poleing platform for gheenoe

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Had a customer that wanted a poking platform for his gheenoe. I used a harbor freight pipe bender to make all the bends, it didn't come out half bad, customer wanted platform over the motor, that's why it is so far back
Reply:Not the worst for a cheep bender Attached Images
Reply:Looks good man! Are you doing the fiberglass top too?
Reply:Negative, I can buy fiberglass blanks and then just cut them to fit, but in this area its hard to compete. Everyone seems to try to offer a lower price than the next guy, and all the customers want it for free. So this customer just wanted to put a piece of expoxy coated plywood on it.This is how rough it is, a guy here locally, unlicenced insured ect, is going around offering mobile welding for 20 dollars per hour with no charge for truck gas, machine gas, welding gas, and consumables. There is no way to make money like that, but since he's so low no one else want to pay any higher
Reply:You did a good job on that..
Reply:Originally Posted by joseph_zlnskHad a customer that wanted a poking platform for his gheenoe. I used a harbor freight pipe bender to make all the bends, it didn't come out half bad, customer wanted platform over the motor, that's why it is so far back
Reply:Originally Posted by joseph_zlnskNegative, I can buy fiberglass blanks and then just cut them to fit, but in this area its hard to compete. Everyone seems to try to offer a lower price than the next guy, and all the customers want it for free. So this customer just wanted to put a piece of expoxy coated plywood on it.This is how rough it is, a guy here locally, unlicenced insured ect, is going around offering mobile welding for 20 dollars per hour with no charge for truck gas, machine gas, welding gas, and consumables. There is no way to make money like that, but since he's so low no one else want to pay any higher
Reply:I don't charge 20 an hour, I got to pay for my gas, welder gas all my consumables, materials, chargine that cheeply drives down the wages for welders all around, not to mencion I have to pay for liability insurance, licencing ect. I don't like to work for free.
Reply:Originally Posted by joseph_zlnskI don't charge 20 an hour, I got to pay for my gas, welder gas all my consumables, materials, chargine that cheeply drives down the wages for welders all around, not to mencion I have to pay for liability insurance, licencing ect. I don't like to work for free.
Reply:Maybe a few people should pay this person a visit and explain the to him what it really takes to make a business work. He likely doesn't have a clue that he is not only going broke himself but causing problems for others as well.
Reply:I wish it worked like that. There are a few idiots around here like that. They don't have insurance, or any licencing, but that's not even the worst, they go buy a harborfreight mig welder and thino they can start a business. Pissed me off.
Reply:Unfortunately there's guys like that in every trade right now the way the economy is. Most won't last more than a year tops before they go under, but in the mean time it hurts everyone who plays legit..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I saw the title and thought it was spam....Tim Beeker.
Reply:That cage/platform looks great.Tim Beeker.
Reply:Thanks for the compliment. Was kind of nice that a harbor freight bender was able to do this, yea its sad for anyone trying to make a living.Those guys leave a bad reputation for the rest of us welders out there. Last Friday a guy took his heavy duty tandom axle trailer to a guy to weld up the foward spring mount or perch back to the trailer chassis the welder he took it to was apparantly using a 90amp harbor freight welder, it had chicken glob welds all over it, anyways he made it a few blocks from that guys house and the front axle twisted compleatly off, of course the guy wouldn't refund the money, I welded it up correctly. Leaves a sick taste in your mouth that their are people out there like that
Reply:Originally Posted by joseph_zlnskThanks for the compliment. Was kind of nice that a harbor freight bender was able to do this, yea its sad for anyone trying to make a living.Those guys leave a bad reputation for the rest of us welders out there. Last Friday a guy took his heavy duty tandom axle trailer to a guy to weld up the foward spring mount or perch back to the trailer chassis the welder he took it to was apparantly using a 90amp harbor freight welder, it had chicken glob welds all over it, anyways he made it a few blocks from that guys house and the front axle twisted compleatly off, of course the guy wouldn't refund the money, I welded it up correctly. Leaves a sick taste in your mouth that their are people out there like that
Reply:Lol. There's one guy local, another member/friend of mine has told me about him. He runs a small engine shop from his house, no issue with that, in the last year or two he acquired a cheep mig welder, patched some holes in a mower deck, now he calls himself a professional welder, some days he list he cannot weld anything thicker than 3/16 other days it turns into 5/16. Haha
Reply:Nice work! I also use a HF bender on some projects. Looking it over it didn't seem so different from the OneShot and Jet benders I've used in shops in the past so I pulled the $100 trigger. I found that the flaw is in the dies. Wreck enough pipe and tube figuring it out and it'll make some decent bends, especially in aluminum. For the sub-topic of this thread, I was "that guy" when I started my own marine repair business, charging $40/hr (vs. the $80 that is standard up here)to get a reputation going. All the while I intended to raise my rates once my name was known, but never got the chance. If I could work at $40/hr 40 hours a week it was enough to cover my minimum expenses including the loan I took out to pay for MY insurance bond ($1M). Even at that rate I was pushed out by all the people charging less under the table while ALSO collecting unemployement. I've never taken a dime of unemployement and I wish ALL states required drug tests to collect it and required vocational rehabilitation to stay on it, but alas. In all, you do some nice work and thanks for sharing!
Reply:Thanks bud. When I got the bender I tried some 1 inch steel tube on the 3/4 inch die. Yes it does fit, but it flattened and kinked the pipe, so I tried schedule 40 3/4 inch aluminum pipe, kinked that too, so I tried on another piece of aluminum but packed with sand, also kinked, I was pretty pissed off, so I figured I'd try on a bigger peice, filled it with sand packed it. Started to bend and the pipe cracked. I was furious at this point, so I cut another piece ANEELED it, packed it with sand, started bending and then success.
Reply:Once I found the secret it was a success every single time. Almost didn't have any waste