What to charge?

Manyaxes

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How much do you guys charge to clear a playfield? NOS playfields with no touchups. Not much prep involved, clean, sand, clean, clear. I just have no idea what a fair price would be.
Thanx, Ray.
 
How much do you guys charge to clear a playfield? NOS playfields with no touchups. Not much prep involved, clean, sand, clean, clear. I just have no idea what a fair price would be.
Thanx, Ray.

Not knowing you personally - I would have to wonder if you're fishing for prices because you were quoted an amount that you feel is unacceptable or are you asking to see what people will pay because you can do it?

and for the record its - clean, sand, clean, clear, sand, clean, sand, clear, sand, clean, clear, sand with possibly 3 diffferent grits, clean between sands, and then let the buffing begin :p. Anyways something like that heck I'm not an expert. Anyway my only point to make is it's not quite as simple as most think. It takes time and some skill to not fish eye and be perfectly flat not to mention ghosting and other issues that can occur.
A good quality clear coat job - I would personally have no problem paying a couple hundo to make it happen. But this is also taking into considering shipping both ways as well.
 
just the clear is going to cost 110 bucks ish. granted you will be able to clear 3 or 4 playfields ish with the leftovers but you still have the initial outlay. dont forget you still need a sprayer, air compressor, goggles, respirator, clothes, hoses, filter, electricity, place to put all the stuff, etc., etc.

i use corks for the holes so the clear doesnt run down and make it difficult to install bulbs, pop bumpers, gum up switch actuators etc. i also make custom covers for the switch holes and target banks, etc. for the same reason. lots of time there.

NOS playfield ? so i dont have to remove everything before the prep ? what a dream THAT would be ! that will save you some money there

i use a DUPONT product and one coat has been sufficient for me. if i was going to clear a PF for someone i'd charge 600 to make it worth it if i had to remove all the PF stuff and reinstall after it dries. might as well call it a total shopping out, not including new plastics, rubbers and anything else you'd run into that you'd want to make it look mint.

your question was a NOS playfield......i'd charge 300, including materials and you get the shipping both ways. it will look factory too, absolutely AMAZING, MINT and guaranteed !
 
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Thanx for your reply. No fishing here! Lol. Legit question. I guess a little background is needed. I paint cars for a living and have probably painted 10000+ cars by now. A buddy and local pin collector wants 2 playfields cleared, I do work on his classic cars and such so he trusts me. Lol. He's got over 200 pins and at least 130 are shopped, set up and ready to play! You gotta see this place! As far as prep goes I've got 2 sweet bakebooths at my disposal they are clean as hell and materials are not a factor. Just wonderin' what to charge.

P.S. sweet avatar!
 
hsa pinball charges $225 and they're a well respected playfield restorer.

http://www.hsapinball.com/HSA_PINBALL/Clear_Coating.html

Personally I can't see paying more than $150 to someone local who's just going to shoot the clear. I've known of several people who have had clear done in the $100 range locally. Of course, if you're going to block sand and do multiple coats the price should go up.

NOS playfields can vary widely in condition. Touch-up or not there could be issues with the inserts that need to be addressed before the clear coat. An NOS playfield could need virtually no prep work whatsoever or a shit-ton of prep work depending on what it is, how it was stored, etc...

For example, I've got a CPR reproduction Centaur playfield that I could probably scuff up and clear with relative success but I've also got an NOS High Speed playfield that's going to take quite a bit of work before I can even think about clearing it (raised inserts, etc...).

Sounds like the guy you're doing it for is a restorer so I would probably get him to do any prep work necessary like resetting inserts. There is an art to playfield restoration. Even the simple ones.

Just my $.02
 
Thanx for the reply. He says there is nothing in these playfields. No holes are drilled for anything yet. by that I mean screw holes. He is going to block it if needed but all I have to do is clear them, 3 coats. He is a buddy and I'll probably take it in trade labor anyway.

So I'm thinking 100.00 per playfield.....?
 
Be aware of what era game your shooting clear on. System 11 games have a reputation for insert hazing after auto clear (reaction from original clear / inserts). With this in mind I removed all the inserts in my Whirlwind, sanded flat and glued back in place. WPC games should be an easy job. I have done one classic Stern in PPG Omni and it looked nice.

A good buddy price would be $100. If your doing a lot of leveling and sanding $150 is not unreasonable.The last quart of clear with hardener was around $60 so the material is not bad with PPG Omni.
 
100.00 per playfield

say you did 3 playfields for the guy at one time = 300.00
minus materials = 60.00 (thats a low number)
total = 240.00
3 hours per playfield = 9 hours = 26.60 an hour

i'd rather fix the pinball machines for 65 an hour and do less work thats less harmful to my body

either you are doing a lot of prep before the spraying or you are doing a lot of cleanup after the spraying from all the drips and runs down the slots, holes and pop bumper areas etc.

if you can find someone to do it for 100, grab that quick and dont let go
 
FWIW I just cleared my Lost world with 3 coats of SprayMax in a rattle can.

No sanding between coats, or after.
I just waited a little over a week then waxed it and its BEAUTIFUL.
 
As i said earlier my materials are free. There won't be any drips in holes. Lol. If it took me 3 Hrs. per playfield I would FIRE myself! lol. I take pride in my work and I get it done with the quickness. I work flat rate so I'm fast but come backs are free! So i do it right the first time......I hate working for free! Lol.
 
As i said earlier my materials are free. There won't be any drips in holes. Lol. If it took me 3 Hrs. per playfield I would FIRE myself! lol. I take pride in my work and I get it done with the quickness. I work flat rate so I'm fast but come backs are free! So i do it right the first time......I hate working for free! Lol.

FWIW - I just sent a Funhouse playfield to a fellow KLOV member that does body work for a living. I'm hoping he starts a thread showing progress on it.
I believe a body person should be able to knock it out of the park so there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do the same. If it were possible get a whole slew of these play fields setup and shoot them all and save on cleanup and so forth.
 
I also play guitar and every time I do a matching headstock there are no drips in the tuner holes. If your headstock has vintage tuners it does make the ferrels a little tighter! lol. I've never really charged just to clear a car, I paint the whole thing. I try not to do much side work, I do it all day so it's the last thing I want to do on MY time. Plus people don't seem to understand how much it costs. If they want there Chevelle painted to look like a show care they almost keel over at the price! Lol. Even if you give them a big discount they still will nit pick something. My thought is if you want 100% of the job, then pay me 100% of the money!

Last summer I painted a Chevelle for a guy, all the body work was done by someone else, the good thing was that all the sheet metal was new except for the roof and upper quarters (they cheaped out and did half quarters.) I paint the car, everything was fine till I baked it! i went in the booth and there were a few bubble like the size of a quarter but they were only on the original panels not the new metal! I didn't do the body work and have no idea what the guy used and what was under my paint and apparently wasn't done right. The guy didn't say much but I could tell he was dissapointed as was I.
I guess i just do my own body work from now on. Lol.
 
Prep - Varies on type of playfield. NOS sys11 playfields require a lot more work than a NOS newer (WPC) Bally/Williams playfield. Some Data East playfields are actually a big printed sticker on top of the wood. Clear coating these are a problem. The EM playfields are not too bad to clear coat, just a different type of prep.

Many years ago I was one of the three main playfield restoration/clear coating guys. Two of them are gone (playfield Renovations & Bill Davis). They both did great work. I still do playfields and a few new guys have started to do playfields. The guys who now do (or try to do) playfield restorations/clear coating are: Myself (HSA), NEO, Ron K., and Treasure Cove.

I believe we all charge around the same to just clear coat a playfield ($200-$250). The restorations (touchups/airbrushing) usually add $200-$300 to the price.

Here are some examples of their work:

http://www.hsapinball.com/HSA_PINBALL/Others.html
 
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