I charge 50 an hour. I dont have alot of overhead and its a hobby. I do search for work to get some money help pay bills but its always a hobby as well. I only charged 25 an hour for the quote bc with it being production work i could set my stops and have it a lower cost. After this id maybe raise the amount a little bit for production work but as i said. I just want to get some money to help pay bills is all. My machines dont use alot of power surprisingly and its in my garage so very little overhead.
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Quotes for competing against cnc
- Thread starter Brento
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in terms of opportunity, what I found over the years was that when we needed a production quantity it was more cost effective to go to a shop set up for that. But frequently we would need one or two parts for research and development project. It took too long to go through the quote/proto build/validate/production cycle, so I would do a deal with a local shop, or just plain guy with tools, get an hourly rate and feel comfortable he could work with engineers with only an idea and maybe a sketch, and give a rapid build cycle. To complete any real design, it takes a significant number of iterations, and it’s critical to do each one lightning fast. And the overall cost of a development project is largely based on how long it takes, and of course there is generally a market window to hit. This might be where a small shop standing by could be effective…since for those customers time to product is way more important than a machinist’s hourly rate.
So maybe find the nearby companies with R&D departments and make them a pitch.
So maybe find the nearby companies with R&D departments and make them a pitch.
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I was in the outdoor power equipment business an my shop was at least half an hour drive from anyone else.I have wondered how one would go about doing this. Is it a phone call to determine their hourly rate? In all of my previous jobs, I just had to show up, sit in the left seat and not crash between points A and B.This quoting thing seems like it would be hard.
As a side note, I have been running my lathe a lot lately for the company that I work part-time for. They pay me a measly $25/hr for running and using my equipment. I did just order $170 worth of inserts on them as a sort of "payment" for use of my machines.
I was told by one our contractors that I should be charging them at least $60/hr.
I just stopped in on a quiet weekday and introduced myself. Figured they would hear about me anyway so it was best to make acquaintance anyway. Some of them had lines I didn’t carry so I would sometimes buy parts local rather than order and wait.
Shop rate was $70/hr in 2009 and kept it that way until I closed in 2014 ($90/hr for electrical since I had to do that myself).
I charged $35/hr up front for diagnosis which some folks grumbled about but it went towards the repair and wrote many $35 invoices. Had to do it because guys would pick up junk from the side of the road and bring it to me hoping to get something for nothing almost.
Took plenty of stuff to the local machine shop and they always did good by me, also the auto machine place for kart engine boring and surfacing.
In a small town, being a relatively high profile newcomer it served me well to turn away work that would loose me money or make folks angry if I didn’t. Learning how to do that was an education but one worth learning.
If the OP doesn’t have local competition than charge whatever makes sense. But IMHO it shouldn’t be too much less than another professional shop would charge.
Honest work for a fair price wins every time.
John
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What you do for yourself to learn or for pleasure is a hobby.
Work you charge for is a business, doesn’t matter that it’s out of your garage with machines you own outright.
Just ask your accountant
John
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If that’s what your customers will pay and you feel it’s enough then it’s definitely fair.I hear that. Ive still thought 50$ was a fair price for work. But its ok. I havent found any work so.
What I have to figure in is how many mistakes will I make that I can’t charge for. I call it head scratching time and I didn’t charge for it.
Plan on having more work than you can do once word gets out. Everyone wants to have “a guy” and they’ll likely start coming out of the woodwork if you can do repair. Straight production machining I can’t say but if you fix stuff….
John
I am willing to fix stuff also. Just have had terrible luck with getting word out. I am always looking on facebook groups to see when someone posts something. Most of the jobs end up having so many people sending in their quotes that i dont bother giving mine. I cant compete or compare to businesses with a cnc or set up more then myself.
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Yep, look to your local community. Do you also work on power equipment or boats or snowmobiles?
I‘m not even gonna say what I think about FB, nextdoor seems to always have a lot of chatter but the old 3x5 card at the local grocery or hardware store might be a good place to start.
Seems to me if you have manual machines repair work should be better than production stuff anyway. Talk to the guys at the hardware store, people are always coming in there looking for something that’s not on the shelf. If they know you’re around and know you do good work they’ll send folks your way.
But, I’ve said it before. Protect Yourself!!!! Establish an LLC and make sure your invoices have a good liability disclaimer. This doesn’t cost much and can literally cost you your home if you don’t have it.
John