it right!”
Then there's the other types of shops we encountered that simply consider media blasting a necessary evil or a secondary service to feed their primary business, such as powder coaters etc. or shops that were stuck in the past with outdated blast medias that offer little to no top coat surface preparation such as plastic pellet basing or the supper ruff aluminum oxide or toxic silica sand. All of which are most always reused over and over again and again and each time, further mixed with more and more junk from the last job then, beating right into yours! Do not misunderstand me, there is a proper time and place to use second or even a third run media however, shoveling this used media up from the ground along with all the contaminants it's just removed such as rust, body fillers and catalyzed paints and under coatings etc. and then blasting it into the surface of the substrate that is supposedly being cleaned and purified, is in absolutely in no way considered proper blasting!
