I have an interest in Cerakote, I Am also applying for my FFL soon and wanted to get the company off the ground before then.  Is there a market for cerakote (no not just firearms)?  This would only be offered after I have had practice on my own items of course.  But I just need to get an idea of the market for this product and service.  If not market then I feel as the funds could be spent else where first.  Thanks.

There was a shop in Lee's Summit that closed not too long ago. I was never too impressed with their website, and their work looked meh. They never seemed to do any sort of promotion either.

I'm sure there is work to be had here, but it had better be something you're fully committed to. People will not want just 1 or 2 colors on their guns all the time. Some will want more elaborate paint schemes that you see online all the time. Some will want something simple. I can tell you now, I'm looking to have a couple firearms done as well as a buddy of mine. So at least 2 people in the city

I'm going to need some work done.  The guy I was looking at requires an appointment to drop off in person, rather than ship.  He accepts either firearms or parts, but charges for disassembly.  You'll have to decide how you want to run your shop.

Thank you for the feed back, I was thinking about the more elaborate designs.  I think if I purchase the right equipment I should be ok, multi-color is normally just a matter of laying down the right color at the right time.  I want to test this out on my own stuff before I attempt anything on another persons firearm.  So, one of my steps will be to do a test run on sheet metal to make sure my.  There are some things I need to work out on that process and the business, but I am hoping to become a full time gunsmith.  It will be a slow process, seeing how I am still doing school.  Keep the Ideas coming in, and thank you.

I can tell you one gun(frame) to stay away from is the EAA Witness "PAVONA". It's the metallic framed model. The metal flake in it doesn't let the cerekote lay down smoothly. It makes pin-holes after the heating process due to the metallic and plastic gassing at different rates.

My local LGS did my wife's gun in a hot pink color since the pink framed Pavona couldn't be found. Took the cerekoter guy about 2 weeks to get the frame to where it could be at least presentable, even though I could still see a lot of mistakes. Wife loved it though and that's what counted for me as I got it for her birthday last year.

All the other black plastic frame guns should be GTG if you do plastics.

I have a beater budget rifle I built a few years ago I would be willing to let you work on if you want to get more experience.  Not asking for anything free. I would pay you. Don't care if it looks like shit. It's a beater.

Dynamic Finishes. I had them do a rail on the first AR I built in 2013. They did a fine job, although it was a simple item with only one color.

Their shop was nice, the owner seemed cool as hell, and they appeared to be very busy at the time. They did all kinds of jobs, not just gun related. They were also the only Cerakote-certified shop in the area.

Not sure why they ended up out of business.

Their prices were way high.  It was cheaper for me to send 2 guns to st Louis with shipping charges both ways than it was for them to do them.

Didn't they do some sort of hydro dip as well?

Yes they did. When I was dropping my rail off, there was a lady picking up an AR for her teenage son that had a hydro dipped flame job on it. I mean, I'd have flipped if my mom bought me an AR when I was a teenager, but that flame job was gayer than two dudes fucking in the back of a Honda Ridgeline.

ws6, I paid $80 to have a 12.5" rail Cerakoted in 2013. It was a bit high but I wanted it done and they were the only ones I could find at the time.

I cant remember the name of it, but I remember a gunsmith in Lees Summit that was pretty close to downtown that worked out of his house. Was the Dynamic?

Always enjoyed going to him for something, cause it always ended up with drinking coffee in his kitchen and bullshitting for an hour.