[TheForge] Finish for repro antique hinges

[Jerry Frost]

There's nothing wrong with the finish if it gives you the effect you're
looking for. Now all you need to do is think production. Why not do them all
at once? If one or more don't take well enough, redo those together.

I can't say if your bid was good, not knowing how much time you put into the
project, how fast you work in general, nor any of the other factors
involved. You can however determine what you should bid if you go about
systematically. Keep notes on time and technique for one. Not only does this
let you know how long something takes it'll also let you know which
techniques work best in which situation. After awhile you can break a job
down to it's components and bid by the step. For instance: 3/4" takes twice
the effort as 1/2" to work so gets charged accordingly, a scroll can be
figured by diameter and number of turns, twists by the turn/linear", etc.
After awhile you'll be able to eyeball guestimate new processes pretty well
but keep the log up anyway. You will get faster on repeat items no matter
how experienced you are to begin with so bidding multiple copies needs to
take this into account.

Another major factor to bidding is process. I don't limit myself to a
particular time period. (tradition) I will however be happy to use whatever
time period's techniques a customer is willing to pay my shop rate for. Hand
work is expensive and deserves to be paid accordingly. I charge shop rate
regardless of process. If the customer's willing to pay me to do it the way
they did 400 years ago, no problem as long as the check clears.

Of course you have to be worth the rate and I don't mean just quality, you
have to be fast enough for it to be fair to everybody. In my presently
poorly equiped and set up operation I wouldn't think of charging my usual
$60/hr. I do however have a good handle on how fast I was able to produce
when I did have a decent set up and bid according to that. Of course it
takes me almost twice as long right now but fair's fair.

Bottom line is: What's your time and skill level worth?

On the other hand I do a lot of stuff for folk just because I like beating
hot steel and especially like folk's look when you hand them a finished
piece.

Compensation's compensation.

Frosty
------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Reynolds" <rmcushmanxiii@excite.com>

Subject: [TheForge] Finish for repro antique hinges


>
>
>
> A recent commission job was reproducing 2 broken bean strap hinges for a
small chest.  When putting a finish on them, I ventured outside my usual
finish repertoire, and tried a new mixture and technique. Please feel free
to tell me a better way to achieve the desired look of 100+ years on steel.
>
> I took a mixture of unnprocessed beeswax and linseed oil at about 1:3, and
heated to liquid in a 2 oz cat food can. Each nail I heated to black,
dropped in the solution, left for 2 or 3 seconds, pulled them out and let
the retained heat burn off the solution. This left a black residue burned
into the nails. For some nails I had to repeat the above steps to attain the
uniform black finish.
>
> I then buffed the nails heads with a cotton cloth to remove the majority
of residue, while leaving the black finish.
>
> It all looked uniform and was better than tolerable for reproducing a 100+
year-old finish. Good looking stuff.
>
> This was very labor intensive. However, my motto is overdeliver. But how
should I have done this? I couldn't afford to put this kind of labor into 12
nails and two hinges, for what I bid.  That brings up another question. What
should I have bid this at (2-symmetrical sided 9" strap hinges with 12, 1
and 1/2" nails whose heads needed to be ground/filed to give a low profile)?
I did it for $65. Not even close to paying myself a decent wage, but it was
another happy customer.
>
> Go ahead, tell me what an ignoramus I was.
>