how many of u weld on the side?

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how many of you guys do welding as a side job or even as a day job for yourself? do you guys charge by the job or hourly?If the conversation isn’t money, then I’ll see you later.
Reply:On the side, charge..... Er.... Um..... Usually undercharge..... By the job.......As I get more experience and jobs coming in...... That will change.....Precision TIG 185 and MP 210Bobcat 225NTCutmaster 42O/A tanks.... 2 Argon tanks...... 2 C25 TanksFacebook...... F2 Metal WorksETSY....... https://www.etsy.com/shop/F2MetalWorksF2MetalWorks.com....... http://www.f2metalworks.com/
Reply:On the side for now - My rat race is about over - but i will continue to help farmers out - as far as charging - by the hour or not at all - PS i'am a welder at work - If i can drive down the road and see a piece of equiptment working in the fieldthat i have worked on thats  enough payment for meThe main thing is not to panic or get excited Bobcat 250, X-Treme 12VS,  MM211Meltabo, Milwaukee,Porter Cable,Dewalt,MakitaVictor O/A, Ingersoll-RandEvolution Rage2, 40 amp PlasmaLincoln 225 AC/DC
Reply:Retired from a job as an electrical/computer tech. Now weld for fun and profit! Work when I want which is a nice relaxing change!TimTimmetalcraft by mooseSoutheast Michiganhttps://www.facebook.com/Metalcraftbymoose  Stupid Hurts!!
Reply:Originally Posted by mooseRetired from a job as an electrical/computer tech. Now weld for fun and profit! Work when I want which is a nice relaxing change!Tim
Reply:I do it some at work only when needed for plant maintaince. I have a small business I run out of my shop at home here and charge by the hour + materials
Reply:Originally Posted by Stick-manWelcome to the site moose. A co-worker / friend, called moose, gave me a few welding lessons many moons ago.
Reply:I do computers for a living, weld as fun and small profit. Had a friend bring me some intercooler pipes this week. Did an exhaust flange for a friends car. All for friends.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:I'm a dairy farmer with a background in engineering and some actual classroom+shop welding and fabrication training. Most of what I do is for myself, but every time I'm working with she shop doors open someone stops by with something to make or repair.I charge straight hourly for repairs and time and materials for full fab work. So for, no one has complained about my price.Lincoln Precision Tig 185Lincoln Power Mig 256Hypertherm PM 45Everlast 140STSmith O/A
Reply:I do it on the side, upside down, laying on my back, inside nasty places, in far away countries, but try not to do it at home unless I HAVE toWelder by trade6 Miller Big Blue 600 Air Paks2 Miller 400D6 Lincoln LN-25's4 Miller Xtreme 12VS2 Miller Dimension 812 4 Climax BW-3000Z bore welders Hypertherm 65 and 85Bug-O Track BugPair of Welpers
Reply:Expat..but do you weld on the side?Airco Ac/Dc 300 HeliwelderMillerMatic 200 (stolen)Miller Maxstar 150STLMiller AEAD200LE (welding and generating power) Hobart MIG
Reply:I weld sideways.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:I am a diesel/heavy equipment mechanic. My old boss calls me about once a month to weld something for him. Usually he has all the pieces ready for me, all i have to do is weld everything together. Just installed a winch on a trailer for pulling up an offroad truck on wednesday. I charge $50 an hour. He doesnt even flinch.Ranger 305gMillermatic 140 AutosetDewalt Chopsaw2 grindersMy Fists
Reply:Originally Posted by SquirmyPugExpat..but do you weld on the side?
Reply:Im a combo tube welder that has a side welding buis(small little llc) I do mobile welding on the side to fill the gaps between jobs. Most of us charge hours + material .
Reply:I do. I have a desk job doing electrical engineering for the first 8 or so hours of my day. On the side I mostly work/weld on drag racing related stuff.. rearends, chassis, tanks, turbo piping, etc..I was lured into the desk job by the money, something I regret at times. To quote Morgan Freeman playing God in 'Bruce Almighty': "Some of the happiest people in the world come home smelling to high heaven at the end of the day."
Reply:I do side work, mainly aluminum work as it's a bit of a niche market because around here it's hard to find good mobile aluminum welders.I price my work depending on the job.Reason being is if I tell some folks I charge $85 per hour they freak even though the job may only take me one hour they seem to take it better if I just say hey I'll fix it for $200.Now if this were my primary source of income I would have to probably change my ways of thinking. If I don't want to mess with something or somebody I can simply turn them down.
Reply:Charge by the hour plus materials $75.oil field,$65 farmers plus state tax on labor and city tax unless exempt. Oilfield more wait 30 to 60 days on pay and in worse locations than farmers.
Reply:Local 26 pipefitter/welder during the day. Work out of my small shop and do portable work with my rig to fill in the cracks.Hourly or estimated.
Reply:I weld upside down usually at work. At home or on the side I usually weld sideways. And I charge by the hour. Depending also on what I'm welding, and material also change hourly rate.Miller bobcat 225g  - spoolmatic 1Mm250 - 30a spoolMiller spectrum 375Thermal arc 95 Everlast Ex 250As the boiler turns, these are the days of our lives
Reply:Damn zap beat me to it. You too quick zapMiller bobcat 225g  - spoolmatic 1Mm250 - 30a spoolMiller spectrum 375Thermal arc 95 Everlast Ex 250As the boiler turns, these are the days of our lives
Reply:Thanks guys prob just gonna estimate them have a few little onesIf the conversation isn’t money, then I’ll see you later.
Reply:yes, I weld on the side, hourly + materials on some, but like, oh heck, I'll do for $50 bucks most of the time, but if I dont get my new welding rig (trailer) finished, I wont be doing anything this winter except outages,
Reply:Union Steamfitter, running wire 40 hours a week in a fab shop they pay me 54.03 a hourLast edited by Fishinsin station; 11-04-2012 at 09:16 PM.UA local 32Team weld-coolTeam miller elite tack upMiller pro-staff
Reply:Yep, I weld on the side, the top and bottom too!I did side work for several years before going full time. I usually just bid each job no matter how big or small. Customers don't care how much you charge per hour, they want to know what it is going to cost for you to finish. I started by figuring out the materials and guesstimating the hours I thought it would take. I took me a while to figure out that I needed to multiply that by 2 before I could make money. Only time I will just give an hourly rate is if there are a lot of unknowns involved, and even then I will try to estimate the cost, but be clear with the customer about the unknowns.Weld for a living but I'm also a mechanic, painter, website designer, secretary, file clerk,computer tech, ect...jack of all trades. My dad and I run a small business charge by the hour, by job, or by inch. My dad mainly likes doing maintenance on sand and gravel plants (aggregates), I myself love doing custom fabrication work. While his line of work pays great, he has to kiss alot of *** to get work. Kinda of like it's not what you know, it's who you know. I've had a great year so far (knock on wood), while I didn't get rich, we had a lot new faces come in and liked my work.
Reply:Originally Posted by zapsterI weld sideways.....zap!
Reply:Originally Posted by MondoFor my day job I am a data comunications technical support specialist. (PPP and Frame Relay over T1, PPP over T3, xDSL, PPPoE,  IP routing and firewall, MPLS, ISDN (but who does ISDN anymore, except in Europe?).  Most are dying technologies, but VPN in one form or another is here to stay. - Mondo
Reply:Originally Posted by ShiftaceWha'd he say?
Reply:EE/Robotics eng here during the day. Welding is another hobby I've got that likes to laugh at me while running down the street with my wallet, but if I'm lucky it comes back with more in it :P Side jobs for friends and random folks that have somehow found out I have a tig through their friends, etc.All started when we had a small bot chassis that needed to be tigged and I was thrown in there trial by fire style. I had only migged up to that point I was lucky enough to have a GSFC welder show me what not to do on a then new dynasty 300. That's when the love affair really started and would later see 3 large disappear from the hostage wallet for a 220 Invertig. I have a great respect for the guys who do this stuff for a livelihood and are committed to never putting out garbage. I myself have taken to putting up a "if it breaks from my welds failing under normal use, I'll fix it pro bono" caveat to jobs I do. Course you have to be careful about that and not let jokers take advantage of your "good will"HTP Invertig 221-DV -- get's dragged everywhere.Syncro 200 -- "The Boat Anchor" at the lab.Lincoln 125 MIG
Reply:Good info got a couple already lol. need some small equipment nowIf the conversation isn’t money, then I’ll see you later.
Reply:I've noticed that when People know that you're a Welder, they want everything they have to be fixed - and often they come up with things they want made. I've been asked to weld dic-cast, Pewter, weld Aluminum to carbon, weld on those tin-foil bumpers that seems like the "stainless" is nothing more than a plastic wrap colored a reflective silver, asked to weld office chairs, barstools, copper pipe, those 'metal things" on kitchen stoves whatever they're called ..I'm surprised Lex Luthor didn't contact me to weld Kryptonite together.  The day I learned to never weld for anyone was the day my Neighbour wanted me to fix his pewter outdoor table and I tried welding it with 6010. Lol. I was only a 1st year.,And then there was that time that a friend asked me to repair his aluminum engine block heads from his flathead ford engine from the 1940's.. Edmund Heads. They were so very much soaked & saturated with years and years of chemical, grease, oil, etc that the Aluminum was difficult to weld; you needed clean alumimum to weld from; I got them very close but it took so much time and effort, and I needed a machine shop, so therefore I sent them to Charchun Welding in Edmonton here, and they destroyed them things. Just a terrible weld job they did., had to send them back a few times beceause of grinder knicks and tiny holes and everything. Had to throw them out after what Charchun did.Last edited by Thorton; 11-06-2012 at 10:53 PM.46’ sae30047’ sa200 w/Wisconsin VF451’ shorthood56’ shorthood56’ shorthood68’ redface69 redface07’ ranger 305G13’ sae300Inconel/Hastelloy – SS – Duplex – Chrome/Carbon Tig – F3Downhand – STT/RMD – F3F4 – B Pressure
Reply:I charge straight hourly for repairs and time and materials for full fab work.So for, no one has complained about my price.
Reply:With all the work I do outside of my normal employer (Welding, Machining, Locksmithing, Appliance repair etc...), I try to charge $60 hr. and if the job is somewhere other than my shop, I charge $60 more for the Trip. As far as estimating, I noticed someone else mentioned multiplying the estimate by 2 and I agree 100% with that. I also learned it's better to estimate high all the time and discount where you feel you need to (not happy with finished product or you know the job is not worth that amount etc...). That way you don't look like your getting more expensive each time you do a job. Another thing, I find ways to get a wholesale price or junk yard price on material and then I charge customer a marked up price (usually x 2). Otherwise the customer can go get the material themselves. I may discount things here and there,but for the most part I'm in this to make money and to pay for my toys. In my spare time I run a Locksmith Business (with Insurance to cover the welding ) and I work as a Maintenance Mechanic in a Factory full time. My Hourly Rate is calculated by my overhead, tools purchased, training, availability etc... and I also feel that if I wanted to work outside my normal 40 hr Factory obligationand be away from my family then I am going to be paid at least double time.Last edited by bobhdus; 11-07-2012 at 01:26 PM.
Reply:I mostly fabricate and build stuff for myself. I have in the past done repair work on loader buckets, fix the cracks and install new cutting edge. I have built several trailers from pickup box to a 24ft flatbed from a trailerhouse frame. Logsplitters and wood stoves are some of my other projects. I try to estimate the cost of materials at my cost from the supplier and then add $10-$30 per hour for labor. (more if I don't like the guy)I work for a contractor at Nucor Steel. I've done everything from setting up equipment to welding 6"x6" billets into handrails and 2" thick plates to wrap columns so they don't get destroyed by heavy equipment. Have also built and installed alot of equipment guarding and many catwalks etc. The mosst fun I get to have is when we have to weld something near the furnace shells. EVERYTHING near them is magnetized and if you can get a weld to hold there your good!