I've had some good news this morning. Remember a couple of weeks back when the QMx sonic news broke I decided to look into replicating their paint? I succeeded, as my findings have shown. However, in addition to my own experiments here in the workshop I also pulled in a favour with a chemist buddy of mine and we have been looking at developing a whole new industrial coating with industry leading figures for hardness, durability and substrate adhesion.
Well, this morning he delivered the following:
No, your eyes do not deceive you, this is an industrial coating that has the highest ratings for adhesion and hardness possible.
I am in a quandary now. The Perfetto solution is perfectly acceptable from the point of view of results but they are more random and less predictable as many factors can vary the outcome of crackle size, shape and distribution but it is that randomness which this type of finish is all about. The issue is the cost of handpainting all of them. It is incredibly labour intensive.
The industrial coating however is much more uniform, predictable and standardised. It can also be applied via automation with an exact amount of paint applied to each sonic and in a coating thickness that is identical from one sonic to another.
Do I invest more money, money I have already put into the powdercoat, into this new experimental coating? Indeed, will existing customers pay for the ungrade? I need to think about this and discuss the options with my chemist friend and see if I can economically put this stuff into production.
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