$$$ & Time Saving Tips
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Hello everyone. I know there are many shop owners,owner’s family,and folks who profit in keeping shop cost down. So I’m trying to start a thread about how to save cost without sacrificing quality. As an owner’s son I’m always hearing how hard it is to turn a good profit. And as a painter I try to do what I can to help. Anyway, I thought we could share some ideas here. So big or small bring em on.
Here’s a couple of things I do. Recently we swithed to a little cheaper masking tape. We were using 3M tan which I really like. Never could get use to the green myself. We started trying others and found we could get by with the 3M yellow. IMO it does a good job for a lot less per roll. I would not suggest using it on something that’s going to have to be taped up for days though. We were also using 3m gold masking paper exclusivley. We’ve done some changing on that also going with a cheaper paper for some things such as priming and cutting in and also using more plastic. One more little thing I’ve started doing is when its cold and I start up the booth I’ll start it on bake cycle (normal temp) to bring it up to spray temp quicker with less fuel as not much outside air is brought in on bake. These may be small things but I sure my boss/dad doesn’t mind saving anywhere he can. So thanks in advance for all the input. I’m sure there’s a whole lot of great ideas out there. There’s alot of smart folks on this site. :cheer: :cheersDitch the 3m and bring in Norton products, I use the white Norton masking paper, yellow Norton tape, and the Norton Gold reserve 6″ sanding discs. With my discount from my jobber no one can come close to the cost of what i pay for Norton products, when it comes to paint supplies i use Top end for everything, my thought on this is that the more expensive paint products will cost more up front but will make up in the end because they are generally better and will save on labor. Pro Form has great Panel bond kits at a fraction of the cost, work on only mixing as much paint and clear as your going to need for the job aswell because thats probably the biggest expense on each job.
Step 1, stop using 3M products where possible. Norton/carbo offers a lot of products that are comparable quality, but a little cheaper. Also, look into the economy lines for certain products(dominion sure seal, Pro Form, Car system, Upol etc). Some of that stuff is junk, but they each make a few great products that are very competitively priced.
Another great idea is to be friendly with the sales reps. Try new/different products. You might get some free samples out of the process and find better & cheaper alternatives.
Reuse what you can with in reason. Older tack rags can be used for priming, dirtier areas, wiping your air hose etc…the paper towels after final wipe are great to reuse to clean out wheel wells and what not on the next job. The plastic used for bagging off huge cars can be reused once for priming. Old scotch brite pads are good for scuffing/cleaning dirty parts, tooling seam sealer (like brushing them). Lots of little things, so long as they don’t slow you down or sacrifice quality
best way i found to save money in the paint or body department is to combine jobs. for example, if possible, i like to prime at least 2-3 jobs at once saving me time and material, or clear a bunch of jobs at once and let them dry together. if theres lots of plastic work going on, then i can mud jobs up at the same time and have no waste.
in the shop overhead area, i have my shop lighting zoned where if nothing is going on in a particular area the lights can be cut off. i switched to prevost fittings on my air lines and my compressor doesnt work as much anymore.
before a car goes into paint it gets washed regardless of how small the repair area is and this really produces a cleaner job and cuts back or eliminates polishing. and when we wash we use a pressure washer and that really saves water.
Try car works organe tape,
I buy a lot of my jobbers brand stuff like paper, plastic, sand papper, wax and degrease remover, even body filler and seam sealer most of its made by big companies and they just put there own label on, I use all name brand paint products like said before cost more up front but save a lot in the end.You know I went back and gave that stuff another try after you reccomended it.It really wasn’t too bad but would become very brittle after a bake cycle and would splinter when trying to unmask.If the bodymen mask and prime it would work great out in the shop for priming duties.The carbo new and improved premium tan made in usa tape(not the american co branded tape) seems to work pretty good as does the american blue as long as you unmask it right away.
Pretty much everything I can think of has already been said. A thinner recycler is helpful.
one thing i could add is that we’ve been using dupont sontara drop cloths for masking off for primer instead of using 36″ paper. we only have to do light masking with 6″ paper and can reuse the drop cloths. heck i think we’ve had them for over a year now.
[quote=”statestreetautobody” post=31713]one thing i could add is that we’ve been using dupont sontara drop cloths for masking off for primer instead of using 36″ paper. we only have to do light masking with 6″ paper and can reuse the drop cloths. heck i think we’ve had them for over a year now.[/quote]
good one! learned that trick from Bondomerchant. i use old blankets now instead of having to use plastic sheeting when priming.
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