Need your help determining what to charge. A gent wants me to weld up 4 G&H mounting plates. That's welding the screw holes & taper pin holes and filling in any contour on the back. Then machining back to flat.

Any idea of a fair price would be?

Thx.

Z1r,

Sounds like a "by the hour" job to me. JMPO!

He'll squack no matter what, so have at it.

LD

Mike,

It might be cheaper, not to mention quicker, to make him some flat plates!

We're trading. He's got some juicey mauser bits but I'm trying to determine a fair estimate for the labor. Since I don't do this for a living yet, I don't have an hourly rate. Besides, I'm slow, lol. I'm thinking $40 per.

Honestly, welding on bolts handles is much easier.

Time + Material not to exceed a set price. Set the price that is comfortable for you.
Now he has a budget that he knows wont go over that amount, but might also save him some money.

How long do you think it will take you? 2-3 hrs a piece in total factoring in some setup time and materials too.

One thing to think about is what do you value your time at? My local 'smith quoted me $65/hr for his time once. How much do you normally charge for a bolt handle job and how would that compare to this?

I think too perhaps this begs the question: are you doing this for a friend, aquaintance, or purely business?

Take care amigo,

Z1r, this may be a stupid question so forgive me if it is, but would it be quicker and maybe better to scew in some relatively soft screws, cut them off just long and peen them flush? Then all you have to do is a little prep and reblue. You could tap the tapered hole and do the same. - I saw this as a hint to fill in scope base holes one time...............DJ

DJ,

Not a stupid question.
Tthe holes are rather weaveresque. No threads but they do have a counterbore to fit the screw heads. Be they fillister style or beveled.

So, You fill them in, after removing the bluing and weld. These are straight forward. The taper pin holes are another matter. These you have to counterbore so you can get a good weld at the base. This is all to address the side that is visible. Next, you flip the mount over and address the rear side. Some of the plates have been contoured to match the curved receiver of say a M98 mauser. Since each plate is fitted to a receiver I was asked to fill in this contour and make it flush/flat again.

Seems simple until you gave to tackle it. Rick0311 is almost right in that it is almost faster/easier to make new ones except for the curved radius machined into them.

It has been a great learning experience and the G&H mounts are really neat.

“Seems simple until you gave to tackle it. Rick0311 is almost right in that it is almost faster/easier to make new ones except for the curved radius machined into them.

It has been a great learning experience and the G&H mounts are really neat.“

Mike, I’m confused. I thought the guy wanted you to fill in the radius and make it flat????

I just ordered a G&H side mount for my 03 project. Have a great little 2.75x Unertl scope for it as well as a Lyman 48.

Rick,

There are two radii. One on the front just under the "shelf" where the flat plate transitions to the dovetail where the ring mount attaches. the other is on the rear where the plate has been machined to match the contour of the receiver. It is the rear radius I was asked to fill in and return to flat.

The G&H mount is pretty neat. I am trading for a Similar German mount. The G&H he has is 7/8" while the German is 26mm.

Okay, now I understand. I thought the guy just wanted a flat plate that would accept the quick release portion.

You might consider what DJ suggested, if you anneal the tapered pins you could cut them off and peen them flush to the surface to plug their holes.

The Echo side mounts are even neater and I’m still trying to find one...or a Jaeger.

Rick,

One of each of those mounts were for sale on EBAy last week. The echo was new in box and went cheap no one, including me, knew what they were.

You can buy a plain base from G&H for $100, probably less if you are a shop or need 4 of them, so you will have to set your price accordingly.

The Echo’s are a bit smaller and trimmer and have better lines than the G&H. Noske also made a really nice side mount.

quote:

Originally posted by KurtC:
You can buy a plain base from G&H for $100, probably less if you are a shop or need 4 of them, so you will have to set your price accordingly.

Kurt, very true but then agan G&H I'm sure doesn't work on the barter system. I think I'll stick to my $40 per plate notion. Thanks for the info.