[TheForge] Seeking How To info...

[Ries Niemi]

to me, this just points out how some people are really set up for some jobs, and some arent.
I wouldnt take this job- but I do have a pexto machine with wire edging dies, I have been working with stainless pretty much nonstop since 1998, and I wouldnt find it the least bit daunting from a technical standpoint.
But pricewise, its kinda ridiculous.

it is not true, with stainless, that they sell you the sheet and dont charge for shearing- you would pay per cut, especially for 50, which is, by industrial standards, a small order. Only a sheet or two. 

my general rule of thumb  is that stainless jobs should cost at least five times what you would bid a steel job for- the material is usually five times as expensive- $2.50 a pound, for common sizes, but up to six bucks a pound for small (sub 500lb) quantities of odd ball stuff. sheet is under three bucks, but, for instance, square bar is always really expensive, and some sizes just arent made.

so, for me to be interested in a job like this, I would have to be offered several hundred dollars per, in a fifty piece order, and, even then, it probably wouldnt be profitable enough to mess with.

To have the tools to do this easily means you have already spent a LOT of money on equipment, which needs housing, insurance, power, and maintaining- my shop time is a hundred bucks an hour, but whenever I can, I bid jobs so I "make" more than that- which, of course, I dont really make. The plasma cutter breaks down, or the motor on the compressor dies, or the three phase breaker stops breaking- these kind of things happen every month. I go thru drill bits and sandpaper and welding supplies, bandsaw blades and light bulbs, 4 1/2" grinders are considered a consumable…
The list goes on.
you dont wanna know what my monthly nut is-

and I am small potatoes. The shops that can knock these out quick need even more money.

I was making a chair leg for a friend of mine, as a favor, for 60 bucks each. I got tired of it, as his quantities went up, he went to a real fab shop, and they quoted him $150 each. 

ries


On Apr 27, 2015, at 12:59 PM, jerry Frost <akfrosty at mtaonline.net> wrote:

> I looked at it Bruce but I was treating Dave's question seriously and saw no
> reason to comment on your response.
> 
> Frosty
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TheForge [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bruce
> .
> Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 4:16 AM
> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Seeking How To info...
> 
> Frosty,
> I don't think you clicked on the link ...
> 
> Bruce
> NJ
> 
> 
> 
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Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist
WWW.RiesNiemi.com