About Bassler Enterprises

About 1988 our president’s grandfather won a Clean Air Award from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD). The award itself was just three small pieces of soda lime (common) glass. There was a base piece of no more than 4” square. There were two others bonded on top of it. One was blasted with information about the award. The other was blasted with information about the recipient. Having seen a lot of plaques and everyday plastic trophies, this little award made a big impression on Jeff. It was different, distinctive and classy.

While going over the proposed budget for an organization’s annual award banquet with other board members (in early 1999), an idea hit Jeff. Being a metal hobbyist, Jeff had a sandblaster that he used to remove rust from metal before using it to fabricate things for his home. He had just ordered some custom glass for another home project. He thought he might be able to build on the concept of the AQMD award. That set things in motion.

Jeff’s glass supplier was able to custom fabricate glass blanks for him. They also pointed him to a company he could get the blasting stencil from. Then they could teach him how to bond the pieces after they were blasted. The awards came out o.k., but not as well as he had hoped. This was a great learning experience. The most notable had to do with equipment. Although the basic concept was of blasting was the same, equipment used for blasting metal and for creating awards and custom gifts are completely different.

Over the years, Jeff invested a lot of money into acquiring the better equipment and supplies to be able to blast at a higher quality, including making his own blasting stencils called resists. Over the years, he regularly made awards for organizations he was involved with and custom gifts for friends and relatives. But it was summer of 2006 before he took the last big step in equipment upgrades. He now had all the equipment needed for full professional quality output. He even went the next step of getting new software to be able to create better artwork in less time.

Thinking it was a shame to have all this equipment and eight years of progressive experience with it and not generating money with it, a decision was made. February 2007 Bassler Enterprises officially launched the new operation of media blasting. Drawing from the custom nature of other B.E. operations, Jeff decided to not limit this operation to basic blanks with a limited standard offering. Drawing from existing relationships with B.E. suppliers combined with new blasting trade suppliers, Bassler Enterprises will be offering everything from blasted crystal key chains and awards to kitchen cabinets and commercial glass wall panels. If you have ideas for your specific application, feel free to give us a call or email.