screenman wrote:I tend to use Delta thin resin to fill the cracks but use a thicker resin on top, just to stop the air getting back in. If this crack was dry Iwould imagine it would take about 25 minutes to complete the job, no longer than some starbreaks. I have 2 of these booked in today. A lot of our double decker buses over here have bonded screens and the bus and the glass flexes a lot so as soon as they chip they crack.
Well, that's great for business then. Lucky. I received in the mail some thicker resin. Not quite as thick as a pit filler but in between. I'm thinking of taking Saturday as a training day and hitting the junkyard. I haven't been in about two months and really should go. I'll let you know how it goes.
GlasWeldTech wrote:Mike,
I think you are to cheap on your prices but that is just my opinion. I do this full time and also don't have much overhead. The guys in my area are trying to get the prices up some instead of the other way around. In any industry it is best not to whore out the pricing. There are enough hackers out there to be doing this for us. Nothing wrong with doing a good deed or favor every once in awhile either also.
The pricing around here is $50 - $60 for single chips and anywhere from $5 - $15 for each additional. I'm not too far off the avg cost here and I think it's a far price for my skill and experience. Of course, one day I'd love to charge more and when I become more established and better at my craft then I will entertain charging more.
That is a good outlook on our business Mike and I wish you the best. Your confidence level will soar with practice. Do not get discouraged fixing junk yard cracks as you will not now how long they have been there or how much contamination there is in them. But then again maybe they will all come out looking perfect for you.
That glass looked like it should have been replaced. When do you tell a customer they need a new glass? Do you take in to account the overall shape of the glass? Some of the cars we see around here are so pitted that repairing a glass with damage and pits and cracks is not in the best interests of your customer. I have asked this before and never got an answer. Good Luck with the Biz.
1. Is the crack itself repairable?
A. Is the crack visually contaminated with dirt?
B. Is it multiple fractures/legs? If yes, then I will deny. If no, continue.
C. Is the crack wide or closed tightly? If it is too wide(spread) then I will deny. If it is not, then I continue.
2. What caused the crack and is that damage repairable?
A. Is it caused by stress or blunt object impact?(i.e. softball, apple falling from a tree)? I will deny if there is no discernable damage causing the crack.
B. If I think I can repair the original damage and the crack I will accept.
Other things I consider are the orientation of the crack in regards to it being accessable. By that I mean can I move about the vehicle and have full access to the damage at all times to do an acceptable repair. Do I have the mood but more importantly do I have the patience that day to do it.
Patience should really be at the top of the list on any repair we do. If you try to rush the process, it just goes downhill fast.
Anything you read here may or may not work for you. Individual results may vary. Not valid in Peurto Rice, Nevada, Alaska and Hawaii. You must be 18 to win.
I had the opportunity to use Screenman's technique yesterday on 2 different repairs and I must say that it improved my results so much it's unbelievable.
The repairs came out absolutely perfect with no air seeping back into the crack.
Thats a doozy of a crack. I must say that I have found that generally speaking the thicker viscosity resin that you can shove into the crack the clearer (better refractive index to the glass) the final cured results will be.