[TheForge] Seeking How To info...

[jerry Frost]

It's been so many years since I bought sheared sheet my experience too far
out of date to be valid. At that time I was buying brass sheet, sheared to
3"x 4" rectangles and the supplier sheared them as part of the sale. Whole
different situation, material, city and times. 

Living in a different past or not, I believe we agree Dave made a good
choice declining to bid.

Frosty

-----Original Message-----
From: TheForge [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Ries
Niemi
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 5:34 PM
To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Seeking How To info...

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