pricing to clients

[sawmiller]

a question for those of you who have cut these works of art for profit.
i've recently made a webpage where throu the help of the vector3d people, my potential clients can choose the design they want and email me.
now, assuming that i dont have that paticular pattern, and my rates so far have been by the hour, how would you go about giving a qoute ?
1. throw a free sample pattern into the design in the size needed to calculate the cutting times ?
or
2. just charge a flat fee ?
i would like to get a lil bizness , just enough to pay for the software and such, nothing to go full time into.
dan

[Gc3]

I charge the cost of the file plus $25/hr for machining time. Some clients don't blink an eye at the cost...some fall over...as is said "it is what it is".


Gene Crain
www.plantasymaderas.com

[cabnet636]

100.00 hr here in sc

[sawmiller]

i was concerned with how to do a machining time estimate, without having the file in hand

[rocabig]

We were pricing buy the hour but found out that it was confusing our clients so we worked out an average time for jobs of assorted sizes now we charge by the size of the job. dont make much on some jobs but make up for it on others.

Richard

[knighttoolworks]

by the hour needs to include everything. all the time it takes for a job. the speed of yo0ur machine can vary so you have to figure that in. sometimes I don't always get paid much for prep work as I don't know how long it will take. but I still average 60 a hour. and a fair amount of time more if I am fast or I can do something while the machine is running. some things are by the part those I usually do better on but I need to make some to really get a price.

[DanielBEE]

Everyone is missing Sawmillers questions

He isn't asking how much people charge etc, but how do you estimate the cost of something you have no Earthly idea how long it is going to take to run.

One pattern could take 3 hours, and another pattern the exact same size could take 8 hours depending on the detail.

What I've done in the past is tried to find similarly shaped patterns to what I'm looking to purchase and judging the run time off of that.

I was going to suggest to James that we have a section on the forums where everyone can post the run time on models they purchase based on their stated run speed. Or maybe just a section where people can ask and answer that very questions for the different models without cluttering up other parts of the forums, however it could cause some heated problems if people give bad estimation times, etc.

Anyways those are my thoughts, hope it helps.

-Dan

[moto633]

Dan I think every one figures there pricing from their hourly rate. But mostly guesstimations I would bet! I charge 55 per hour in my shop, some times I make $5.00 per hour and some times I make $500.00 there are a lot of variables but the per hour rate sets a base line.

Gene: I hope you add in your material cost!!


Nick

[sawmiller]

ahh, thanks for all the answers guys, it's obvious that there's a wide range of prices , mostly depending on what the market will bear i guess.
i guess untill james comes up with a standard time to cut at such and such a rate of speed, i will use a model, charge the cost of the model, and insert the nearest complicated carving i have for the estimate. better to go over than under i think. i dont need a lot of buisness, just enough to pay for the materials, bits and software. if it becomes too much like work, i wont want to do it
thanks again
dan

[gravirozo]

you have already experience with sawmill...
invidual customer with one small log from his backyard require same setup like other customer with fifty pieces large pinelog....

somewhere the squareinch is countable,,, from vectorart site you can download free models to test... to finding out how long you cut an intricated model...

you might add depth, meaning over 3/8 you can expect several pass, or roughing...
so over 3/8 you can count the square inch double

the model cost is questionable... with first cut generally the modelcost is exhausting, mean it return... (somewhere you need to make affordable your product for the customer)

there's extra cost if not only cut the model in a board but you put in a frame, or make other modification...

to using a virtual calculation... not really gives good result... just cut a few sample, and watch for the time how long takes one squareinch...
how many work need after cut, like sanding .... in pine? in oak? or other easy acessible wood...

and there's one more point... to cut furniture sides of sheet of plywoods, can raise a lot more like to cut 10x10 models invidually (hourly)... the common sense evaluate for more the larger work...

just follow some system like you use with cutting logs...

thanks
viktor

and the hourly rate is vary... what you can ask for a job in california... probably won't be accepted in alabama... also in larger city more... lil town less...

[Gc3]

Dan I think every one figures there pricing from their hourly rate. But mostly guesstimations I would bet! I charge 55 per hour in my shop, some times I make $5.00 per hour and some times I make $500.00 there are a lot of variables but the per hour rate sets a base line.

Gene: I hope you add in your material cost!!


Nick

Yes we add in the material cost....$25/hr may seem low for the machine but when cutting a 8-10 hr carving we make $$. Also I am doing other things in the shop which has a $65/hr rate so that also helps. We do a lot of jobs on bids...I start with material cost and use 2.5X materials to get in the ballpark on pricing...some jobs end up being 4-5 times material because of detail, some jobs end up at 1.5X material cost...cause it was quick and painless.

Our solar runs all tools 110V under 20 amps, so when the sun is shinin I make dust. Our 25KW propane genset costs $6/hr to run so that is figured into jobs easily. The Genset and CNC are like employees without ALL of the headaches.

Happy New Year to Everyone!

Gene Crain
http://www.plantasymaderas.com