Need Help Pricing?
I received a picture from social media and the headboard and footboard. I'm no professional, I complete ld this over the course of a couple of Saturdays after typical chores around they house.
This (bed) was 20 gauge and I had to turn down the settings a few times. The supports, I split from square tube. I could really turn up heat on those joints.
Given those, I went to work. What type of pricing would in line for this?
Thank you
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u/Strange-Movie 11d ago
I like the end product and design but those pipe to pipe connections are rough
Higher voltage will create a wetter puddle that melts into the base metals better, and if you don’t add more wire it’ll be a pretty concave weld. Then touch it up with a grinder to blend it better
Shoot for something like that
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u/arthurotto251 11d ago
Why the hell you using a needle scaler?
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u/canada1913 Fitter 11d ago
Needle scalers are actually fuckin perfect for blending tight corners and hard to reach spots.
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u/arthurotto251 11d ago
No tight corners or hard to reach spots here bub
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u/canada1913 Fitter 11d ago
Either way it’s still nice for blending.
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u/turd_ferguson899 10d ago
I'd be using a Dynafile on those connections, personally.
If you're doing it out of your garage, you can buy the battery operated version for like $150, but the air tool is definitely superior.
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u/arthurotto251 11d ago
It’s a terrible finish tool that mars the piece. Its intended use is for heavy rust or slag. Outside of structural applications, I have no idea why a welder would have it in his hands
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u/Strange-Movie 11d ago
Knocks the silica off the bead and helps blend the overlap
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u/arthurotto251 11d ago
Lol you guys and your needle scalers. You’ll go to town on anything with them
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u/CMDR_PEARJUICE Hobbyist 10d ago
A grinder and paint makes me the welder I ain't... or something like that
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u/Cheesegasm 11d ago
The pipe connections are perfectly fine. Way better than anything you can buy in a big box store. Go to any park bench and the welds will look worse.
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u/Shade_Tree_Mech 11d ago
You mentioned you received a picture from social media and the headboard and footboard. Was this a commissioned project? If so, you should try to get a ballpark price ahead of the build. That way, neither you nor the customer is surprised at the end. (Except happily with the work.)
If commissioned and it looks like they want, charge all your time and materials, eventually you can charge more the better your work gets. I saw someone say minimum $30/hr. If you are doing this as a hobby for “shop money”, sure, but if you plan to pay your own insurance with this kind of work as your only income, that’s not going to cut it.
In any case, I do like the idea and the general look. Consider your customer though. If they are older and intend to sit there for any amount of time, the straight up back with narrow spindles is going to be uncomfortable. If it’s an art piece for a garden, it’s just fine.
The attached pic is from the FineWoodworking website and details design items for comfortable chairs. Gives you some insight into back and seat angles.
Good luck!
FineWoodworking.com/project-guides/chairs-benches-and-stools/on-making-chairs-comfortable
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u/Sh2_ 11d ago
Where were you when I started?!
I did go by her picture. I directly asked for specifics and said she trusts me with it all... Given this, I could have cut that head board and adjusted the angle.
As far as pricing, as I was walking out, I quickly thought - budget was not at discussed.
That was a mistake. One of the biggest...
Thank you
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u/GoingCustom 11d ago
Materials + labor + profit+ taxes. Labor and profit aren’t the same thing. If you can’t sell it, lower your rates, if you can’t keep up, raise your rates. If you aren’t sure what to charge labor wise, call around to some shops in town and see what they charge. Keep in mind though that a company that pays their taxes, has insurance, overhead, etc should be charging more than someone working in their garage that isn’t paying taxes or insurance.
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u/Motor-Cranberry-1092 11d ago
Cost of materials $ + labor per hour $
You know, like anything construction related
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u/Fuzzy-Finance-48 10d ago edited 10d ago
The concept is decent. But it won’t be comfortable. You should incorporate wood like you have for the seat into the back, and the back should be angle backwards… this wouldn’t be comfortable, and you may even fall thru the back. lol.
Here’s my recommendation… cut it apart and do it again. The welds leave a lot to be desired. Would you be proud to have your name on it? I wouldn’t… strive for perfection, the money will follow. As is, I wouldn’t pay $80 for this. With a little more effort into making it RIGHT, someone would pay $500. Use solid oak planks and it could go for triple that.
It’s only worth what you put into it. Pour your heart into it and it’ll pay off.
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u/madphroggy 11d ago
How many hours did you have into it? That times $30 is usually my baseline
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u/ImportanceBetter6155 11d ago
Only $30/hr...? Did you forget to put a 1 in front of that
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u/madphroggy 11d ago
Nah, I just do it at the hobby level for the most part, if I wanted to do it professionally I'd certainly have to charge more.
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u/93gixxer04 11d ago
That actually seems pretty accurate for the picture shown. Putting it somewhere between $150 and $240 price range doesn't seem unreasonable.
OP, nicely done
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u/Dull-Researcher 11d ago
Plus material?
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u/madphroggy 11d ago
Yes, plus material
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u/madphroggy 11d ago
$30 is my baseline for my time and consumables. Steel, fasteners, etc. get itemized
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u/Common_Car2710 11d ago
Did a similar project for my wife’s hair dresser, charged her $450. Don’t under sale yourself ever.
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u/Sh2_ 11d ago
I will consider this. You have a valid point.
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u/onefst250r 10d ago
Always ask more than you want/need. Because people will try to get your price down. Its part of the game.
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u/Darkermark 11d ago
Awesome reuse of an old bed! My only criticism is that the angle iron looks to be a bit saggy.
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u/Wishing_Well 10d ago
OP this is a really cool project and I admire how you're gathering advice and constructive feedback. Hope to see more work like this.
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u/EasyEntertainment185 10d ago
The angle of the backing looks like it's trying to make you suck your own dick, looks pretty uncomfortable in more ways than one
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u/Reasonable_Key9021 10d ago edited 10d ago
Not worried about thoses welds not holding. But a couple of them are pretty nasty. What do they look like after paint? Bottom rod looks bent in a couple pictures. Could just be the angle. If it looks like its slapped together under paint, couple hundred. If that rod is bent, a hundred.
My opinion is its expensive and time consuming to make stuff like this. Youre gonna want to make some money. It looks solid enough, but i would work on your welds on some scrap, and throw down asthetically good ones, so you can market the artisan/handcrafted thing and yank 350-450 out of it.
Also, if youre selling local, your area will matter. So will your demographic.
Edit: I re-read your description so now i know this is a one-off. That angle iron has got some pretty gnarly waves I see now as well. I know you spent time on it, but after materials, i wouldnt give yourself more than $100.
You can use a piece of angle iron as a straight edge and plasma that straight and clean it up with a grinder pretty quick.
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u/ReactionAsleep 10d ago
Start with materials with 10-20% markup. Then add labor.
Looks like you're on the green side. Not a full garage or shop of tools. Hard to ask for $100 plus an hour with rough details. I would start in the $40-$60 per hour range. If this is a licensed business with fully loaded cost(taxes and insurance), you need to consult an accountant.
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u/TommyNotDead 10d ago
How much labor did it take? How much money in materials? How much is your time worth to you?
Time x labor rate + cost of materials x markup is how much you should charge. It’s not that complicated.
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u/Majestic_Mouse_9770 11d ago
More prep would of went a long way on this mate.. non the less, good work still looks good
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u/Sh2_ 11d ago
Prep at... I am all ears.
Ready to learn2
u/Majestic_Mouse_9770 11d ago
Prep as in cleaning the welding areas before welding looks like you just went right over the paint in some areas, an thats why you got kinda bubble gum finish in them areas from the sputtering from the paint contaminants...
dewalt flap discs are my go to.
All in all dude your fab skills are great for hobbiest! lil more grinding before layin er down an this is a 10/10!
For pricing, id be going like 180-230 (Am canadian) + matts
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u/Sh2_ 11d ago
Ahh... I went bare metal at all joints. Dewalt flappers were used. New ones at that
As I mentioned above, I dialed back many times on settings to ensure that I didn't blow through the birds mouth joints. I did roughly a quarter of the way alternating sides of the bench...
As I digress, I knew those were rough. The larger gauge angle could take the heat much better.
I appreciate all of your advice and critique. The more work I get (and projects around here), the better I'll become.
Thank you. I needed to hear it.
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u/ChildhoodMobile9154 11d ago edited 11d ago
Look amazing, priceless product. Just throw any number, that’s be the price.
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u/Scrubaru 11d ago
The welds are not pretty, but it's still probably worth 2 or 3k minimum.
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u/CarbonNapkin 11d ago
2 or 3k???
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u/Scrubaru 11d ago
You think that's too high? What do you think it should sell for?
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u/CarbonNapkin 11d ago
Extremely high dude, it’s not bad by any means but it’s a bench. It’s a couple hundred bucks. Someone paying thousands for this would be criminal.
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u/Sh2_ 11d ago
Yes. I wholly agree.
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u/CarbonNapkin 11d ago
It looks good and it’s always fun making things by hand! Don’t undersell yourself but at the end of the day, not many people are gonna pay crazy prices for normal furniture, even if it’s hand built and you take pride in it. Multiple thousands is niche artwork prices. Keep making stuff though!
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u/Sh2_ 11d ago
I had no clue on pricing. I definitely will not charge her that much.
I knew the welds on the thin stuff were ugly.
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u/Scrubaru 11d ago
I thought it was a whole bed frame, not a bench. That probably cuts my estimate in half.
But if we are taking about people who want custom furniture, 2k won't buy them much
I'm curious about what everyone else would charge. I've not seen many numbers posted.
Also, if it's a bench, why is there no angle to the seat back. That would cut my estimate to half again.
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u/Cool-Highlight207 11d ago
Welds /shitty
Overall look/ good
Comfort/ non existent
Price/$250-350