For the type of jobs I think you're talking about (customer brings you parts that need to be welded together), I just figure out how many hours I think it will take me to do the job, and then apply that to my typical hourly rate, while also putting in a bit of slack to cover myself (i.e., if I think it will be a 5 hour job, I will charge for 6 hours). At that point, you can either communicate that "6 hour" price to the customer as one chunk, or break it down into cost-per-part for them depending on the circumstances.
It's very important to understand what the job entails in order to accurately determine how many hours it will take you. Do the parts fit together properly? What's the material? Thick or thin? Shapes? Easy access to the welds? How much prep? What's the fitment tolerances needed? Will you need to make any jigs? Will you need to do time consuming things like backpurging, preheating, postheating, passivating, etc? You'll get a feel for all of this with experience.
If a job like that seems particularly difficult (like when the parts fit together very poorly), I will offer to do the work only on a per-hour basis. Meaning I will bill them for the total hours it took me and I do not provide a quote ahead of time, but I will provide a rough estimate for reference. This is uncommon but a good way to protect yourself.
And as Buggy mentioned, I do have a minimum and it is usually $50. However, I do tend to make exceptions for some of the older folks that walk-in looking for a quick repair to a tool or something, and for pretty ladies.
Edit: Oh, and here is an advanced tip for you. Do a little research on both the parts you're welding, the customer, and the business sector it applies to. Then compare your estimated price to what you think those welds on the parts may be worth. This serves as a sanity check, and depending on the quantity, this can help you to adjust your price up or down if needed. For example, and all other things being equal, if I do 5 hours of welding on parts for auto racing, the price is going to be different than if I do 5 hours of welding on $20 bird feeder stands for the shop down the street. Make sense?
Last edited by
Spartan on Tue Jan 26, 2021 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I would think between prep time, gas, filler, clamps needed, etc. it should be more.
