30 YEARS AGO

This month we celebrate the 30th

anniversary of the official launch of The Blast Shop. We first launched The Blast Shop at the NAMM Tradex exhibition in Torquay. Our warehouse was a pallet in one corner of our masonry shop and we made six sales in our first month of trading. How things have changed. Today we have a 2600 sq foot, temperature controlled warehouse, a seminar room that will accommodate to up 40 people and three dedicated training rooms.

Along the way we ran the first sandblast training seminars in the UK for memorial masons at Bath College; introduced hi-tac Anchor tapes to the stone industry against the advice of Anchor who said they wouldn't sell (they are now the largest selling tapes in Europe); developed T226 sandblast tape

(now the best selling rubber sandblast tape in the UK and Europe); installed the first automatic sandblast machines in the UK in the 80's along with MonuCad, the first lettering and design programme written specifically for the memorial industry; supplied the first laser engraved granite plaque in the UK in 1989 to celebrate the 20th

anniversary of Manchester United winning the European Cup; patented the first mechanical LockDown ground anchor system for memorials in 2001 combining cement-free fixing with easy, safe removal.

In addition to our extensive UK customer base, we now export sandblast products to most European countries and what started as a sideline to our memorial business is now a major business in its own right. All this is due to the encouragement and support of you, our customers, for which we thank you. If there is anything that we could do better, please let us know because we still want to be around in another thirty years time!

DUSTLESS FOR HIRE

Goldmann dustless machines have always been highly regarded ever since we started introducing them to the UK back in 1984. Until now you've never been able to use them without either buying one or coming for a trial at our demonstration area in Manchester. However, we've now started hiring the sandblasters out on a daily or

weekly basis. From as little as £50 a day, you can hire one of our sandblasters for oversize jobs that don't fit in the cabinet or on-site work where you can't afford for grit to be thrown all over the place. We've got a couple of machines available for hire, including a 40I machine that almost dates back to the launch of The Blast Shop, which goes to show just how long the machines will last!

SERVICE YOUR BLASTER

This time last year we reminded you what things you should be doing on an ongoing basis to keep on top of your sandblaster maintenance. For those that have forgotten (or not looked at the back catalogue of newsletters on our website) it might be worth checking your hoses aren't going soft and that your dust collector is empty. Also on our website you'll find a handy list of trade shows around the world; where will you be at the end of September – Durham or Verona?

VOLUME 24 ISSUE 3 NEWS FOR THE MEMORIAL INDUSTRY

30th Anniversary Edition• Training Courses• Paint Marker Pens• Tradex 2015

• Dustless for Hire• Photoblast Designs for Sale• Gold Leaf Price Drop

NEWS

PAINT MARKER PENS

We have been frustrated recently with chinagraph pencils that continually break or don't mark particularly well so we were on the lookout for something that would work better. During our numerous searches for paints we came across a paint pen that we initially thought would be used when re-painting lettering. Rather than having to dip the brush into the paint, the paint is dispensed to a marker type nib which meant you could paint with good quality paint a bit like using a felt tip pen. This got us thinking, could we use them as a replacement for chinagraph pencils. Our lads love them, they mark clearly and don't leave any waxy residue which can become visible when the stone gets wet. The pens are available in many different colours but we think the orange one stands out best.

PHOTOBLAST TRAINING

Our first batch of training courses for PhotoBlast stencils were heavily over subscribed. There were two courses run, one was a single day which concentrated on the basics i.e. creating a stencil, blasting monotone and dotted stencils and simple manipulation of images to create monotone designs suitable for blasting. The two day course added advanced image manipulation including dotted images and localised image editing. Feedback on the courses was very good with most getting more out of the training than they expected. We probably tried to pack too much into the sessions but by the end of both courses people were confident enough in creating monotone artwork and everyone was confident in creating and blasting the stencils.

We'll be running another set of courses at the end of September (29th September - 2nd October) but be sure to book your place straight away because they are bound to fill up fast.

However, it has become clear from the training that not everyone wants to spend time creating their own artwork so we've decided that you can …

BUY OUR ARTWORK

We are now selling the artwork from our PhotoBlast catalogue. The artwork is supplied printed ready for you to create your own stencils. Choose the design you want and we will send you a sheet of various sizes suitable for small, medium and large memorials. Given how everyone on the training courses could easily create and blast the stencils it should mean that no-one has an excuse for poor quality designs on their memorials!

TRADEX

Preparations continue for the NAMM Tradex show in June 2015. We're getting our compressor and three phase supply sorted so that we can demonstrate the largest Goldmann dustless machinery (much as we did in Torquay 30 years ago!). We're also planning on having the ability to create and blast PhotoBlast stencils. Once you've seen how easy it is you won't go back to stencil cut designs! If there is anything in particular you want us to put on our stand then please let us know, however I'm not sure dancing girls are appropriate (you know who you are...)

GOLD LEAF

Eighteen months ago gold prices were $1,700 per ounce, prices today are $1,250 per ounce. As a result the price of our gold leaf has dropped in line with raw material costs. There is however more to gold leaf than price. Firstly there is the purity of the gold leaf, pretty

much everyone is now aware that 23.5 carat gold leaf is what we need in the memorial trade, anything less than that can result in tarnishing. The second factor is the thickness (or weight) of the gold leaf. From recent conversations it turns out that our medium weight leaf is more expensive than some of our competitors heavy weight. However, our medium weight was in fact heavier than their heavy weight leaf! The weight of leaf is important because it gives you an indication of how long the leaf will last.

PHONEY LETTERING

In the memorial trade we're a bit guilty of not highlighting to customers that we don't actually cut many memorials by hand any more, in fact we often use the hand cutting tools as props in advertising features etc. When someone asked recently about a picture showing lettering chisels and a dummy on top of letters that were clearly sandblasted it reminded us of an article that we did for the local newspaper when Cyril Critchley turned 90. The paper wanted a picture of the oldest working mason holding traditional tools. Having been sandblasting for 30 years we didn't have that many hand cut memorials on site so we cut a few corners and stuck vinyl letters onto a stone which Cyril dutifully pretended to cut by hand. The resulting photograph was quite convincing (if slightly misleading!) Have you done worse? For those that are wondering, at 94, Cyril is still going strong, he still turns in for work every day and enjoys nothing more than checking we are still working to his high standards.

Published by The Blast Shop, S. Critchley & Son Ltd, Langley Road, Pendlebury, Manchester M27 8SS.Tel : 0161-351-6545 Fax : 0161-745-8071 E-mail : info@theblastshop.co.uk Web Site : www.theblastshop.co.uk

Hours of Business : Monday to Friday 9.00 am to 5.00 pm