MOTM

[[quick break before back to packing up]]

You would think, in this day and age, that making a flat panel, painting it black and applying
white lettering is a trivial, not-so-expensive deal.

The trouble is that....errrrr....(trying to be nice)....errrr....the majority of people in this
"business" are, shall we say, not in the top 5% of the high school graduating class.

They make their living one of 2 ways:

a) making a zillion tee shirts for sports teams
b) large volume/large $$$ metalwork

I am on my FOURTH panel supplier. It is easily the most frustration part of the MOTM "business".
You will discover that most metal shops DO NOT paint, because of the OSHA requirements (fume
hoods, etc). 99% of paint shops want to use "power coat" paint, which is arguably not really
paint at all. It is "blown on" using charged electrostatic fields.

I like the Polane polyurethane paint. Smooth, durable, and 'sexy'. Paint shops *detest* it
because it's a 2-part mixture (paint plus a hardner, like epoxy) and it's "wet" (shudder). Gee,
like PAINT, maybe??!? :)

The MOTM panels are drawn in AutoCAD (industry-default CAD program) because 'real' machine shops
can "punch a tape" for the CNC equipment to automatically mill/stamp/punch the panels.

As Larry will attest, the "ISSUE" is we are considered SMALL POTATOES. The shop I use does ALL
the cases for Dell and Cisco. Gee, compared to that I AM small potatoes. But it's MY POTATOES,
see? They do my panels, as you see they do a great job, but it takes 5-6 weeks. And they charge
me out the nose. Every time I go to pick up an order, I get the sense they are smirking and
laughing their asses off :(

Paul S.

> 
> So, when you pay Moe and Larry $16 for a custom printed panel, that moeny is

Since I do volume, I get charged *only* $13.72

Sigh.

Paul S.
calculating amount spent on front panels and brackets (to date): $62,710

----- Original Message -----

From: Paul Schreiber <synth1@...>
I am on my FOURTH panel supplier. It is easily the most frustration part of
the MOTM "business".
You will discover that most metal shops DO NOT paint, because of the OSHA
requirements (fume
hoods, etc). 99% of paint shops want to use "power coat" paint, which is
arguably not really
paint at all. It is "blown on" using charged electrostatic fields.

Same here.  Metal shop won't paint.  Painter charges out the wazoo.  Each
panel is painted 5 times.
1 - top side primer (with reducer / catalyst)
2 - bottom side primer (with reducer / catalyst)
3 - top side polane (with reducer and a separate catalyst)
4 - bottom side polane (with reducer and a separate catalyst)
5 - top side polane spatter texture (same paint)
There are 5 separate things to mix that go into your panel paint.  Now you
know what Shaeffer doesn't do them like that.  I often curse Paul in my
sleep for selecting this finish when we have to duplicate it.  By the time
you get one gallon of paint and all the stuff that goes with it, you have
$200 invested.

So, when you pay Moe and Larry $16 for a custom printed panel, that moeny is
split to:
metal shop
painter labor - biggest part
paint material
screen printer
Larry and Moe's profit.
Actually, I am surprised it is (err... was) that cheap.

Powdercoat is like what you see on the flat rails.  Durable as hell, but not
that pretty.  That is what you will be seeing on your SKB backs.  Nice
enough for that, but not as pretty as a panel front.  But, I had used panel
painting process for SKB backs you guys would not have liked the price.
<snicker>

Larry