[RCP57]

Thanks guys. The fact that this box turned out as nice as it did is a bit of a small miracle. Somewhere between Friday and Tuesday while it was at the powder coating shop it took a big hit and was damaged on both ends. The guys didn't notice the damage and coated the box. I got it home to start assembly and noticed the damage to the front. I made a call with steam coming out of my ears and arranged to have it re-coated once fixed. TIG welding dirty material is nearly impossible but with some careful sanding, hammer and dolly work and 2 hours worth of extreme patients I was able to get it fixed up. Everything looked OK elsewhere so yesterday morning I had it back at their shop first thing to be redone. My plan was to run errands for an hour while I waited but 5 minutes from the shop I got a call that something else was wrong! It turned out that while they were sanding the box on the bench a tab broke off the apron and then it sprung out of shape. Clearly an issue caused by the impact it had taken prior to coating. Again I make the 50min drive home to spend another two hours fixing the rear. On my way home I stopped at the local exchange to get a fresh bottle of argon. I got home to hook up my flow meter and it wouldn't seal! I had to sand the surface inside the valve to make it airtight! Seriously, I couldn't make this sh!t up. Anyway, in the end after making 4 trips between shops, an extra days work and the guys at the powder coating shop spraying it last minute for me yesterday, it is all finished and looking like nothing ever happened. The theory is that as my stuff was sitting on the bench another customer came in and tossed their stuff onto the same bench slamming Bo's box into the wall causing damage on both ends. After talking with the shop manager yesterday and hearing some other horror stories of customers damaging other customers stuff I just have to shake my head and wonder how some people can be so inconsiderate/stupid. The shop was great about making things right and we have discussed that my stuff no longer stays sitting in the "danger zone" so it should be good now. In the end Bo gets a nice box and I can relax again.... I just have a few more grey hairs.