kburd

man i have a 250 i think and i love it would love to have a bigger one

super nice work.

i think about several things when pricing blacksmith work. Cost of operation. where is my current financial standing. Ability to actually make any money doing the project. Future buisness from said customer. and unfortunatley percieved price on the buyers end. materials are usually no where near the cost of labor involved unless you are working with alot of copper or other more expensive material. I can give you an example from my area which is a mostly middle class to lower upper class clients. I make hardware for sale at the local upper end greenhouse. a standard hammered hook to mount on a post to hang a flower bag from with just a clear coat finish is $18 the material is about a buck. I start with 3/4 square so the hook is nice and heavy on the fastening end. This makes people think they are really getting something to last a lifetime. the labor in production to forge wire wheel and coat is about 12 minutes per hook. My shop time is $40. so i have $13 in labor $1 in material $.50 in clear coat. so that is $14.50. take that times 1.25 and you get 18.12 drop the twelve cents and charge $18. the ladys who's greenhouse it is gets a 10% commision on sold work. so minus 1.80 you get $16.20 not bad for 12 minutes work. If you times that by four you get 64.80 now subtract your material cost 4 bucks. You just made $60.80 in an hour (that is if you sell your work). any how that got long.... if you are still reading the bottom line is i think for no matter where you are and what you are doing you are way underpricing yourself if you are trying to run a buisness. I did this for a long time and cringe everytime i think about how much further along i would be if i would have charged properly for blacksmithing and welding work over the past ten years. But remeber if you wanna charge what the big boys charge you gotta act like one. Great work Great customer relation and a Great amount of effort go into be able to charge appropriatly for your work.

yeah if you wanna work fast you sure can with one of these. i usually run 5/6 pieces with mine and that makes you hump. but i use a combo of manpower and my big blu

hey guys thanks for your info a while back. it is still in process. i appriciate the talk on codes etc.. and always follow what they say. that way i have something to stand on if an accident would occur involving any of my items that are code based. anyways i got it all squared up but appriciate you guys taking the time to read my post. i see you on here often and hope to one day meet you or take a peak at your shops. thanks kyle

ok so here is a long over due follow up. i have been using the xxxx outa this forge from the get up with it. it is great gets hot as all xxxx. all i need now is one that is about 4 ft long to heat long pieces to texture with the big blu faster.

it is a box for a customer. thanks for looking!

hey all heres a couple pics of a mailbox that i did late part of last week and installed sunday. thanks for looking kyle

great looking project. how are you planning to attach your screen. kyle

always always always watch horse people.... very very close....

it is all solid iron. started with one inch square bar.

hey all i need to quote a railing job that a guy wants installed in his yard. There is an existing wood fence to come out and the new fence will be powdercoated before installation. what is the best way to install this railing? i was thinking holes and concrete like i would do a wood fence just wondering what you guys thought. it will be standard style fence made with 1/2 inch solid pickets etc. thanks for any info kyle

thanks for the resize and the tips

i cant imagine my life without computers i have spent the last ten years of my life non stop learning via the benifite of my computer and internet connection. form welding and smithing to needless faq's and answers to questions in minutes instead of weeks it is unbelivable and would never want to be without it. and the at least 5 dirty emails i get everyday from people that i would never thought would find that sort of stuff funny.

hmm having trouble figuring out how to resize. if an administrator or anybody else can do it feel free. thanks

metal and slate bar area is on the way at some point soon. as well as hopefully a limestone bench and maybe a big limestone table for outdoors. My family has a dairy farm and we have plenty of rock here in south central pa hopefully i can get some D.C. area intrest in some of my stuff at some point.

amazing

wow that pic is big sorry

hey all this is a picture of a table that i made for a benifite auction last night. it brought $310 i would have put it in a shop for 300 and took 275 so i was pleased. it is all forged from 1 inch square and the top is apple wood that was giving to me took me about ten hours all together. I do have a big blu 155 to help speed things along. i have been welding and repair for about ten years then got in to some welded sculpture and now IN LOVE with smithing i cant get enough. i have some other projects comming up to show you guys if they turn out half decent. thanks kyle oh the table looks a little crooked in the pic but it is level all around when you stick it.

hey guys thanks for the information on the copper. If you seal the copper with a food safe clear coat wouldnt it be ok then? And I am pretty sure that All Clad cookware makes a complete copper line of pans etc.

hey guys i was wondering if anyone has a lead on copper sheet at a resonable price for making bowls etc. would like some 3/16 for a heavy salad bowl or the like. I am in south central pennsylvania close to chambersburg where they once made the big power hammers. thanks kyle

i just purchased a two burner blacksmith forge from diamondback ironworks. Dennis answered all my questions and even took a few minutes to shot the breeze. I will give you all an update once I get it all set up.

hey guys looking forward to learning as much on here as I have over the years on weldingweb. I play around blacksmithing but want to get more serious with it. also i am interested in getting in touch with people in my area who are involved in blacksmithing