Doug,
SINCE the home product has come out... I've run into a LOT of people
praising the quality of the results... and a lot of people mentioning
how they did a part at home for a fraction of what the pro shops
wanted...I'm sorry, maybe I missed something in my business school
background... but when someone comes along and offers a home product
that can do for $5.00 what the local "pro's" want $60.00 or more for...
I'd say... it's a threat... a multi-million dollar threat...
Right now it's $24.00/lb... but already... enthusiasts are banning
together to buy the material in quantity... in time... it will probably
be available at Home Depot... along with the applicator...
I do agree that PREP is important here... but even the advertisement in
EASTWOOD shows a sandblasted "before" part... and explains that it needs
to be prepped well... To suggest that the home auto enthusiasts...
would not know how to follow directions and prep a part is sort of
misplaced... I mean... these guys take engines apart and put them back
together again... they... WE... know all about various media blasting...
and auto paint prep procedures......
I can't see how a few people screwing up the home process are going to
extend that disappointment into the entire powdercoat industry! The
quality of the professional powder coat industry is already known and
accepted... If anything... bad experiences with the home product would
only bolster the professional business! But I don't think those bad
experiences that you're suggesting are going to be the rule... they are
going to be the exception. When an enthusiast screws up a part, due to
bad prep... he'll sandblast the part, and follow the directions the
second time around.
I think there was a "mystery and magic" to this process that was closely
held, in general, (not necessarily a conspiracy though!) to keep the
enthusiasts coming back, time and time again, to pay big bucks for what
was ultimately, an inexpensive process.
Your first post almost made it sound like we should all disregard the
home product and stand by our local professionals... regardless of the
costs involved... it was difficult to see it as a post that was just
trying to protect us from disapointment. Maybe it's just how I read
it. It seems to me... that if you really care about all your "fellow
hobbists" ... you'd be offering up the powder to sell, in smaller
minimum quanities, at prices much better than Eastwood! Secondly...
you'd be including with your powder supplies, perhaps, clear directions
on how to get optimum results at home. Or maybe you could have a
website where enthusiasts could download these recommendations... (that
are, perhaps, more extensive than EASTWOOD's directions) along with some
sources for the powder... (maybe not directly from you, the
manufacterer, but from some of your distributors!) Wouldn't this be
the better approach? Or did I, once again, miss something?
--Justin
Doug Bach wrote:
>
> Justin Wagner wrote:
>
> > Hey Fred...
> >
> > The home powder coating is a huge threat to the powder coating
> > industry... I think this V.P. is just responding to that threat.
>
> I don't think that the prospect of one company selling a product to home
>users for
> about $24.00 per pound is much of a threat to an industry approaching $1.0
>billion
> per year in North America. Certainly not a "huge" threat. It may be a decent
> source of revenue for the reseller though, considering that the average
>selling
> price for a pound of powder is less than $3.00/# across the industry. BTW,
>we make
> the coatings, so I'm not defending the applicator side of the business. Just
>trying
> to provide a "buyer beware" caution.
>
> > Whether Mr. Bach is correct... that it's an "industrial process"... I
> > doubt it matters... $5.00 vs. $60.00... somehow I doubt that the quality
> > of the industrial process is 1200% better than the home process... and
> > the home hobbiest isn't powder coating F-15 parts... He's just looking
> > for something better than Krylon.
> >
> > The home powder coating is taking the mystery and magic out of the
> > process... bad for them... good for us.
>
> If you are satisfied with the quality of the finish you get with the home
>process,
> great. My concern is that, when it doesn't work as you think it should,
>"Powder
> Coatings" gets that blame instead of the inferior process used. Don't
>forget, any
> finish, whether it be liquid or powder, is only as good as the surface prep
>under
> it. Solvent based paints are actually much more forgiving than powder in
>respect
> to poor substrate conditions, due to the fact that the solvents may dissolve
>oils or
> certain foreign materials on the surface. Power coatings require either a
>blasted
> or very clean and passivated surface to get maximum performance, as well as a
>full
> cure. This is a time/temperature equation, and is also critical to getting
>maximum
> performance. I think that if you would look a little more deeply into the
>subject
> you would see that it's not "mystery and magic", but just good fundamental
>finishing
> practices which are required to get the kind of performance typically
>achieved from
> powder coatings.
>
> As I said earlier, I'm just trying to prevent my fellow hobbyists from a
> disappointing experience.
>
> Regards,
>
> Doug Bach
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