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Hello Brandon, In the old days I used to draft up my design then go over to my buddy's architect office and he would make a blue print from my draft. At that point I knew how much material I needed, the number of inches of weld, the number of cuts, and drill points for the project. Plus the square footage of area I needed to prime and paint. From that I could submit an accurate bid, and still have an acceptable cushion built into the job. If the job was anything more that a one off I built tooling (welding, cutting, and drilling jigs) after I got the job. This gave me the ability to know exactly how long it would take to complete the project, and every piece would be exactly the same, plus I was able to provide my customer with a realistic completion date. One other caveat (and this one really helps) is after you have your material list completed shop around and find the most economical price you could. Then spend the entire material budget so you have way more material you needed. This way over time you had a very nice inventory of material that was already paid for, this paid off in spades when times were slow. And if a new customer walked into the shop with a little 10 or 15 minute job you had the ability to do the job for free and tell him to come back if he had a bigger project or repair in the future. If the job was 20 minutes or more I would tell him what it would cost before I started, I never advertised and depended on quality work, and word of mouth to grow my business. Any thing I designed and built from scratch I guaranteed for one year excluding paint. It was over all a good business formula for me, and mind you it was years before computers were around. I noticed you set your jobs up like and assembly line which I believe is the best possible way to keep the work flow moving smoothly. Good luck and keep the faith in the meantime don't take any wooden nickles.
What a great comment! Thank you very much. The problem ive had with materials is I keep ordering more because I forget what I have lol. I have a tendency to do that with a lot of things but I'm trying to be more conscientious. Thanks again I appreciate your support 🙏
Thanks for this video. Your order of operations explanation was very helpful. As to welding the nuts on then chasing them with a tap--try threading the screw in nut and tape the exposed threads with masking tape to keep the spatter off the threads. This does 3 things in one step,--gives you a way to hold the nut, you have to thread the screw in anyway and you don’t have to chase the threads later.
Your method of holding a bolt/threaded bar in the nut also means the nut is properly in line with the hole, having something to hold onto like this makes a huge difference, specially when using thick gloves for stick welding.
Hey Brandon, In the old days I built a welding table out of a 1.5 inch 4x8 plate with 6 adjustable feet. You could weld angle iron and or cut off C clamps to it with no problem. I did fire two guys for using a grinder on edge to grind the tacks down, I specified a cupped grinder and a flat wheel, plus a belt sander so we could maintain a relatively flat table + or - .010. It wasn't perfect but close enough for most jobs. If the tolerances were tighter than that I used the lathe and milling machine then shimmed the parts to be welded, and used a hiliarc to weld them. It was slow but way beyond my competitors standard of + or - half a hammer handle. Hang in there Bud and keep up the great work, don't let the industry standard deteriorate. The table did get out of whack and I hauled it to my buddies shop and he put it on the Blanchard, I lost .125 of the original thickness but it was flat LOL
@@BrandonLund That Big 48 " Blanchard of his was a steel eating fool, he had a bunch of huge machines. They machined crusher cones after they come out of the foundry for their bread and butter. They had 1,000 cubic feet. of rebar and 8 sack concrete under each machine so they could hold tolerance. Interesting side note there is a D8 buried under the shop that sank out of site when they built the place, they just left it down there. That site was originally a marsh.
I use the slipper clutch part of the drill when tapping. I don't like the idea of the bits slipping on the jaws of the chuck. But cordless drills work great for tapping holes. Just need to go easy, let the tap do the work, not the drill (so to speak). Great video. My new welder just got delivered.
11:48 that "free" or "scrap" metal can be some of the most expensive metal used. If it takes 5 minutes of your time for cutting/cleaning on one piece and another $1 for electricity, diamond wheel and grinder wear, you're looking at $6 a piece- quite a bit more than $.27in from the metal yard.
haha I've occasionally looked at scrap I had on hand said "nope, not that broke today" and drove to the store to get what I needed. Of course, there have been other days when I look at my bank account and say "well, I can work with what I've got on hand" I'm just a hobbyist welder though :P
@@dscrive found that out the hard way! lol shop min is $50 then $50 an hour. Granted i don't do much on my own, 3-4 2hr. jobs a week keeps the beer fridge stocked!
Spot on! Did you notice where I placed the welds on the 2" square tube 🤔 right on the cut, so no prep work. None. For the exact reason you pointed out. If your not careful about how you use your "scrap", it can really chew into your labor cost / profit. Bed frames are a great example. Maybe you can get them for free but if your cutting it with anything other than a flame or plasma your gonna burn up consumables because there tempered. I literally needed a 6" piece of sq. Tube and I had none other than the piece you saw, so hacking up this was the best alternative to driving 1 hour round trip and buying a full stick when I only needed 6"
Excellent topic and well presented. Laying it out like you did makes it a lot easier. I do custom gun work along with wood and some metal fabrication and I always wrestle with what to charge. Most of the time I end up giving my work away. I like the way you broke it down... Good video!
Agree. It’s a real problem when you have ability, tools, and a desire to please/impress others. Sadly, I’m still stuck there. I did get a case of good beer for may last repair job though. Making progress!
Great info. In the contracting industry materials are usually marked up 15-%20% also. There are lots of hidden costs to capture…time to and from steel supplier, gas/wear & tear on your vehicle, taxes, etc. Thanks for sharing.
You bet! There are a bunch of different ways but this one works pretty good for me. I've recently been charging by the weld and I will talk more about that in an upcoming episode
Thanks Tony I appreciate your kind words. My wife and I are planning a trip to Canada this coming summer on the motorcycle. I've never been. We are from Maine
Ok, this is an old one that I am catching up on, but it gives the reason that I like your channel so much. YOu give practical information that is applicable to a multitude of applications. I am a beginnger, so I doubt I will charge for what I do, but lay out, planning, performing, it all good information. Thanks!!!
As far as not giving discounts on in stock materials, if it is something that you have and it's taking up space, isn't a dimension that is commonly used, etc. Then it is perfectly reasonable to discount it if that discount entices the customer to buy. Sometimes you are better off losing a little in dollars to get rid of materials that are taking up space perpetually.
A very good lesson on how much to charge for things , the project came out awesome , ever think about building a long range heavy swinging or stationery targets. ? Brandon I have about a 1/2 dozen man hole covers ,I think they are cast Iron would they make good targets ? Or do you have an idea to make something else with them ? Thanks. TANK.
Thanks man! Most manhole covers are cast iron. Typically they use AR500 steel on targets. I like the idea of making some. I might just have to do that!
Thanks man, yes, I know the type you are talking about. I could have put a 2x4 pocket on these and had a triple duty stand. I'm not sure the base would be wide enough though...maybe if I staked it down or sand bagged it.
Thanks for the informative vide. I'm starting to weld small items to sell on the side and been tinkering around how or what to charge. Like how ur not ashamed to say I made a mistake and like how u state to learn from you. Again thank you from south Texas. Was wonder if I had a video about putting vise on ur table.
#1 are you a Virgo, that would explain the organizational focus. So it is interesting and informative. It is also cool for me as I make a combination target stand cover barrier stand for IDPA shooting competitions. I have a lot of design and experience, but not a lot of marketing experience. I work the same way as you do regarding templating and gang jobbing, where I make all the parts and do each operation in turn. My order generally goes from part making to welding to abrasive blasting and or wire wheeling, then to powder coating which is the most time intensive operation. I noticed you didn't include finishing as a cost factor, but I also think $30 is a high price to add to the final price. I priced my cost for my stands at approximately $14 at $1/lb for steel and a guess at the rest. I sell them for $24 each, powder coated. That's a 58% markup when average retail markup is 35%. Your markup in the example is 25% actual cost and 75% labor cost for 100% total markup. If you consider all of the $40 as cost, then at 35% retail you price should be $54 each. I definitely must re-evaluate my cost analysis, especially since I need to factor in the powder coating and abrasive treatments. I also need to factor in chemical descaling of all the steel parts vs abrasive blasting of non rusted metal parts/stock. Maybe you can do a video of how you acquire jobs and/or product sales. Do you sell from your own website of a third party store? Do you take single orders or make products ahead for store sales?
Thanks man. 24 dollars each seems a bit low to me? Especially if you are powder coating them. It must take you close to a half hour to just cut, fit and weld one together. A general shop rate here is $60/hr so your at $30 and havent factored in metal, paint, electricity or consumables yet. The dual one you see is priced online elsewhere for $90 ea. but it's also powder coated. I dont sell or advertise anywhere. Everything i sell is all word of mouth.
That is a very common industry standard and I still use it occasionally to this day. I just like to know how much something costs me as close to the penny as I can get, that way if I want to give someone a screaming "deal" I at least know where I'm breaking even (or as close as I think I can get to that number). Another rough number that is often close is labor is double your material. Not always but it's usually close.
The materials x 3= labor and profit. But yet again we all know that welding Projects come down to Set-up and time. Square it up Tack weld Check for square Tighten clamps Finish welding Check square again.lol All kidding aside GREAT information for people who are stuck on this question. Be Safe Brandon
When it comes to materials cost, you need to include EITHER a Margin increase or a Markup increase. The two are NOT the same. Margin increase DIVIDE cost by: 10% Margin = 0.90 20% Margin = 0.80 30% Margin = 0.70 Example: $100 cost divided by 10% MARGIN increase (0.90) = $111.11 $100 cost divided by 20% MARGIN increase (0.80) = $125 Markup increase is simple % 10% Markup = Cost x 0.10 then add the two together, same for 20% and 30% Example: $100 cost plus 10% = $110.00, 20% MARKUP of $100 = $120 In my business I use MARGIN to account for fuel, time, effort to get stuff, to order stuff etc....
@@BrandonLund Yeah, I kinda think I showed that unless someone can't tell the difference between $125 and $120. Course these days that doesn't surprise me much. Now let's do a 30% difference... 100 / 0.70 = 142.86 100 + 30% markup (30) = 130 Difference of 12.86 for a 10% more margin And if you're doing it on a thousands of dollars scale for the year, you're looking at a WHOLE lot more money on a margin vs markup. Lets look for the sake of argument at $50,000 $50,000 / 0.70 = $71,428.57 Margin $50,000 x 0.30 = $65,000 markup Difference of $6,428.57 Now is it making sense? So which way would you rather see on your year end books? One where you've "marked up the price of products by 30 percent" or where you've "marked up the price of products using a 30 percent margin"
It does make sense. Whatever percentage you decide, if at the end of the day you haven't covered your incidental expenses than it really doesnt matter what you call it. You just need to adjust accordingly. Calling it a margin increase over markup is more semantics than a solution but yes I understand what your saying.
How do you compete? Everything I make and try to sell on the Facebook marketplace/Craigslist, people try to Jew me down because”I can buy the same thing at Walmart for $20”
Not everyone is willing to pay a premium price for a premium product. People on FB and Craigslist are looking to buy for the cheapest amount possible. Dont sell yourself short. Find a niche and market your products in that market. For me here in Maine I can fall back on the "Made in Maine" brand which signifies quality or when building furniture I reach out to high end furniture dealers and get in with them. Price is only a part of the equasion. You need to market your products to the market where people are willing to pay for your talent and abilities. Etsy is also a good place to be creative. Here is a great video that might inspire you th-cam.com/video/LHbxIX3-ipY/w-d-xo.html
Thanks Joe. I used flux core because it was really hot in the shop and I had 2 large fans blowing on me (which would blow away the coverage gas unless I set up some shields). My workshop is below an unfinished work space and I can ventilate to the outside but I don't use anything fancy, just regular fans blowing the air outside.
How do you give a quote if you don't know how long a project will take to build? Im talking about large complicated projects that you never done before. Thanks.
Great question John. For complicated jobs I break it down into manageable sections and estimate how long I think it will take. You can also quote it time and materials also.
I always did an engineering draft, at that point I knew to the penny what it would cost me and the time it would take me to accomplish the project. Mind you I wasn't always point on, but if I committed to a price I lived by it even if I lost money, why? Because I had a happy customer and he told his friends. What goes around comes around (Karma). What ever energy you put forth will come back 100 times, GOOD or BAD. Food for thought.
Hi Brandon, thank you for the video. I am just starting my business and I have a job that is just one large project. How would I go about pricing that? I was going to get a quote for all the pieces pre cut and just add 10% mark up on price then add my per hour fee for welding and assembling. It’s all welded together and needs to be fit correct spacing. So mostly time consuming spacing everything correctly
Thats tough. If you used your cut quote and added 10-15% you would have your cost covered but you also have to factor consumables (gas, blades, disc's ect). For labor sometimes I just look at the part and say it will take me XX number of hours to fit / weld then multiply that by your number of pieces. Above all make sure your not underselling yourself. It's easy to do when your starting out.
I enjoy your videos. But at 4:20 you sounded like you are going to do a time study to price this work. Don't you have to quote the work before you get the order??
So about running a tap thru the welded nuts...I don't! I tack the nut on with one tiny tack ,turn in a short bolt and then no reason for a tap..Throw in a drop of oil before u put in the hold down T bolt,or just a standard bolt.Easy peasy...
I've never had good luck doing it that way. The nut always seems to get distorted. I generally try to make it happen in one pass so the nut is glowing cherry red at the end as I'm backing out the bolt.
$1 per 1" of weld? Good grief!! I'd be under charging a heap on that bugger alone, lmao!! At my skill level it takes me a pack of sticks to get a decent inch of weld..... And yeah, we know what an inch is. It's 25.41 teeny weeny buggers...... Good job pal, and it is good of you to split the profits with you viewers....... 🇦🇺 🍺🍺
Nah, i was in the trades for more than 30 years. Now I just do it at my own pace and keep the projects simple. Most of the stuff I build now is all decorative or repair work and doesnt require a ticket.
I'm from Maine...sun? whats that? LOL. I also have a 19 month old grandson. It's pretty cool because when I go places with him, people will often comment "enjoy him when he's little because they grow up so fast" (thinking he is my son). I usually reply, "no kidding, my oldest is 23 and my youngest is 19. LOL. Thanks for the compliment buddy, although my body some days feels like 70
Hi Brandon - I'm just getting started in welding. I was wondering where you get your metals for projects? I noticed that you paid $77.37 for a 24ft 3x1 x120w Rec tube. I can't find anything that cheap in nearby metal stores or online!! Your beginner welding videos are great!
@@BrandonLund Some of our local welding shops are still very pricey. When you say “metal yards”, do you mean metal recycling centers or scrap yards? They seem like places for dropping off scrap metal, not buying new metal. We have a few MetalSuperMarkets.com locations out here but everyone says to avoid them - again high costs. Sorry for all the questions.
@@chipdaniels9939 Google steel supplier + Your location. They are generally a shop that just sells metal/material, though sometimes you'll find a fab shop attached. Welding shops, Fab shops and scrap yards are not what you're looking for to purchase new metal usually.
put a little grease, wax, or anti spatter, on your bolt and the nut will stay clean when you weld it, and you won't have to chase you threads. I would use hard wire or dual shield just watch your penetration.
Huh, so this is something that I keep running into living in a MUCH more expensive area (DC metro) with fewer people willing to do this kind of work so people don't seem to know what it's worth... you'd think that would drive prices up but it just completely takes you out of the market. It looks like this comes out to $80-90/per based on your numbers, correct? So did you have any problems at that price, especially since it looks like similar stands (arguably not as nice in some cases, but powdercoated and better finished) are available for $30-55 on Amazon? For me, in the immediate area, all the metal suppliers have disappeared when metal supermarkets showed up and I'd have to drive about an hour each way to get pricing about 120-140% of what you mentioned for the 1x3 (much more at MS, but the advantage with them is that I could buy EXACTLY the amount I needed at the same price per foot as I could a whole stick at a time, their pricing ends up very close to buying stuff at HD and Lowes for comparable stuff). Then unless it had some completely custom feature that would make it impossible for everything already on the market to work I'd have to come in either under Amazon or faster than their 2 day prime. If there was some completely custom feature then it would probably be about what that feature adds, like in your case, maybe you could argue the 2x2 tube if someone was trying to mount something special, and I would guess that would add about $10-25 to what someone was willing to pay, putting it at around $75-80.
It sounds like you've done your homework because your numbers are spot on! The market is crazy right now so prices on materials (and everything else for that matter) have skyrocketed
Don't ever buy metal at big box stores. You will pay at least 4x more than what you can purchase metal for at your local distributor. Buy local is your best bet.
Unfortunately for me that has not been my experience. I much prefer the continuous rim rather than the segmented blades especially when plunge cutting.
Nope. For something like that i estimate my time by breaking down each component like layout, cutting, joint prep, welding, grinding, finish. Then i add up my material cost. Then i add 1/3 to the material cost. Then add my labor total to my material total and thats my quote. There are a ton of ways to arrive at this but this is how i do it for one offs
@@BrandonLund I'm in Southeastern Idaho. I do live like a mile away from Nucor which is one of the largest steel mills in the country but I buy everything out of Pacific Steel the company I work for buyers just over about $190,000 worth of Steel a year so not a ton but enough to get the prices a little bit lower
??? I'm pretty sure within the first minute i said this video was about pricing out my work. Then I said click the link if you want to see how I built the target stands. Does the link to the target stand video not work?
$60 an hour?! I LOVE THE USA! In this pathetic sorry excuse for a country I live in (Lebanon) they bark at me for charging them $15 an hour FOR EVERYTHING! And some are just pure free loaders who expect me to do quick free jobs!
It's hard to put food on the table when you give your stuff away and everybody wants a deal or wants it for free. It happens here too. Dont sell yourself short. Your talent and skill is worth something. If the customer could do it themselves they would. Dont give your services away (unless your helping a friend or family) cheers buddy
@@BrandonLund I totally agree with you Brandon. But things do not work out like that around here. There is no place in Lebanon for innovative people. You work hard for scrap. You'd have no future. Even who you think should be a priority like family and friends, they end up actually becoming your worst enemies cause they'd be the most who would take advantage of you. This country is a certifiable nightmare, occupied mostly by low lives, crooks and scoundrels. There is no good way to really explain it, and I'm sure you'd think I'm exaggerating, but unless you experience it for yourself; you'll never know what I'm talking about, especially when you had a taste of the free civilized world. I know the USA is not a perfect country, no country can be perfect. But to me, it has everything I could ever need in a country! I'd be so darn proud to be an American! As far as I'm concerned... best country in the history of man kind! Anyway... sorry again for the drama. Love your videos! I wish you all the best pall! :-)
@franko Thank you for the good intentions sir. But having a "few" good folk in this country does not make it a good reason to like it, respect it, and be glad to be in it. You have to look at the majority. And most are.... well.... unless you have been in civilized 1st world countries like the USA and lived here for a while.... there are no word but experience which can make you understand the situation I'm in.... Thanks again... be safe.
I was a welder in the uk. I don't really understand all the hype and excitement around welding videos? As for the "how much are your welds worth" craze. Ill tell you. If you work for any company in The uk you will get pretty much minimum wage. If you work for yourself and have good customers. It's slightly better. You will probably be blind in about 3 years.and contract lung disease. This job is very shit. Dont believe the hype.
The "how much are your welds worth" is a gimmick. That's like saying, what's my car worth. It's worth what someone is willing to pay. Here in the U.S. you can make a very nice living as a welder, especially if your union. Yes it's hard dirty work, but its often rewarding, and for people looking for a job that pays well and for folks that like working with their hands and often travel, it's pretty sweet.
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Hello Brandon, In the old days I used to draft up my design then go over to my buddy's architect office and he would make a blue print from my draft. At that point I knew how much material I needed, the number of inches of weld, the number of cuts, and drill points for the project. Plus the square footage of area I needed to prime and paint. From that I could submit an accurate bid, and still have an acceptable cushion built into the job. If the job was anything more that a one off I built tooling (welding, cutting, and drilling jigs) after I got the job. This gave me the ability to know exactly how long it would take to complete the project, and every piece would be exactly the same, plus I was able to provide my customer with a realistic completion date. One other caveat (and this one really helps) is after you have your material list completed shop around and find the most economical price you could. Then spend the entire material budget so you have way more material you needed. This way over time you had a very nice inventory of material that was already paid for, this paid off in spades when times were slow. And if a new customer walked into the shop with a little 10 or 15 minute job you had the ability to do the job for free and tell him to come back if he had a bigger project or repair in the future. If the job was 20 minutes or more I would tell him what it would cost before I started, I never advertised and depended on quality work, and word of mouth to grow my business. Any thing I designed and built from scratch I guaranteed for one year excluding paint. It was over all a good business formula for me, and mind you it was years before computers were around. I noticed you set your jobs up like and assembly line which I believe is the best possible way to keep the work flow moving smoothly. Good luck and keep the faith in the meantime don't take any wooden nickles.
What a great comment! Thank you very much. The problem ive had with materials is I keep ordering more because I forget what I have lol. I have a tendency to do that with a lot of things but I'm trying to be more conscientious. Thanks again I appreciate your support 🙏
Thanks for this video. Your order of operations explanation was very helpful. As to welding the nuts on then chasing them with a tap--try threading the screw in nut and tape the exposed threads with masking tape to keep the spatter off the threads. This does 3 things in one step,--gives you a way to hold the nut, you have to thread the screw in anyway and you don’t have to chase the threads later.
I'll have to give it a try :)
Your method of holding a bolt/threaded bar in the nut also means the nut is properly in line with the hole, having something to hold onto like this makes a huge difference, specially when using thick gloves for stick welding.
Make a copper rod that fits into the nut and hole as a holding / centering jig. Spray with a bit of anti splatter.
Great tip! 👍
Hey Brandon, In the old days I built a welding table out of a 1.5 inch 4x8 plate with 6 adjustable feet. You could weld angle iron and or cut off C clamps to it with no problem. I did fire two guys for using a grinder on edge to grind the tacks down, I specified a cupped grinder and a flat wheel, plus a belt sander so we could maintain a relatively flat table + or - .010. It wasn't perfect but close enough for most jobs. If the tolerances were tighter than that I used the lathe and milling machine then shimmed the parts to be welded, and used a hiliarc to weld them. It was slow but way beyond my competitors standard of + or - half a hammer handle. Hang in there Bud and keep up the great work, don't let the industry standard deteriorate. The table did get out of whack and I hauled it to my buddies shop and he put it on the Blanchard, I lost .125 of the original thickness but it was flat LOL
Thats impressive that it took that much material out! There is nothing better than working from a ground surface in my opinion. It even feels better!
@@BrandonLund That Big 48 " Blanchard of his was a steel eating fool, he had a bunch of huge machines. They machined crusher cones after they come out of the foundry for their bread and butter. They had 1,000 cubic feet. of rebar and 8 sack concrete under each machine so they could hold tolerance. Interesting side note there is a D8 buried under the shop that sank out of site when they built the place, they just left it down there. That site was originally a marsh.
OMG thats unreal! I love hearing stories like this...thank you for sharing! Cheers!
I use the slipper clutch part of the drill when tapping. I don't like the idea of the bits slipping on the jaws of the chuck. But cordless drills work great for tapping holes. Just need to go easy, let the tap do the work, not the drill (so to speak). Great video. My new welder just got delivered.
Thanks Ryan and great tip!
11:48 that "free" or "scrap" metal can be some of the most expensive metal used. If it takes 5 minutes of your time for cutting/cleaning on one piece and another $1 for electricity, diamond wheel and grinder wear, you're looking at $6 a piece- quite a bit more than $.27in from the metal yard.
haha I've occasionally looked at scrap I had on hand said "nope, not that broke today" and drove to the store to get what I needed.
Of course, there have been other days when I look at my bank account and say "well, I can work with what I've got on hand"
I'm just a hobbyist welder though :P
@@dscrive found that out the hard way! lol shop min is $50 then $50 an hour. Granted i don't do much on my own, 3-4 2hr. jobs a week keeps the beer fridge stocked!
Spot on! Did you notice where I placed the welds on the 2" square tube 🤔 right on the cut, so no prep work. None. For the exact reason you pointed out. If your not careful about how you use your "scrap", it can really chew into your labor cost / profit. Bed frames are a great example. Maybe you can get them for free but if your cutting it with anything other than a flame or plasma your gonna burn up consumables because there tempered. I literally needed a 6" piece of sq. Tube and I had none other than the piece you saw, so hacking up this was the best alternative to driving 1 hour round trip and buying a full stick when I only needed 6"
I feel this comment In my soul, the truth has been spoken
Excellent topic and well presented. Laying it out like you did makes it a lot easier. I do custom gun work along with wood and some metal fabrication and I always wrestle with what to charge. Most of the time I end up giving my work away. I like the way you broke it down... Good video!
Thanks man! I have worked for free a bunch of times. I've found this way works well for me.
Agree. It’s a real problem when you have ability, tools, and a desire to please/impress others. Sadly, I’m still stuck there. I did get a case of good beer for may last repair job though. Making progress!
Great info. In the contracting industry materials are usually marked up 15-%20% also. There are lots of hidden costs to capture…time to and from steel supplier, gas/wear & tear on your vehicle, taxes, etc. Thanks for sharing.
You bet! There are a bunch of different ways but this one works pretty good for me. I've recently been charging by the weld and I will talk more about that in an upcoming episode
Good information, I side hustle and do perty decent, but I always struggle on the bidding.
Keep these vids coming....
Thanks man I appreciate you watching!
Hi brandon love your video on how to estimate your work,so well explained,also you do wounderful work .Tony from Canada 🇨🇦
Thanks Tony I appreciate your kind words. My wife and I are planning a trip to Canada this coming summer on the motorcycle. I've never been. We are from Maine
I can’t wait to get started on some small projects like this. Thanks for the ideas.
Have fun!
I like that diamond wheel, I'm going to give it a try. Thx👍
It cuts very smooth and fast!
Ok, this is an old one that I am catching up on, but it gives the reason that I like your channel so much. YOu give practical information that is applicable to a multitude of applications. I am a beginnger, so I doubt I will charge for what I do, but lay out, planning, performing, it all good information. Thanks!!!
Thanks man I appreciate your support! It means a lot to hear this because I try to deliver on what my viewers want to see 👍
Can't wait to learn how to weld so I can do projects like this!!
Right on!
Thanks for sharing your methods and formulas! This is great for us just starting out.
You are so welcome!
fantastic information for beginners, good video man!
Looks great Brandon, keep up the good work and videos.
Thanks man! I appreciate it!
Watching this now and seeing the price of steel 3 years ago, seems like the good ole days.
No kidding right! Everything is was over priced now
Thanks.
Your welcome! :)
As far as not giving discounts on in stock materials, if it is something that you have and it's taking up space, isn't a dimension that is commonly used, etc. Then it is perfectly reasonable to discount it if that discount entices the customer to buy. Sometimes you are better off losing a little in dollars to get rid of materials that are taking up space perpetually.
Looking good as usual Brandon.. Thank you..
Thanks man!
Awesome tips. THANK YOU.
Glad it was helpful!
Best information thank you
Thanks and I appreciate your support!
Thanks for the video very sound advice
Organization is key
Thanks again
Thanks Edy Moss - Much appreciated! 😁
A very good lesson on how much to charge for things , the project came out awesome , ever think about building a long range heavy swinging or stationery targets. ? Brandon I have about a 1/2 dozen man hole covers ,I think they are cast Iron would they make good targets ? Or do you have an idea to make something else with them ? Thanks. TANK.
Thanks man! Most manhole covers are cast iron. Typically they use AR500 steel on targets. I like the idea of making some. I might just have to do that!
Nice breakdown.
@Aaron Wilson thanks man! I appreciate it 🙏
Great great great video thank you
Glad you enjoyed it Thank you!
Great project and method of working out costs there Brandon, I'v heard others quote $ per inch of weld too. subd :)
Thanks Oliver and I appreciate the sub!
Thanks for the info, much aprreachiated. i also liked the video.
Thanks man! I appreciate your support!
Great video Brandon nice and informative
Thanks brother! I plan to watch the rest of the brake job episodes tonight!
@@BrandonLund oh cool I appreciate the watch time brother
very good.
Thanks man!
Good explanation and info!
Thanks man!
Alot of guys with high powered rifles use 2x4s for holding steel plate for target practice
2x4 dont last. What he is building will last for years to come.
Thanks man, yes, I know the type you are talking about. I could have put a 2x4 pocket on these and had a triple duty stand. I'm not sure the base would be wide enough though...maybe if I staked it down or sand bagged it.
@@BrandonLund image the stand would be pretty heavy
And that's a small nitch of people
Thanks for the informative vide. I'm starting to weld small items to sell on the side and been tinkering around how or what to charge. Like how ur not ashamed to say I made a mistake and like how u state to learn from you. Again thank you from south Texas. Was wonder if I had a video about putting vise on ur table.
May I ask who you use as a metal supplier? Much cheaper than I can get stuff! Options are sparse around me, but I'm still trying to learn more.
Best price and service in our area. brownsweldingandsteel.com/
Thanks sir you are great man very helpful man
Thnak you so much! @Arshad Hussain
Thank you for the video
Thread a bolt into the nut before welding and eliminate tread clean up entirety.
My issue is the nut shrinks on the bolt and galls up the threads. I have a tendancy to weld hot and this is one of those issues from that
Great video,thanks bud
Thanks Rob!
Cool thanks for the info
Your welcome! 👍
Very nice Sir. Did you include your profit margin/owners compensation in your labour. Or did you add that in after?
Its included ;)
When I put on weld o let's I black out the threads with only acetylene so the beebees do stick.
Great idea! Thanks man!
After all of that ..... what did you charge?
They sell for $70 ea but I sold 6 of them for $50 ea. because I was giving the buyer a deal to help him out.
What kind of wire did you use for welding the stainless bolts?
Just basic ER70 solid wire
#1 are you a Virgo, that would explain the organizational focus.
So it is interesting and informative. It is also cool for me as I make a combination target stand cover barrier stand for IDPA shooting competitions. I have a lot of design and experience, but not a lot of marketing experience. I work the same way as you do regarding templating and gang jobbing, where I make all the parts and do each operation in turn.
My order generally goes from part making to welding to abrasive blasting and or wire wheeling, then to powder coating which is the most time intensive operation.
I noticed you didn't include finishing as a cost factor, but I also think $30 is a high price to add to the final price. I priced my cost for my stands at approximately $14 at $1/lb for steel and a guess at the rest. I sell them for $24 each, powder coated. That's a 58% markup when average retail markup is 35%. Your markup in the example is 25% actual cost and 75% labor cost for 100% total markup. If you consider all of the $40 as cost, then at 35% retail you price should be $54 each.
I definitely must re-evaluate my cost analysis, especially since I need to factor in the powder coating and abrasive treatments. I also need to factor in chemical descaling of all the steel parts vs abrasive blasting of non rusted metal parts/stock.
Maybe you can do a video of how you acquire jobs and/or product sales. Do you sell from your own website of a third party store? Do you take single orders or make products ahead for store sales?
Thanks man. 24 dollars each seems a bit low to me? Especially if you are powder coating them. It must take you close to a half hour to just cut, fit and weld one together. A general shop rate here is $60/hr so your at $30 and havent factored in metal, paint, electricity or consumables yet. The dual one you see is priced online elsewhere for $90 ea. but it's also powder coated. I dont sell or advertise anywhere. Everything i sell is all word of mouth.
Unless it is a one-off piece for a friend, I price material by looking up what it costs to get the amount of material new and adding 20%.
That is a very common industry standard and I still use it occasionally to this day. I just like to know how much something costs me as close to the penny as I can get, that way if I want to give someone a screaming "deal" I at least know where I'm breaking even (or as close as I think I can get to that number). Another rough number that is often close is labor is double your material. Not always but it's usually close.
The materials x 3= labor and profit. But yet again we all know that welding Projects come down to
Set-up and time.
Square it up
Tack weld
Check for square
Tighten clamps
Finish welding
Check square again.lol
All kidding aside GREAT information for people who are stuck on this question. Be Safe Brandon
Thanks buddy. I appreciate ypur support :)
I just take material cost x 4 rule of thumb for fabbing up gates
I like that! Thanks for sharing!
When it comes to materials cost, you need to include EITHER a Margin increase or a Markup increase. The two are NOT the same.
Margin increase DIVIDE cost by:
10% Margin = 0.90
20% Margin = 0.80
30% Margin = 0.70
Example: $100 cost divided by 10% MARGIN increase (0.90) = $111.11
$100 cost divided by 20% MARGIN increase (0.80) = $125
Markup increase is simple %
10% Markup = Cost x 0.10 then add the two together, same for 20% and 30%
Example: $100 cost plus 10% = $110.00, 20% MARKUP of $100 = $120
In my business I use MARGIN to account for fuel, time, effort to get stuff, to order stuff etc....
Based on your example, the difference for Margin Vs. Markup on a 100.00 dollar item @ 20% is 5 dollars.
@@BrandonLund Yeah, I kinda think I showed that unless someone can't tell the difference between $125 and $120. Course these days that doesn't surprise me much.
Now let's do a 30% difference...
100 / 0.70 = 142.86
100 + 30% markup (30) = 130
Difference of 12.86 for a 10% more margin
And if you're doing it on a thousands of dollars scale for the year, you're looking at a WHOLE lot more money on a margin vs markup.
Lets look for the sake of argument at $50,000
$50,000 / 0.70 = $71,428.57 Margin
$50,000 x 0.30 = $65,000 markup
Difference of $6,428.57
Now is it making sense? So which way would you rather see on your year end books? One where you've "marked up the price of products by 30 percent" or where you've "marked up the price of products using a 30 percent margin"
It does make sense. Whatever percentage you decide, if at the end of the day you haven't covered your incidental expenses than it really doesnt matter what you call it. You just need to adjust accordingly. Calling it a margin increase over markup is more semantics than a solution but yes I understand what your saying.
Final product looks good! Just curious, what was customers final price per unit?
If i remember correctly I think i sold these for $50 each.
How do you compete? Everything I make and try to sell on the Facebook marketplace/Craigslist, people try to Jew me down because”I can buy the same thing at Walmart for $20”
Not everyone is willing to pay a premium price for a premium product. People on FB and Craigslist are looking to buy for the cheapest amount possible. Dont sell yourself short. Find a niche and market your products in that market. For me here in Maine I can fall back on the "Made in Maine" brand which signifies quality or when building furniture I reach out to high end furniture dealers and get in with them. Price is only a part of the equasion. You need to market your products to the market where people are willing to pay for your talent and abilities. Etsy is also a good place to be creative. Here is a great video that might inspire you th-cam.com/video/LHbxIX3-ipY/w-d-xo.html
Good job on this video.
Detroit joe
Thanks man!
@@BrandonLund
Just curious why flux core.
Is that your basement do you have a vacuuming system to air out your room. Thanks
Thanks Joe. I used flux core because it was really hot in the shop and I had 2 large fans blowing on me (which would blow away the coverage gas unless I set up some shields). My workshop is below an unfinished work space and I can ventilate to the outside but I don't use anything fancy, just regular fans blowing the air outside.
Help me understand, why are you not using a gas cup over your nozzle tip?
I'm using self shielded wire - no gas
I'm cheap
Better visibility without a cup
How do you give a quote if you don't know how long a project will take to build? Im talking about large complicated projects that you never done before. Thanks.
Great question John. For complicated jobs I break it down into manageable sections and estimate how long I think it will take. You can also quote it time and materials also.
I always did an engineering draft, at that point I knew to the penny what it would cost me and the time it would take me to accomplish the project. Mind you I wasn't always point on, but if I committed to a price I lived by it even if I lost money, why? Because I had a happy customer and he told his friends. What goes around comes around (Karma). What ever energy you put forth will come back 100 times, GOOD or BAD. Food for thought.
100% spot on and great advise! 👍
Hi Brandon, thank you for the video. I am just starting my business and I have a job that is just one large project. How would I go about pricing that? I was going to get a quote for all the pieces pre cut and just add 10% mark up on price then add my per hour fee for welding and assembling. It’s all welded together and needs to be fit correct spacing. So mostly time consuming spacing everything correctly
Thats tough. If you used your cut quote and added 10-15% you would have your cost covered but you also have to factor consumables (gas, blades, disc's ect). For labor sometimes I just look at the part and say it will take me XX number of hours to fit / weld then multiply that by your number of pieces. Above all make sure your not underselling yourself. It's easy to do when your starting out.
@@BrandonLund thank you! yes i have heard its easy to just want to make a name and thats what Im trying to do but also need to make some profit
Not a bad way of calculating what your selling cost is
Thanks man!
I enjoy your videos. But at 4:20 you sounded like you are going to do a time study to price this work. Don't you have to quote the work before you get the order??
I do a rough time study on all my quoted work. It helps to dial me in.
So about running a tap thru the welded nuts...I don't! I tack the nut on with one tiny tack ,turn in a short bolt and then no reason for a tap..Throw in a drop of oil before u put in the hold down T bolt,or just a standard bolt.Easy peasy...
I've never had good luck doing it that way. The nut always seems to get distorted. I generally try to make it happen in one pass so the nut is glowing cherry red at the end as I'm backing out the bolt.
$1 per 1" of weld? Good grief!! I'd be under charging a heap on that bugger alone, lmao!! At my skill level it takes me a pack of sticks to get a decent inch of weld.....
And yeah, we know what an inch is. It's 25.41 teeny weeny buggers......
Good job pal, and it is good of you to split the profits with you viewers.......
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Hahaha I always enjoy your comments buddy!
Brandon, just curious. Do you have the certifications and insurance to do commercial stuff? Or do you have a different day job instead?
Nah, i was in the trades for more than 30 years. Now I just do it at my own pace and keep the projects simple. Most of the stuff I build now is all decorative or repair work and doesnt require a ticket.
@@BrandonLund you don't look 50- or even 45. Did you start when you were 5?
@@JimmysTractor I no longer get carded for beer but I celebrate my 50th this July
@@BrandonLund wow, 49 like me. I guess you are able to keep out of the sun.
I'm from Maine...sun? whats that? LOL. I also have a 19 month old grandson. It's pretty cool because when I go places with him, people will often comment "enjoy him when he's little because they grow up so fast" (thinking he is my son). I usually reply, "no kidding, my oldest is 23 and my youngest is 19. LOL. Thanks for the compliment buddy, although my body some days feels like 70
Hi Brandon - I'm just getting started in welding. I was wondering where you get your metals for projects? I noticed that you paid $77.37 for a 24ft 3x1 x120w Rec tube. I can't find anything that cheap in nearby metal stores or online!! Your beginner welding videos are great!
I buy all my metals locally here in Maine but they dont ship unfortunately.
@@BrandonLund Thanks. I'll keep checking around my area.
2 metal yards located 15 miles apart and the closer one is always 30% more money. Keep calling around. Im sure you can find a better price.
@@BrandonLund Some of our local welding shops are still very pricey. When you say “metal yards”, do you mean metal recycling centers or scrap yards? They seem like places for dropping off scrap metal, not buying new metal. We have a few MetalSuperMarkets.com locations out here but everyone says to avoid them - again high costs. Sorry for all the questions.
@@chipdaniels9939 Google steel supplier + Your location. They are generally a shop that just sells metal/material, though sometimes you'll find a fab shop attached. Welding shops, Fab shops and scrap yards are not what you're looking for to purchase new metal usually.
put a little grease, wax, or anti spatter, on your bolt and the nut will stay clean when you weld it, and you won't have to chase you threads. I would use hard wire or dual shield just watch your penetration.
The issue i usually have with the smaller nuts is the heat will distort the nut so the bolt runs real dry.
@@BrandonLund Steel will expand .001 per inch per 100 degrees, it also shrinks a tad when it cools.
This is why I love our comments section! We are never to old to learn. Thank you!
Huh, so this is something that I keep running into living in a MUCH more expensive area (DC metro) with fewer people willing to do this kind of work so people don't seem to know what it's worth... you'd think that would drive prices up but it just completely takes you out of the market. It looks like this comes out to $80-90/per based on your numbers, correct? So did you have any problems at that price, especially since it looks like similar stands (arguably not as nice in some cases, but powdercoated and better finished) are available for $30-55 on Amazon?
For me, in the immediate area, all the metal suppliers have disappeared when metal supermarkets showed up and I'd have to drive about an hour each way to get pricing about 120-140% of what you mentioned for the 1x3 (much more at MS, but the advantage with them is that I could buy EXACTLY the amount I needed at the same price per foot as I could a whole stick at a time, their pricing ends up very close to buying stuff at HD and Lowes for comparable stuff). Then unless it had some completely custom feature that would make it impossible for everything already on the market to work I'd have to come in either under Amazon or faster than their 2 day prime. If there was some completely custom feature then it would probably be about what that feature adds, like in your case, maybe you could argue the 2x2 tube if someone was trying to mount something special, and I would guess that would add about $10-25 to what someone was willing to pay, putting it at around $75-80.
It sounds like you've done your homework because your numbers are spot on! The market is crazy right now so prices on materials (and everything else for that matter) have skyrocketed
Where do you get your material, Home Depot is very expensive
Don't ever buy metal at big box stores. You will pay at least 4x more than what you can purchase metal for at your local distributor. Buy local is your best bet.
They're only jumpy and vibrate if you don't have it turning the right direction
Unfortunately for me that has not been my experience. I much prefer the continuous rim rather than the segmented blades especially when plunge cutting.
🇺🇸👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you!
So you build one before you quote it?
If if looks like something i might want to produce to make money i will.
@@BrandonLund So does nor work for One-offs like a business sign?
Nope. For something like that i estimate my time by breaking down each component like layout, cutting, joint prep, welding, grinding, finish. Then i add up my material cost. Then i add 1/3 to the material cost. Then add my labor total to my material total and thats my quote. There are a ton of ways to arrive at this but this is how i do it for one offs
@@BrandonLund Cheers
@@TwistedGorillaFab thanks! And same to you!
You are getting screwed on your steel prices especially because this is a year old
Steel prices are even higher now but they are all within 5-10% in my area.
@@BrandonLund yeah they're slightly higher now but last time I bought one by three it was .083 wall but I bought it at $ $29 a stick drywall
Thats a great price! What state are you in?
@@BrandonLund I'm in Southeastern Idaho. I do live like a mile away from Nucor which is one of the largest steel mills in the country but I buy everything out of Pacific Steel the company I work for buyers just over about $190,000 worth of Steel a year so not a ton but enough to get the prices a little bit lower
Nice! Stay safe brother! 🙏
you say welding fabrication and pricing of your work not how to do that target thing
??? I'm pretty sure within the first minute i said this video was about pricing out my work. Then I said click the link if you want to see how I built the target stands. Does the link to the target stand video not work?
$60 an hour?! I LOVE THE USA! In this pathetic sorry excuse for a country I live in (Lebanon) they bark at me for charging them $15 an hour FOR EVERYTHING! And some are just pure free loaders who expect me to do quick free jobs!
It's hard to put food on the table when you give your stuff away and everybody wants a deal or wants it for free. It happens here too. Dont sell yourself short. Your talent and skill is worth something. If the customer could do it themselves they would. Dont give your services away (unless your helping a friend or family) cheers buddy
@@BrandonLund I totally agree with you Brandon. But things do not work out like that around here. There is no place in Lebanon for innovative people. You work hard for scrap. You'd have no future. Even who you think should be a priority like family and friends, they end up actually becoming your worst enemies cause they'd be the most who would take advantage of you. This country is a certifiable nightmare, occupied mostly by low lives, crooks and scoundrels. There is no good way to really explain it, and I'm sure you'd think I'm exaggerating, but unless you experience it for yourself; you'll never know what I'm talking about, especially when you had a taste of the free civilized world. I know the USA is not a perfect country, no country can be perfect. But to me, it has everything I could ever need in a country! I'd be so darn proud to be an American! As far as I'm concerned... best country in the history of man kind!
Anyway... sorry again for the drama. Love your videos! I wish you all the best pall! :-)
@franko Thank you for the good intentions sir. But having a "few" good folk in this country does not make it a good reason to like it, respect it, and be glad to be in it. You have to look at the majority. And most are.... well.... unless you have been in civilized 1st world countries like the USA and lived here for a while.... there are no word but experience which can make you understand the situation I'm in....
Thanks again... be safe.
I was a welder in the uk. I don't really understand all the hype and excitement around welding videos? As for the "how much are your welds worth" craze. Ill tell you. If you work for any company in The uk you will get pretty much minimum wage. If you work for yourself and have good customers. It's slightly better. You will probably be blind in about 3 years.and contract lung disease. This job is very shit. Dont believe the hype.
The "how much are your welds worth" is a gimmick. That's like saying, what's my car worth. It's worth what someone is willing to pay. Here in the U.S. you can make a very nice living as a welder, especially if your union. Yes it's hard dirty work, but its often rewarding, and for people looking for a job that pays well and for folks that like working with their hands and often travel, it's pretty sweet.
You are not going life.
Huh?