From 0 to 4500
It started in February of 2015. I was trying to kill some time, so I decided to go for a walk in the wash behind our house. Aside from the occasional rattle snake and lizard, there are a large number of interesting rocks and boulders. Some of these rocks when dusted off provide very vibrant colors. I decided to take a few home and with the tools I have preceded to shine a few of the rocks. As time passed, I had turned looking for rocks into a bit of a hobby, continuing leisurely to hunt and shine various rocks. I enjoyed it. I found it very relaxing and an opportunity to escape into my own thoughts for at least a short while. Soon after, I found myself becoming bored, I wanted something more, I wanted to try other types of rocks, and perhaps more interesting material. I went on Etsy to see if I could find something different. I was amazed to see that there were many of types of rocks at reasonable prices ready to be shined, molded, sculpted, or formed into something special.
Fast forward to September of 2015, I was shopping on Etsy, and I came across a rock that wasn’t really a rock. It was called Fordite. I found it both interesting and unique. That evening, I was talking with wife about how I was considering buying a few pieces to chop up and make key chains from it. After some research, I had determined that no one, to my knowledge, had ever tried producing key chains from Fordite and I felt there might be a market for this idea. I bought a few pieces and started to produce the key chains learning the hard way how to handle this complex textured material. Through hours of trial and error, I developed different techniques and have implemented several short cuts to expedite the forming of each key chain.
Fordite, is a unique automotive enamel material with an interesting history. The original layered automotive paint was made years ago, by the now extinct practice of hand spray-painting multiples of production cars in big automotive factories. The over sprayed paint in the painting bays gradually built up on the tracks that the car frames were painted on. Over time, many colorful layers built up on these tracks. These layers hardened repeatedly in the ovens that the car bodies went into to cure the paint. Eventually, the paint build-up would become obstructing, or too thick and heavy, and had to be removed. As the story goes, some crafty workers with an eye for beauty realized that this unique byproduct was worth salvaging and thus begun the era of Fordite.
I had my first sale October 19, 2015. Currently, to date the number of key chains sold exceeds 4500 to over 40 countries around the world.
