Thread: General help with Woodworking

I am unsure if this is the appropriate place to post this, but I figured it was where the people most likely to be able to help would see it.

I have done a lot of wood craft over the years, I've even recently gotten into razor related projects (scales and brushes). I want to try and build my hobby into a side business, but the one thing I have always had trouble with is pricing my work.

To be clear I am not about to ask anyone to try and value it for me, but I do want advice anyone has to offer, or suggestions for resources I could use to help me over this hurdle. Any other related advice would also be welcome.

Thanks!

That is the million dollar question for many. Even when I was contracting and building kitchen cabinets that was always the plague. You want to have it value priced but not be too inexpensive either. As a hobbits it is easiest just to make sure your costs are covered and add a wee bit for time. As you get better at the projects at hand you will see what others are charging and get faster while putting out a better product. If you were actually doing it as a business there are a ton of other costs to track as well. Then when you break out your cost and labour you need to include contributions to general overhead so that insurance and admin costs as well as amortization of fixed assists and sometimes interest can all be factored in too. Depending on how far you want to go and what you are looking at. Do you want to have a legit business or just fly under the radar. It is a deep subject that we could chat over many cups of coffee about. I am sure that there are other guys here with more experience and education than I, hopefully a few of them will chip in here too.

I almost think it's easier to price things if you really are doing it to make money, cause you have formulas to figure out how much to charge based on costs and required profit. I think the issue may be that that number sometimes is just so high people may not buy the product.
So you either have to have a product that stands out enough to demand a premium price. If you're just doing as a hobby, then just make sure you cover your costs and anything more is a little treat.
I've sold a handful of things, and moneywise, it would make much more sense if I just put in a hour or two of overtime at work every now and then... But that's no where near as fun

Shane

First off, if your doing custom brushes,get a deposit at least for the Knot you have to buy.
Send pics of the progress of the brush,get okays from the buyer as to shape, material and loft settings.
Count on being stiffed now and than.
I make a brush now and than,if I sell one for say $120 with a $40 Knot that took me 8 hrs to make,I can make more with my shopping cart going thru garbage Bins looking for aluminum cans.

Originally Posted by RezDog

As a hobbits it is easiest just to make sure your costs are covered and add a wee bit for time.

Aw come on Shaun - Hobbits have to make a living too!



Sorry , couldn't resist.

I have not sold anything but I still keep a track of the original cost, & condition, price of parts & consumables etc & the hours I spend getting them to where they are.

So I have the details if I want to sell e.g.
I have a 13/16" W&B Scalloped spine "American Razor" with a nice patina, I paid $44 delivered with broken scales,
so I made new scales, cleaned & hone - new materials & consumables (horn, S.P., polish, neat’s-foot, $1 per stone per hone etc so say $15)
so this razor has cost me about $60 in original purchase & materials, this would be my lowest breakeven price (anything extra will just be RAD fodder to feed the habit to buy more razors to restore)

then the 6 hours for the time spent doing the work, now this is the fluffy area as I do everything by hand which is slower but if I had all the belt sanders & buffs etc this would be quicker but you have to allow to recoup the cost of the equipment over a period of time or number of restores this all goes in the cost if so.

but for this benefit at this stage I have put an hourly rate of $10/hr against my time as I am a self-taught apprentice hobbyist (as a skilled craftsman it would be higher),
then the total is tallied up this would be my sell price including labour so if I want to include it I am looking at $120 to cover my costs & labour time

Now if this is a business you would be looking at adding a Profit margin on top of say 10%-20% (50% to 100% for retail rates) which makes your sell price total closer to $150 up to $300

I am confident I could get at least the $150 maybe even the $300 for “this” blade but I know I have others I don't think I could justify the price this way even if it is the truth so would probably loose on them if I was to sell.

I restore for my benefit as a hobby to collect & use (until I find that special complete however many day set) not a living, where others are the opposite.

I have done the same for all of my Razors, my theory is if I sell & get my money back all good, but I am happy to know I have restored a piece of history & now someone else has it fresh for the next stage of it's life for possibly another 100 or more years.

At the end of the day you need to have the experience to know what your costs & hours to perfrom the work upfront to work out your prices.

and remember:
Like it is said many times over the value, like the beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what you might see as a steal others may think is a wrought.

Since Hobbits are little people,,they get a wee bit,,,,,,

Thank you all for the great information, I wasn't expecting so much depth but it helps me a lot.

One specific question I had was figuring out the cost of materials used in a project...

For example: Say I have a block of wood 1"x 1"x 12" that cost $50, and I cut a slab 1/8" thick to use for a project, how do I figure out what the cost of that material is?

Originally Posted by gkofsky

Thank you all for the great information, I wasn't expecting so much depth but it helps me a lot.

One specific question I had was figuring out the cost of materials used in a project...

For example: Say I have a block of wood 1"x 1"x 12" that cost $50, and I cut a slab 1/8" thick to use for a project, how do I figure out what the cost of that material is?

25 percent figuring a 1/8 kerf if the slab is 1/8 x 1 x 12

Dave