I just wanted to give a review of gruntbull anodizing.
Price for solids $60
Price for swirl $90
Price for laser $50
I had a very unsatisfying experience with Gruntbull recently and wanted to warn the community. First off Gruntbull didn’t explain anything about the process. If you are not sending a raw yoyo Gruntbull will strip yours but he will mask the bearing seat. Some ano leaks into the bearing seat anyway. Expect ano mistakes on any job even just solids. One of the yoyo’s turned out stellar but still had two dots on it that were left raw. The other yoyo had a lot of mistakes in the ano. You can see the pictures below. Also the amount of times I explained exactly what I wanted seems pretty ridiculous to me.
5/? I contacted Gruntbull and he said to send him an email in a couple of months to see if he has more free time
9/1 I contacted Gruntbull and he had time
9/15 yoyos are sent
10/6 I asked if it arrived, it did but no email till I asked
10/29 Says he is going to start them
10/30 Paid for the ano
11/15 I check in and he says he had some delays and hasn’t started yet
12/2 Says he has it scheduled and asks what colorway it’s supposed to be. I’ve already sent 4 emails with this info and a hard copy with the yoyo’s.
12/6 I get the yoyo’s with no response about the process. While 1 yoyo came out proper the other came out with a lot of ano flaws. I contacted him again and he said he would redo it.
12/8 sent the yoyo back to Gruntbull to get fixed
12/18 I ask if the yoyo’s arrived and Ted says they haven’t
12/20 I check tracking and it was delivered awhile ago so I asked him to check again. Ted says he found it after this.
1/10 Checking in to see if it has been started. He says it came out of the ano tank. Calls the color pink when I specifically asked it to be purple in every single email and letter. Since this is the second time anodizing it I had specifically stated to make it much darker than the first time.
1/16 Got the yoyo and it has less ano issues but still random small black dots in the color. Still not the color I asked for.
Just a side note but I paid for shipping to and from Gruntbull both times.
I had a very similar experience with Gruntbull with an orca that I had shipped to them. I will never use them again…. Which I am sure they don’t care if they lost my business or not
Bro… honestly how does this even get past anyone’s QC? I don’t understand how you can look at these and be like “Yep, looks good!”
I’m kinda shocked how bad these both look, it looks like it’s someone’s first time, and I definitely know it’s not Gruntbulls first time, as he does/has done A LOT of anno work for One Drop and others.
You should also be aware, that now your yoyo has had two separate etching baths (original anodize job, followed by the Ted attempt).
Taped/masked bearing post or not, etching removes material and then adds a fraction of a micron worth of “anodizing buildup.”
Your yoyo may not seat the bearing properly after a third etch, and it may etch unevenly throughout - providing you a less than desirable playing experience.
Many years ago some users on another forum collaborated on sending a batch of various yoyos together to Gruntbull. From what I remember Gruntbull was chosen because someone asked them about small batch services and they just happened to agree. I never recall Gruntbull (paintball gun anodizers) ever being known as the best choice for anodizing services. It went ok, but I recall a few throws coming back with vibe. I didn’t expect to be reading about them over 10 years later.
Usually when you just need one or a few small items anodized, painted, perhaps even plated… the company that does it will throw it in with a much larger order and do it all at the same time. I’m unaware of how Gruntbull operates however.
I just visited their website and they have some nicer stuff now than they did back then, but still more defects than I’ve seen on retail yoyos from 8 years ago.
What yoyojoe described sounds like poor management issues, customer service, and shoddy workmanship. If they didn’t have the time or resources they shouldn’t have taken your money. Any company that won’t pay shipping when they themselves messed up isn’t a company you should do future business with. I suggest you try to get at least partial refund.
