Welding Tips and Tricks

I Fabricated 10 of these clamps. I cut the slotted metal to length, cut the galvanized clamp piece off to match the one that was brought to me (the bottom clamp) and tig welded them together with 309 stainless after notching the slotted metal so i would have more surface area to weld the pieces together. I drilled and tapped a hole so a bolt could be inserted. Lastly, mig welded washers on the bolts. It to took me three hours to make all 10. Looking for ideas on what to charge. I've been told I don't charge enough. So I was thinking 180.00. 60.00 an hour. Just looking for any ball park recommendations to see if I'm far off the mark on my new estimations. Scroll picture down to see clamps at bottom of pic. Thx for all thoughts!

Are you adding in material pricing, consumables and so on? I charge by the meter for jobs. Its hard to quote labour. I generally have 2 rates. One for general purpose and one for structural.

The customer brought material except I had to buy 10 washers because he didn't bring enough but that cost nothing really. I used a little argon and stainless rods but I figured if I was charging 60 an hour that would cover that minor stuff.

In what does it cost to be in business? you must factor ALL expenses. Electricity, heat, air conditioning, labor, gas, filler, insurance, shipping. I try to look at my income tax preparation to tell me what the overhead is. Since I operate from home, I don't factor property costs as much. Still, I must charge break even or more. There are customers who don't like it. They want someone who will build a battleship for a case of beer. While there will be charity cases, close friends, and dreaded family, it isn't sustainable if everybody gets a below cost bargain.

Labor rates are subject to the area you live in as well. Ex were I live you can charge 80-100$ an hour or more if it's high end quality. But if you get 20 miles out of the big city the rates are half that. Consider charging more or less depending on the end quality the customer wants. It takes a lot more time if everything needs to be X-ray quality with a polished mirror finish. Rates can change depending on the customer too if there hard to work for or hard to make happy then charge them fo the unconvince. You also can just call several other places that do similar work in your area and ask what they charge an hour. If you check several places you will get an idea of what the average is for the area you live in.

If you didn't have to provide a quote ahead of time you have to charge time and materials. Don't over think it. If they don't like the bill tuff noogies. You have to make sure your expenses and your time are covered and I always try to make 25% on materials. Sometimes I throw some customers a bone or do a small job pro-bono if I know there could be more work coming.

I always end up under-charging as well. My dad told me to just put up a sign that says $50/hour plus consumables or $60/hour consumables included. I found a cool phone app that tracks hours for different jobs so that's made it easier.

I had someone pm me about the app I mentioned. I'm a noob so I don't think I can pm yet. Here's a pic of it.

Mavereq,

You can PM from the moment your first post is approved.

However, everyone has the option in their preferences whether to accept PMs or not, or to allow their e-mail to be accessible from their profile.

Steve S

Thank you Mavereq! I downloaded the app! Helps me keep track of my actual working time vs breaks and when I have to take care of other things that pop up while I'm trying to work. Appreciate the help!