how to bid a job?

[tigmusky]

Hi, all
I got a small job to do, fab and weld some 4x4 tube pretty basic.I got about 10 maybe up 50 to do. I figure about 1 bandsaw cut, 8 plasma cuts 13 , 1" welds, 6 1/2" holes to drill . I was wondering how others put together a number for small jobs. Take your best guess on the time it will take? Or charge buy the cut, weld and holes drilled.
What's a back yard welding shop hourly rate?
thanks Daye

[El_Lloydeo]

if theyre all the same then use the first as a template. gonna save you a lot of work in the long run if you set it up right. as for the price, id have to see exactly what it is youre doing. but that is a good way to save a bunch of time. dont be telling him about all the time youre saving though. lol

[El_Lloydeo]

also those welds, are they intermittent? cuz if they are then they are supposed to be a min of 1 1/2" according to code. might suggest that to him he might like hearing that if he doesnt already know.

[weldbead]

most people want a finite price for the whole job, not so much per cut. that scares them..

[Hammack_Welding]

Figure for the time it will take you to complete the job. I've never had anyone that wanted a bid per hole, cut, or weld. They want to know the total cost of the completed job.

[DesertRider33]

I would give them a price per piece, since it's unclear exactly how many pieces they want. Figure up your materials cost per piece, add some in for consumables costs, then figure out how much time it will take you to make a piece and decide how much profit you want to make on each one and add some in for general operating costs. Then you can give them a quote per piece and they will know how much it will cost if they want 30 pieces or 50 pieces or 100 or whatever.

[Tony D]

depends on what the part will be used and the value of it really.
try to get with them and be honest to get a ball park on their bids because their probably is a production shop that can kick that part out in record time considering the environment DAMN hostile work places slave drivers . and the finishing of the part paint, powder coat baked finish all depends really and liability for what this is being used for .
so considering I would definitely see if you could even farm it out someone could plasma those holes pretty fast and be perfect on a cut table,
depends on the part sounds like its gonna take some time but if your not setup for high speed production you can't charge them for your shortcomings, lack of equipment or experience it's hard to compete with any shop building repetitive parts so I'd consider everything my 2cents

[denrep]

Tigmusky,

Anybody thinking about the project is probably wondering:
How long, how tall, how heavy?
Bench job or floor build?
How precise or complex is fit-up?
How accessible, how many flips?

As suggested, you probably have to build one and go from there.

Good Luck

[tigmusky]

I got some pics of the parts, I would like to here what your bids are? per part , labor only steel is ....... wait.. take your best guess?
steel list for one part
3/4 sq. hot roll 2' 45* vee cut on one end. rounded edges on other end
1/8" x 10" flat hot roll 14" long cut in pirmaird shape and triangle
4"x4"x3/16" sq. tube 6" long and 1/2" holes
1"x1"x14ga. sq. tube 6" long with one 1/2" hole
misc.
5) 3/8" nuts
2) 3/8" rods 5" longs
1) 3/8" x 3/4" bolt
1) coat of black spray paint

what is your guess materials per part ?
how much time would it take per part?
what would you charge for labor per part ?

The tall bumper jack looking thing is a puller I made for the guy. The thing works pretty sweet. I also make a install tool, like a fence post driver, on the lathe with a concave drive head so it would not mushroom out the the top of the 3/4' sq. it needs to slide into the the 1" sq thats welded on the 4x4 tube. no pic it went out the door too quick.

What I was trying to say about the per hole ,weld and cut is, how you bid a job by looking at a drawing on a napkin? not telling the customers 75.a hole or cut. Just by looking at a drawing and and adding up the things that need to be done to come up with a number without actualy makeing one. I know that pipe fab shops for sprinkler fitters and pipe fitter charge by the cut,groove,thread ,weld and make ons

This should be fun to see what the numbers are. I will post what I came up with in a few days. Thanks Daye.

[tigmusky]

I can't get anyone to take a guess !

[MarkBall2]

Which end is the lift end? The one with the flat bar on it? If that's it, I'm betting a tank lifter for putting Oxy/Acet on the trailer.

[tnjind]

In your BOM I don't see the material listed for the puller? the long members.

[tigmusky]

Originally Posted by tnjind

In your BOM I don't see the material listed for the puller? the long members.

the puler is a free bee.

steel per part with is about $ 13.00

I can make one part in 30.min plus paint 2-3 min.

I charged $ 30.00 per part

Is that fair? or too cheap

Thanks, Daye

[jerry miller]

a little to cheap .you can make 2 in 1 hour so that is $60 per hour -$26 - paint? so that is $34 per hour i get $65 per hour in my shop