Bad sandblaster in TX

If anyone is looking to get parts media blasted around Dallas and you run across Tuff Powdercoating in Denton or off 35 and 635 (2 locations), run away!

The owner, Ray, told me he'd pick up my frame, blast it and get it back within 2 days. That was a week ago and I just got it back today..mostly sandblasted. I wish my ol' lady knew what good or bad work looked like, cause I wouldn't have paid money for this if I were home at the time.

He's a nice guy, but he consistently called me back or showed up one day later then he said. Said he'd pick up Thursday, didnt show til Friday. After confirming 3-4 times that it would be back by Saturday I get a call back Monday saying his compressor broke and he'd return it Tuesday. Wednesday comes and here it is finally.

There are hard to reach areas that are still untouched and dark areas of black paint residue still on the frame. Am I being too much of the perfectionist a-hole that I am?

Does this look as bad as I think it is? Would you paint this frame (with SPI epoxy) if you were me or do I have to redo it all?

Thanks for reading

 

Doesnt look horrible and you get what you pay for, if you think you payed to have it all spotless then it would a problem. If you got a good deal for the work then just hit the spots with some scotch brite and call it a day. He should of put more effort into it though... just let the guy know your not pleased with the time and the work and maybe you can get a better deal on some future parts.

 

I'd be pissed.

 

From here out, be totally clear with whom ever does work for you what you expect/want from a job done. And ask to see pictures of their work. Yes this job needs to be gone over again. Call him now. This is somewhat premature to say he is less than a straight shooter.

 

Did you talk to him before coming here and bad mouthing the guy? HRP

 

It's not like what I see from my local shop... but they charge $80/hr plus material - what did you pay?

 

hey hey , depends on what you paid...how much?

 

Talk to a sandblaster in SSPC terms.

 

Haul it back to him and tell him he needs to re-lick his calf. My last two frames I had blasted where the wife works did not cost me a dime and they were spotless...ready to mount in the rotisserie, blow off, wipe down, spin and paint.

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Around here it is 150 to blast a frame completely, not partially like yours. Hope you didn't pay too much.

 

North Texas Customs, the ONLY place to get blasted!

 

Gee, that is such an easy, clean, healthy job, why didn't you rent a setup and do in in your driveway. Bob

 

I complained about him being late, but didnt want to accuse him of p***ing off bad workmanship without knowing its bad workmanship.

they charged 85 an hour. I only called one other place that said "sounds like one hour..that'll be 185" so maybe i did get what i paid for. I dont have a problem with that as long as the work is good enough to paint. if you pay for cheap work thats p***able or pay alot for great work, its a fair deal..but if you pay anything for work thats so bad you have to have it done again, its a waste of money.

I definitelty need to be crystal clear with people IF i ever pay anyone do do work for me again. Its a constant mistake i make to ***ume that someone will do something properly just because they do it for a living.

this is making me rethink the house remodeling i want done.

 

Done, or not done. It is one, or the other. I get paid good money to do jobs.

 

I can't imagine being in a sandblast suit & helmet in Texas heat for 2 hours to do this job. I presume it's for your 55 Chev and the frame had all the suspension on it. Makes it kind of heavy to flip over to get those spots easily, so the guy's on his knees getting sand blown back into his face which will give you 50% visibility even with a fresh face shield. I try to tell customers I would like to have a week if their not in a hurry. Hired help might be hungover & not show up, or 42,000 of the other excuses they have and if equipment fails you have a cushion to fix it & still get the job done. If you were pressing him he didn't take time to QC the job & wanted to get you out of his hair. We have a couple of sayings around here " The worse you want it, the worse you get it." And "We do three kinds of jobs ; Good, Fast & Cheap. Pick any two". How much did he charge? If he did it cheap, hit it with Ospho and paint. If you got hosed, make him touch it up.

 

So how much did you actually pay in total? Is that the only bad spot? Is it completely stripped down to bare frame?

 

Cost is irrelevant. He paid to have his frame sandblasted, not partially sandblasted. If the blasthaus did not charge him enough, that is THEIR problem.

 

It will not be rude to ask for pix and references when hiring subcontracted work.

 

Mine didn't come back 100% spotless, but good enough for Blitz Black. For $60 I can't complain.

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Blue

 

hey hey , looks good enough , not buildin a show car,,,get r done..i used to make a fuss about this and that ..i learned do it yourself and still sometimes you ****up ****...if its a show car thing o.k. or just have some fun

 

Is the ecomomy REALLY that bad that guys will sandblast a frame for 60-85 dollars? Sad day in America. Bob

 

total was 160..and that was picked up and dropped off. My guess is it 80% good and 20% spotty. oh and its a bare but rolling frame.

Redo is right about pressing for a quick job, but taking your time actually blasting something adds hours to the project that he could charge for, so everybody wins. doing careful work doesnt add 5 days of down time because of equipment failure or other problems that are out of the guys control.
anyways, if its still paintable then screw it, im painting this weekend. sure better than sandblasting

for the record, i made sure not to press for a quick turnaround...but since he told me when he'd have it done and that it was no problem at all, i expected it to be no problem for him.

 

I think you have a right to be pissed off, I know I would.

 

Around here nobody will start their compressor for that kind of money.

 

If these are the same guys that powdercoat Wolfe Racecraft's roll cages, I remember their work to be pretty laughable.

 

ill blast off from earth for less than that,,do you realize what it costs to run a business these days...most of us are backyard ***holes..lol...how many of us have run a business and take home the bacon..shut the f up if you wont raise your hand ,,,excellent job for the money,,,case closed

 

I am reminded of the warning we received in the military.

"Never forget that your weapon was provided by the lowest bidder."

 

You paid money for the service. Do not paint over those areas as their is still rust in the profile of the metal and it will come back. In fact, we have a frame in the shop now that has been painted and rust is already coming through due to the same degree of prep from some other shop. When something is blasted it should be taken to whats called "white metal". So clean that most people think the metal is in a light gray primer.

If they won't redo the frame then PM me and we will blast it for free and get it coated in PPG modified acrylic enamel. We've missed some spots before (we're all human) but mainly up inside quarter areas or hard to reach areas. On something so open as that, there's just no excuse.

We charge $145/hr for blasting and give HAMB members a 10% break on labor. Our media is more expensive than sand, our electric bill is nuts because we blast in a fully enclosed booth and reclaim the media instead of blasting outside and letting the dust carry down the road.

 

Thanks Tim for the kind words! We do blast for a lot of HAMBers and for other shops in the DFW area. May not be the cheapest we take care of your metal like it was our own.