Doing the dirty work.......Polishing for you

[Zeke]

A friend of my approached me about starting a small polishing enterprise recently. No plating just polishing. Aluminum, stainless, brass, pot metal. chrome prep. OEM to show grade polish work. I've worked with this guy back when we were both doing custom made handgun work and know that we are both damn good at this. We use to start with rough castings and work all the way to the finished product.

Before I jump into this and get it going I'm curious to see how many of you guys do or would use someone to do your polishing for you? You know stuff like intakes, wheels, small trim pieces, bumpers, axles. Basicly whatever.

[burndup]

Put it this way, time is money... THEY save THEIR time, and you can do it FASTER anyway...

[Zeke]

Yeah that's for sure. The big plus is both of us are used to dealing with detailed work. Working around engraving and such so it's still there when we are done. Doing work on a rare valve covers or something wouldn't faze us. Not after polishing and bluing some of the old Colts we did.

[tunglegubbin]

I will never afford to let someone else do my polishing, it's to labour intense... and I'm to picky.

My opinion is that you are getting into the worst possible line of work. You will never be clean.

More important is that people have very different views on what polished is. Very few realize the time it takes to go from 95% finished to 98% and then to 100.
Others don't give a shit and are prefectly happy with a 80%job.

Getting the quality level established with the customer and an understanding of the time involved is very critical.

[burndup]

Thats good points... and you have those "professional, perpetual unhappy customers" to worry about...

[tomslik]

zeke, you gonna be able to mend pot metal?
like broken stuff?

[Phil1934]

Then there's castings like Jag hubs that only show more porosity the more you polish. I see the main market as intakes, and except for the local crowd that have to have a 4 or 6 jug, if you want a poished 4 bbl, the Chinese ones are polished AND cheaper than an Edelbrock. Migtht be some market smoothing exh manifolds for Jet Hot, but I do things like that after the power grinding with some sandpaper and a newspaper in my lap in the recliner while watching the news, so don't consider it a task.

[32viper]

Go for it. Last year I had 4 old american mags and two hemi valve covers polished. I see people making it in business renting bicycles! Make sure you list on the HAMB services page.

[Landmule]

I would definately use a good polisher on some of my stuff. It's always hard to find somebody that understands quality and isn't just jamming crap out the door. I'd say most folks would pay a fair price for a quality polishing job - nobody wants to feel overcharged for substandard work.

Besides, I'm in your neighborhood. It would be great to have a place doing the polishing that I didn't have to ship to.

[delaware george]

i usually do all of my own,with results that i'm satisfied with....but it's a fuckin dirty job that makes a huge mess and i hate doing it.i'd pay someone else if i could afford it

[hillbillyhellcat]

I have a couple of grilles that need polished badly. No one does it locally, I have been considering getting a kit and doing it myself over the winter.

[Zeke]

[ QUOTE ]

More important is that people have very different views on what polished is. Very few realize the time it takes to go from 95% finished to 98% and then to 100.
Others don't give a shit and are prefectly happy with a 80%job.

Getting the quality level established with the customer and an understanding of the time involved is very critical.

[/ QUOTE ]

Truer words than some may realise. Been there done that before. Idiots would bring in a rusty crusty expecting to get it looking like a Purdy without spending anything on the labor. Sometimes you want to take a big stick and wack them on the head. I expect more of the same.This is really at the moment a side venture for my pal and me. Starting small and work our way up. that is if there's enough business to warrent it.

I'm gonna have to do some research on mending potmetal before we try that out Tom. I would think it would be posible.