shadytints

keep 3 or 4 out cutting tops.  knife perpendicular to the door, about 30 angle forward and the back edge up 10 degrees.

wheel acid on a little steel wool removes it as well

pro-bond on the grid stops peanuts or strong cleaner during prep.  went back to normal torch shrinking with no problems. 

winter is harder to cut top of doors.  dirt and  salt on top of doors chews blades up.  if the first pass is rough on the cut I glance at the blade to see if its rough and click another out if needed.  if the edge looked good I wipe the top of door to remove debris.  tempered doors you can change the angle and shave a 1/32 to smooth(round top).  lam have to shift up a 1/16 to recut(square edge).   vids on the tube if you want to see

180 watt 18,000 lumen mounted to a underhood bracket.  250 lumen for touch ups

wheel acid from a detail shop on fine steel wool works

This is a mountain T5 39 watt underhood  light case (amazon $85). only last a year or so being mobile.   I gutted the frame and put a 32 inch 180 watt 18,000 lumen roof mount spot/fog bar into it (amazon $49).  Clamp across B pillars for back and quarters or A pillar for pickups.  alligator clips to my 1200 amp jump box or to car battery.  do not use cig lighter on cars considering current draw.    the second is a  250 lumen 3aaa battery for inspection in shops with poor lighting, $20 home depot.

factory glass is not bad, aftermarket can be tough.   have seen people stretch it,  like to shrink it myself.    have a 95 camaro did 10+ years ago with a heat gun.  a century reverse curve and a compressed snap.    want another one to try heating bottom edge to drop the pouch.  if you could flip the glass over,  is not the bottom a regular curve?

youtube,  rob forbes

winter can be more challenging.  I use ultra-bond all year with a touch of J&J in hot humid months.  sets quick,  just keep car inside for 15min after you finish.  I peeled off the car as well and did not wash them when they came in.  to help reduce trash in winter,  turn fan on high with recirc. on.  this will reduce dust in interior using the cabin filter.  mist interior down to keep dust from going airborne as you tint.  buy a 20x20 fan and at least a HP4 20x20 filter to remove dust in the shop.  $20.00 for fan and $10.00 for 3 pack filters.  mist upper gasket and door frames and 2 feet around your pattern when you peel,  dont forget under side view mirrors.   with doors in shops closed in winter and cars keeping windows up,  more dust/dirt builds up from lack of air flow.   side note,  use rear defrost to heat BG,  hot glass is much easier to shrink then cold. 

went to a shop to tint just the BG on a 300,  they replaced the windows in the back doors and they came tinted.  wonder who is making the glass and for how many different vehicles.

I have used hard card sharpener on turbos with deep nick.  220 grit smooths them out quick and gets them sliding again.  only use my blue max with pro handle on film,  never on glass.  less chance of dirt embedding into the edge and scratching a pattern.

a good body shop or used car lot is nice to have a relationship with.   broke a rear view mirror once,  new one cost $250.  one that looked new I got for $35.  retail verse wholesale,  i'm sure ya know the game.   saved my butt a few times over the years.  always take care of the customer,  nothing wrong with saving a few bucks in doing so.

1.5 hours is good time for the average car for a seasoned tinter.  busy day and things going good could hit an hour a car and maintain quality.  I was mobile with a 30 min drive between accounts.  60/40 split for 11 years,  if I wanted a raise, had to do more cars.  started training apprentices to clean and prep then slowly into cutting, shrinking and hanging film.  had a few good ones thru the years,  did 5 cars in 2.5 hours one day.  limped all the way to the bank LOL

Time equals money,  the more you do, the more you make.  so what does it cost to tint a car?  not the $20-$40 bucks people think.  look at every dime you spent last year on your P&L,  divide that by how many cars you tinted and that my friend is the real cost.   total sales divided by number of cars is what you gross,  goal is to widen the gap between the 2 numbers.  window tint has a great gross profit on paper,  irrelevant if you can't pay the bills.  this is why so many companies fail.  quality first,  speed is close second.  video tape yourself and study it for ways to save time.  watch video's of others to see if their technique or parts of it will fit into your style.  still look at my old video's and study others and I don't even tint anymore.  still cool to see the evolution of my style from where I was to when I stopped.

K-12 you were graded A-F,  what is your grade now?  its called a W2 or the bottom line if you are independent.  never stop learning! 

Did glass years back and had a number of glass shops I did sub work for.   blurry spots, chipped and warped just a few of the probs.  nobody warranties against breaking so the cheapest crap is typically what they buy.  BG's with thick defrost, had massive peanuts on a wrangler once and can't count how many tabs fell off or grid lines falling off even if I was not tinting them.  of course I touched it so I had to buy it  lol  tried to make it a habbit to check shields and BG's  logos before I started.

6 hours ago, Tint Slayer said:

@shadytints use that torpedo for a really fast bg heat shrink lol

yup,  vid on the tube called torpedo   lol

not much faster,  need to cut a foot off to get the flame on

hit all windows with a soapy solution of J&J,  plug in my antique wagner to heat up and grab my torch,  usually does it.  steamer  if material is to close to window for torch or film is leaving glue behind.

I think everyone should pay for their own tools and film and work straight commission.  tools will last longer and less film wasted.

Hourly or salary leads to unsustainable economics.  If everyone gets a raise every year, eventually you have to raise prices or buy cheaper film.  I had a 60/40 split with all the accounts I had for 11 years.  I got the same 60% and yet I got a raise every year.   No they did not raise prices either.   Had to train sales staff on products and good, better best system to increase average gross per delivery.  Studied other techniques and tools to see if the adaptation would increase speed or reduce redo's.

Sales is the highest paid hardest work or the lowest paid easiest work.  applies to tinters as well,  make as much money as you want.  On commission,  I don't care what I pay them, I do care what they make.  Actually for the owners out there.  you don't pay them.  sales pays the techs by booking work.  techs pay sales staff by doing the work.  whats left pays the bills and if they are good,  they pay the owner whats left over. 

10 hours ago, Tint Slayer said:

Your worker may need to buy his own tools, then he'll make them last.

Broken a few,  but ya know the difference between a amateur and a professional?  the pro's know how to fix their mistakes lol.  little crazy glue, wet sand and spray paint.

trick is even pressure straight back,  comes out with a pop.  seen some use a small S shaped pry bar.  can find plastic ones I hear.   before you reinstall, look at the 2 copper looking clips that hold it in.  tend to pop out of place making it impossible to put back in.  pick or small screw driver gets them back in the groove.  has to go in even,  push till it locks. 

my torpedo is 110k btu propane.  stinks less then kerosene and heats quick.  ultra bond is a madico product,  by it from pro-view,  never tried dirt off or film on.  million dollar question is what temp and how long before the film bonds and wont peel.  I seal edges on roll downs,  sick of watching custy's roll them down leaving the lot when you tell them 3 to 5 days keep them up.   vids on the youtube, Rob Forbes to see process.  clean and first pass to set with 9-10 inch yellow turbo,  fushion to remove all possible slip.  saves time.

216.889.9505  proview down the street in cleveland

docs said bad disc and kept uping the dose of pills and kept getting worse.  so I dropped them.  have a new doc trying to reverse what they did to me.  waiting on the new diagnosis.  either party till I pop off or back to work in a year or so  LOL

how big is your shop?  torpedo heats mine in 10 min and box fan clears air in 10 min as well.   I switched from blue max to clear,  softer  lets it remove more water on BG's with thick defrost lines.  Fushion 5ES is longer for better reach, applies more pressure with less arm/wrist strain.   pro-bond is for glass prep,  prevents peanuts and helps film stick to frit.  did not help with silvering on old fushions,  did make it difficult to pull back to glue it.  Ultra-bond  is a slip with drying agent and increases bond strength.  with J&J my film peels off clean,  with ultra-bond it is harder to peel and leaves some glue on glass.  films are different,  winter I use 1oz ultra in a P2,  summer add touch of J&J.  my ceramic in summer add more J&J,  adhesive is more aggressive.  

Having some major disagreements with my legs,  mostly right from something in lower back.  the quacks (docs)  still trying to figure it out.  spent this year watching TV and wasting oxygen on the planet.

we were comparing slips for strength.  30 min at 60 degrees none bonded.  I use a 110btu torpedo to heat my garage,  once warm have a 40k btu radiant to maintain temp.  20 inch box fan $20 bucks and 20x20 hp4 furnace filter 3pack $9 bucks filters the floaties out of the room while I cut and shrink.  shut off while I hang.  slip tends to pool into little bubbles after installation, fushion 5ES with blue or clear max applies more pressure leaving a slight haze with no puddles and quicker cure time.   ultra bond compared to J&J or other soaps/shampoo's bonds faster and stronger.   was impressed with the comparison.  have a peel board?  tint a couple spots with scrap,  vary the temp and see how long it takes to bond.  films are different.    if I tint a car in a hour, and I have a 30min drive between accounts,  a warranty redo can really cost me $200-$400 in lost time.  time is the one thing you can not get back.

noticed your only few hours away,  not working anymore,  want some pointers, let me know.

I use a 9 or 10 inch yellow turbo for cleaning and first pass.  flexes to curve of window and saves time cleaning/squeegeeing larger area.   final pass i use a fushion 5ES to remove more slip.  sand edge if it starts to streak.

for cleaning I pull so I can see if I am missing any slip or have a nick in squeegee.  to squeegee I push to see the film and avoid potential crease.

spilled pro bond in my tool box once and melted chislers and gators together,  might work.  if your dozer or other squeegees leave streaks, scuff with sandpaper.  glaze builds up with extended use and they stop sliding and leave streaks/scuffs.  I check and sand new ones before use to make sure edges are good.

In colder months, I leave the car running with the defrost on and fan on high in recirc while I cut and shrink.  slip is one ounce of ultra bond in a P2 and heat the shop to 70 as film goes on and keep car inside 15min after completion.

hot BG shrinks easier then cold ones.  cars have interior filters to remove airborne debris,  shops and cars are dustier in winter.  ultra bond dries film quicker and increases bond strength.  15min in 70 degrees you will have to scrape glue to get it off.   all cars i seal edges on roll downs and use a fushion 5ES to remove slip.  windows used to texture a little as they cured with turbo,  does not with pro handle.

soak the windshield and the computer under passenger dash is toast.  might be able to dry it out if your lucky.   I know some that remove it before doing the windshield on dodge