Prices for rebuilding work

[harvey]

Parts and materials, like popcorn, used to be inexpensive. In the case of
popcorn, Orville changed all that. I don't know what happened in our corner
of the world.

Consider, for example, expendable materials alone. Epoxy and CA glue must
be fresh, should be on hand (if only for contingencies), and are considered
expendable whether they're ever used or not (due to shelf life). TFL50,
McLube and Protek aren't exactly cheap. Consider how many "shots" or
applications are available from a bottle, can, etc., before they must be
replenished. One may as well buy gold as center pins today, and yet they
are a necessary expendable material. These are only surface references, and
don't include the -real- invisible stuff... acetone, alcohol and other
solvents, removers, and magic elixirs. The list goes on, and as best I can
determine, there is no "bottom" to the list. I don't (yet) know the correct
answers, but considering such things can help determine per-job costs of a
particular item.

If this micro-management theme is continued far enough, it becomes evident
that it costs more to be in this field than it once did, and, the more
involved one becomes, those costs often rise disproportionately. An example
in the extreme: it takes a long time to amortize the equipment used in
replacing soundboards, since so much of the equipment is single function.
To tool up for soundboards and do one board per year puts this element of
rebuilding more in the learning or hobbyist realm when equipment costs are
factored in. It's one of those areas where the equipment must be "kept
busy" to pay for itself.

Back to a more realistic example. There was a time I included not only
expendable materials but small parts in my estimates. My attitude was that
of looking at labor intensity rather than the material costs, and, figuring
out all the minutia was simply too labor intensive. For instance, in grand
action reconditioning, the cost of pack of let-off or balance rail
punchings, then or now, was/is no big deal in the overall picture. But when
-all- these little things are considered, the bottom line in costs quickly
goes up, and the net income may well go down. For this reason, I find I can
no longer be so cavalier in my attitude... or my generosity. Just before
this thread came up, I had begun detailing the costs of the "little stuff"
used in various procedures. I'm doing this to get a more realistic picture
of the cost of doing (this type) of business.



At 09:57 AM 10/3/99 -0400, Brian wrote:
[cut]
>Interesting idea, letting the dealer supply the parts / supplies.  I'll give
>that one some thought.
[cut]

Jim Harvey, RPT
Greenwood, SC
harvey@greenwood.net
________________________
 -- someone who's been in the field too long.