It’s no secret: lead times are long. They’re unusually long at Kaser, and from what I can tell, we’re not alone.
Mostly, it’s beyond anyone’s control. I can’t solve global hiring and supply chain issues. That being said, there are a few things that customers should (and shouldn’t) do to help ensure that blasting and coating won’t take any longer than is already necessary.
Helpful: disassembling the part yourself.
More than helpful, this step is necessary if you’re dropping your part off at Kaser. Blasting and coating takes up all of our time, energy, and resources as it is; we can’t afford to devote a team member to disassembly. Please remove any hardware and non-metal components yourself before drop off. While some customers may think that they’re willing to pay us for these services, I can guarantee that they won’t like what we’d charge to disassemble and reassemble their parts. It’s just not the business we’re in.
Helpful: wiping the part down yourself.
To be clear: your part does not have to be clean when you drop it off. But if it’s covered in thick goo (think heavy grease or congealed oil) or has thick clumps of dirt on it, removing that beforehand will save us a lot of time. We reuse our blast media, which means we’re careful about the contaminants we bring into the blast booth. Please scrape excess grease and dirt off of the part and wipe off excessive oil.
Not helpful: masking the part yourself.
Customers sometimes get proactive and mask their parts before bringing them in. While I appreciate the thought, it actually creates more work for my team. Regular duct tape won’t withstand blasting (or the powder coating oven, for that matter), which means we have to remove any homemade masking and re-apply sturdier products before proceeding. If you let us know what areas you want masked when you drop off, we will take care of it for you.
In short, Kaser is a blasting and coating shop. That’s all we do, and it keeps us very busy. We won’t be able to provide you with any services outside of that realm. Plan accordingly.
