What We Discussed During the Consultation

Man, you gotta know you're doing something right when you get that phone call saying, "We have something we'd like to have you take a look at."
In this case the Phoenix works ok but the pallelts need to be uniform and square in order to work properly. every now and then a pallot binds if it has been repaired or has a doulbe stringer, we need about 3/4" more clearence.
Ahh #item number one. Clearence where? Between the plates?, Yup.
That means we need to split the frame and insert tubular inserts to stretch it.





















Every thing will need to be unassembled, and I wonder if there will be enough slack in the wiring and hydrolic lines to accomodate the extra width in the machine? We can take care of that if we have to, they reply.I have concerns my welder might not be hot enought with your 15Amp 110volt circuits I would have to pick up the machine and take it home on my trailer to do the work on my 25 Amp circuit at home? I would ask for 2 weeks just in case I encounter problems. hmm... no response?























What about these sensors? they will be off set when I stretch the frame, and the bolt that the pushbar rests on will be right at the end of the belt drive? "We'll take care of the sensor and the top of the tube will need to have the bolts offset by about an 1 1/2"
Ahh,#item number two. 1 1/2" offset.
Will a welded bolt on 2X4X1/4" be ok? cool!























This is where the boards slip under and break when the forks lift the pallet. Ahh #item number 3, add 3/16"X1"X4" at 4 places, hmm. scribble that down too!
"Can you see where we we added door strip to cushion the stop? It was supposed to hold back the top plate but it compresses, so now we want to add adjustible tabs w/ 3/8" 16 thread bolts.
Ahh, #item number 4, 1/2" tabs. I have those handy too!
Lenny, they said, give us an estimate with your price and we take a look at it and go from there, OK? I sure thing I can do this, Its right up my alley!
Well to end this episode, I went home and started to look up what I needed to know about writing up a legitimate estimaate and you can look that up 2 articles below this one in my blog.
As it worked out this time they responded with "What if we rent the welder w/ a generator and you do the work here in the plant?" I told them thats $240 a week and I doubt I would actually need it 2 days but sure as long as I can work there I won't have to heat my shop, and You have fork trucks! how could I say no?

The Phoenix, Make it 1 Inch Bigger, the prelude

Here at the hillbilly handyman outpost we dreamed of dong jobs like this for years while we stood at our production machines and thought,
"I can do that!"

The workers call this machine the Phoenix, and I had the privelege of stretching it 1 inch this week.

My goal is to document some of the ins and outs of the job, not only to impress any potential employers out there , but because I love working my craft and expanding my skills.

That includes the proffessional ones too. Up until now the projects for this company were pretty small, something you can do at home if you have the basic tools and some skill.

This machine lifts a pallet in metered increments so the horizontal push bar can move stacks of labels called "logs" across an airboard and onto a conveyer located on the left side of the machine, where they will be cut into bundles.

Man this is a very ergonomic machine! Look at the work that is automated. It eliminates all the bending and picking up.

The head of the maintence dept. told me his specialy built machine has a problem. It was the prototype of the design.


Unfortunately operators shift the loads on the pallets and on occassion an expensive "airboard get broken. He tells me, "we can't be breaking $10,000.00 worth every year!"

These 3 pictures are just to valadate my boasting on twitter, you know. A little before , during , and after for my followers who whant to know a little more.

Elements of the Job Estimate

I'm not going pretend to be a lawyer and explain why you need to have one in legal-speak, today I'm going to talk about just sitting down at your computer and creating one from scratch, right on Word. My thinking is to make a template that you can print a few copies and keep them on hand.

You can also use the templates provided by word that are, fill in the blank, put your logo here, and come in a variety of colors, some redesigned template could look pretty custom if you are retailer. They work great when you have a list of standard items, but to me they are worthless when you start listing individual tasks for custom welding services.

What I decided to do for my situation was to simplify to the basics. What do you really need to create a job estimate?

Your company name, address, phone...eg

A description of the service needed.

A description of the service to be provided.

An estimate of cost to the customer, and the time it will take to complete the project.

A couple of lines for the signatures and dates.

What I did was to take my cues from the "Quote" templates I scouted out earlier. A simple centered "Job Estimate" header including All my company contact information and an email link, hit enter.
Click paragraph left and enter down a few lines. Type Customer Name,.
Below that I typed Project Description, and hit enter repeatedly until approximately 1/4 of the page is blank. this gives you plenty of room to pencil in details like a mechanic would if he were working on a car.

The next little line is "Description of services rendered," and again enter down an inch or two. then completion date and below that cost to customer, space across the same line and type, total $___.__

Below that line I typed a little good faith statement and thank you for your patronage kind of short paragraph and then then the signatures lines.

In just a little bit of time you have an important document that protects you as well as your customer. Its just good business to have an agreement in writing.

Oh boy, a new project!

Where do ya actually start to build a business? the short answer is in your mind. You create a concept, maybe something like this. I have skills and tools, hmm... I can sell my services. Every now and then someone shows up with something they need welded or fixed and I end up helping them for a little bit of my time if it is a complex project, but allot of the favors I perform are of the $20.00 bill variety because friends help friend any ways in most cases.

Now lets assume you've done your home work, learned and mastered the skills of your trade but now you wish to start on the next level. You want to build your business to be at self sustaining levels, more money coming in than going out.

You need to have some basic job estimating skills, mix in a little bit of negotiation skills,with a thorough understanding of the customers desires,in order to become competitive. This is what I will discuss Today.

Way back when This business just started I too struggled with what is a good price to charge for my services! My very first job went something like this, You purchase the materials needed for the project, I will do what it takes to get it done for Monday. That's what I said that Thursday afternoon prior.

Friday morning, I Fuel up the truck and hook up the trailer to fetch the prepaid resources, in this case 25- 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" angle iron 3/16 " and bring it to my shop. Turned out the truck blew the L. front break line thanks to Wisconsin's infamous road salt on that trip.
So by the afternoon of the first day I was down $25 for gas and another $25 for break line & fluid, hmm. rough start hey?
I still had to cut the steel for 28 custom dimensions for every cabinet in the factory, about half way through that the band saw broke the blade and I could not get a another until Ace Hardware opened the next morning at 8:00 AM.
With my band saw being down and me in a time crunch, I dig out the De Walt grinder with a 7" flush cut cut off wheel and start the notching operation which needed to be done prior to welding.

Trust me when I tell you an artist is his own worst critic, Not every single cut was as accurate as the band saw cuts but in my case they were close enough to fall with in tolerance. The industry standard is usually +/- 1/16" which equates to 1/8" maximum discrepancy allowance. Say when you measure for square, 1 dimension is 35 1/2" and the other is 35 5/8" It passes by industry standards, whew! It only takes one piece to throw your dimensions of a little, Accuracy at the band saw goes a long way in the uniformity of the product.

When I turned off the lights in the shop for the night, is was about 11:30 pm, I had 7 of the 28 custom pedestals complete. My plan originally, was to have it all cut to length and half of the notching complete. Total time spent that day 16 hours of my time! hmm... digging out that grinder and forging ahead where I could definitely paid off!

Saturday's start time was delayed until the band saw blades were delivered via my wife's weekly grocery run, but went on without any incident and good progress was achieved because while I had down time I fixed the breaks that morning and I still had 10 tacked up and ready to weld up on Sunday. When the project was complete I had invested close to 53+ hours of my time that weekend, and $90.00 of my money to complete the job.

How do you reconcile the cost of creating your own job? hmm.. that's what I thought too. You see I had this concept developed from my experience with seeing how other entrepreneurs charged for their services. The general theme of what I have been told is the the cost of the materials x 2 should equal your pay from which you cover your expenses.

I've got to tell you, I ran the numbers and weigh them against my time and then it hits me like a brick in the head. I had been thinking like a factory welder. I needed to think like a factory owner. Time management of all the processes involved must be considered. Trust me on this one. The fact that You can take the raw materials and perform every single operation involved to create your project that you intend to sell for a profit must include a good solid estimate of time required.

On this first job, I broke it down like this, My target price per pedestal was around $50.00 a piece roughly double the cost of materials and managed to squeeze my wages into that window. I charged the company for my labor and resources at a rate of $27.50 a piece for 28, custom pieces which worked out to roughly $13 70 /hr but I picked up a $20.00 delivery fee and now I charge a modest $35.00 consultation fee to sweeten the pie a little bit.
I would not weld in a factory for that little, but the feeling of cutting your teeth in your own business and being your own boss is priceless, and drives me forward! In Wisconsin, law mandates that you must provide your customer a written job estimate, hmm ... makes sense if you want to become a professional.

In future posts I will discuss the Job estimate in a little more detail.

Stainless Steel Divider Board Cart (how to tips)

OK I'm sorry the pictures are indexed from the very beginning, I am assuming you already know about cutting and layout and the project needed to be submitted before I had learned my way around last years Christmas Camera.

Actually I was also working on modifying those 14 tables to a heigth of 39" which is in fact, when I got the idea of documenting some "Hillbilly Handy Man Tips".

Let catch you up to where these photos begin.

• A local company was about to be audited by the American Baker's Institution, to become certified vendors for "food labels". The label printers thought some stainless steel would seal the deal if I could manage the price to work within the company's budget.


• I drew up some plans and priced the stainless steel on the condition they were providing casters required, 2 swivel, and 2 fixed. We sat down and discussed the project with a company Representative, a dept. head and myself, the contractor.


• I offered my estimate of the cost and what I expected to get paid for my time and we all agreed.


• I purchased the steel, cut and miter cut the steel and began welding away. In order to replicate 6 identical carts I set up a simple fixture on a steel table top, that allows me to "Tac" weld the base and the rails that support the divider boards. In this series It has been welded inside and outside, then ground flush. Before I weld the caster pad in place, I will weld and grind flush again after I drill the bolt clearance holes in the bottom so there are no burrs.
  

Last month I posted a few pictures of the second of three in Stainless Steel.

The first picture, is another type of template that you can use if you want to transfer dimensions accurately. This series of photos will show you how it works.

The caster pad is 3/8" thick X 3" wide flat stock 4" long. In this case you need 4 per cart. So, step one, cut 5 to the same length knowing that the first will be the template for the rest.
By clamping the template in place you can then use your transfer punch to nail the exact center of each hole. Then simply drill a pilot hole or use a carbide step drill bit for a large enough hole to allow clearance for a bolt to clear the thickness of the flat stock (3/8")

Here I will use a 1/2" drill because the bolts are 5/16 X 18 tpi (threads per inch) x 3/4".

The pads are pre-drilled and taped, so now just tac and weld in place.


While was working on this project the company called and we discussed some work in the label factory's warehouse, repairing the damaged shelving supports to enhance structural integrity and safety. During these talks I was asked to search for my own caster vendor because the new 3 million dollar do it all in one machine is expected to take up most of their time and resources for a while this spring.

Its a shame that here in paper country just south of Green Bay and the fox valley they buy a machine from Spain! But I digress! I can't say enough for E.R. Wagner Manufacturing Co. They make every conceivable kind of caster you may ever want! They are local for me, and beside I have welded their casters for another subcontractor like myself. While I was learning my way around their web page I found these caster on the "$ Hot Deals $" page and by golly I got immediate assistance and next day delivery right to my front door! I can't say thank you enough for that kind of service, seriously! here is a link just in case you may need some casters yourself. http://www.erwagner.com/casterswheels/

As I had made my choice because the hole patters were identical between the swivel and the fixed casters I was so pleased to find little details I liked. The best idea I saw was to make one set of holes in the caster slightly larger than the other in case you or your drill drift off the proverbial mark they've got you covered! Look a little closer look at picture below, if you click on the picture Blogger will enlarge it to full screen . Yes they did provide the first set for trial purposes, and I believe I'll be buying 48 more soon!

Success in 10 Steps

Hi Network Marketing Friends,
In today's market, you cannot build a long-term successful Network Marketing business by selling the opportunity. Even if you are a superstar salesperson, the fact is - over 90% of everyone else is not. They hate sales. And they will not be able to sell the opportunity, no matter how much sales training and "Convention Hype!" or motivational courses you may give them.
So what happens? hmm...? The answer is, they will disappear.
"Success In 10 Steps" solves that problem. When you offer the e-book, your target "frustrated network marketers" will download it. Many will see themselves and their own story in the book, and they will want to talk about it.
It's easy to build relationships with the people who identify with this book. No selling necessary. As you build relationships, you build your network. Bring value into their lives, and some of them will want to work with you. Then just tell them their options & let them decide.
To build your own big income in M-L-M, the people you sponsor will need a constant stream of hot pr0spects. I can help you do that for them, and for yourself. For details, see my profile and download your FREE e-book.
http://sta.rtup.biz/profile/LenWenzlick

To Your Success,
hillbilly717

Ask your political doctor fix to this next cycle!

hmm. been here more and more about the "ol' Cloward-Piven Strategy", 3 links later I found this. It looks like enought to write a book on the subject, hmmm, probaly worth a bookmark.

in reference to: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6967 (view on Google Sidewiki)

Here's What's Happening South of the WI Border

Hello Tea Party...

Happy New Year. Its 2010 and clearly things are shaping up for a season of making our voice heard. Thus far a number of key Democratic Senators and Congressmen have decided not to run in their home states. Is that because of the enormous push back by the 10 million plus Tea Partiers across the nation over this past year? Perhaps. But rest assured those Democrats to include one of the key Architects of the Credit Banking Crisis Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut are not leaving without a plan. Rest assured they have fresh democratic candidates without the stain of various levels of corruption waiting in the wings and waiting for their home states to elect them. Rest assured Blue States will likely elect blue/democratic candidates unless the grassroots of the Tea Parties mount an enormous effort at push back to boot them out of office as we all planned to do when we had our first Tea Party.

Last year at this time we were awaiting the Inauguration of the new President. After 8 years of shell shock during the Bush Presidency conservatives were feeling quite like the abused wife unable to get away and stuck in the cycle of abuse. Bush was no Conservative and rode RINO for most of his presidency on domestic policy and in every venue the left took advantage of Bush's supposed credentials to bash conservatives by abusing Bush. Bashing Bush was really proxy for abusing all conservatives for those 8 years. Bush handled it well by caving on every left wing liberal domestic agenda item including taxes by not passing comprehensive tax reform. And now the Bush Tax cuts will no longer apply to any of us when we file this year and we will all see higher taxes because Obama has let them expire.

Obama...what can I say? After all he has done in this past year if you are not irate, angry, incensed, ready to make a real and true change then I am afraid we are lost. Healthcare. Cap and Trade. Trillion Dollar Bailouts. Decreased National Security. Gitmo North. Broken Pledges and promises. Locally, Rockford has the highest unemployment rate in the state and one of the highest in the country. One of the highest crime rates. Property taxes out of control. Schools out of control. Local government continuing to spend like drunken sailors. TAXES are not going away or going down folks. They are going UP!!!

Folks this stuff does matter. When people minimize the impact of our elected leaders on our lives they truly exercise a level of ignorance unprecedented in the world. On January 16th at Memorial Hall RockfordTeaParty will conduct a Voter SPEAKOUT to help inform all of Rockford which candidates are worth supporting. I know many of you reading this email have yet to participate in many of the numerous events the RockfordTeaParty has held throughout this last year and in large part it is because you are Patriots that exercise your Patriotism when it counts and live your lives peacefully and quietly until the time comes to make a difference. This is the time to make a difference! This is the moment to act!

On February 2nd the Illinois Primary takes place and thats an exercise that counts. Voting to place good conservative fiscally responsible, limited government, limited taxation candidates on the November Ballot is an exercise in Patriotism that counts. It is the culmination of a year of pushing back against a rogue, out of control constitutionally ignorant government. I am asking you to please attend the RockfordTeaParty Voter SPEAKOUT as I believe it is the most important event of the entire Tea Party existence. I am also asking you to go and vote in the Primary on Feb. 2nd to give true conservative candidates a real chance at winning in Illinois in November. We cannot let up. We cannot back down. We cannot fade away. We must stand up and use our VOTE as the instrument of REVOLUTION.

Your feedback is welcome!!!
Thank You
David HaleDirector, RockfordTeaParty
To reply to this message, follow this link:http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1546845214&k=ZZAZQZRYTZTF6BD1Q1X4S4WWP4IB424C4WEUG&oid=1317797630954

Obama's Citizenship in ???

VERY QUIETLY, OBAMA'S CITIZENSHIP CASE REACHES THE SUPREME COURT>AP- WASHINGTON D.C. - In a move certain to fuel the debate over Obama's qualifications for the presidency, the group "Americans for Freedom of Information" has Released copies of President Obama's college transcripts from Occidental College. Released today, the transcript school indicates that Obama, under the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia as an undergraduate. The transcript was released by Occidental College in compliance with a court order in a suit brought by the group in the Superior Court of California. The transcript shows that Obama (Soetoro) applied for financial aid and was awarded a fellowship for foreign students from the Fulbright Foundation Scholarship program.

To qualify, for the scholarship, a student must claim foreign citizenship. This document would seem to provide the smoking gun that many of Obama's detractors have been seeking. Along with the evidence that he was first born in Kenya and there is no record of him ever applying for US citizenship, this is looking pretty grim. The news has created a firestorm at the White House as the release casts increasing doubt about Obama's legitimacy and qualification to serve as President.

When reached for comment in London , where he has been in meetings with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Obama smiled but refused comment on the issue.

Britain 's Daily Mail has also carried the story in a front-page article titled, "Obama Eligibility Questioned," leading some to speculate that the story may overshadow economic issues on Obama's first official visit to the U.K. In a related matter, under growing pressure from several groups,

Justice Antonin Scalia announced that the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear arguments concerning Obama's legal eligibility to serve as President in a case brought by Leo Donofrio of New Jersey. This lawsuit claims Obama's dual citizenship disqualified him from serving as president.

Donofrio's case is just one of 18 suits brought by citizens demanding proof of Obama's citizenship or qualification to serve as president.

Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation has released the results of their investigation of Obama's campaign spending. This study estimatesthat Obama has spent upwards of $950,000 in campaign funds in the past year with eleven law firms in 12 states for legal resources to block disclosure of any of his personal records. Mr. Kreep indicated that the investigation is still ongoing but, that the final report will be provided to the U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder. Mr. Holder has refused to comment on the matter.

LET OTHER FOLKS KNOW THIS NEWS, THE MEDIA WON'T!

Subject: RE: Issue of Passport?

While I've little interest in getting in the middle of the Obama birth issue, Paul Hollrah over at FSM did so yesterday and believes the issue can be resolved by Obama answering one simple question: What passport did he use when he was shuttling between New York, Jakarta , and Karachi ? So how did a young man who arrived in New York in early June 1981, without the price of a hotel room in his pocket, suddenly come up with the price of a round-the-world trip just a month later? And once he was on a plane, huttling between New York, Jakarta , and Karachi , what passport was he offering when he passed through Customs and Immigration?The American people not only deserve to have answers to these questions, they must have answers. It makes the debate over Obama's citizenship a rather short and simple one.

Q: Did he travel to Pakistan in 1981, at age 20?

A: Yes, by his own admission.

Q: What passport did he travel under?

A: There are only three possibilities.1) He traveled with a U.S. Passport, 2) He traveled with a British passport, or 3) He traveled with an Indonesian passport.

Q: Is it possible that Obama traveled with a U.S. Passport in 1981?

A: No.. It is not possible.

Pakistan was on the U.S. State Department's "no travel" list in 1981.Conclusion: When Obama went to Pakistan in 1981 he was traveling either with a British passport or an Indonesian passport. If he were traveling with a British passport that would provide proof that he was born in Kenya on August 4, 1961, not in Hawaii as he claims.

And if he were traveling with an Indonesian passport that would tend to prove that he relinquished whatever previous citizenship he held, British or American, prior to being adopted by his Indonesian step-father in 1967.

Whatever the truth of the matter, the American people need to know how he managed to become a "natural born" American citizen between 1981 and 2008.

Given the destructive nature of his plans for America, as illustrated by his speech before Congress and the disastrous spending plan he has presented to Congress, the sooner we learn the truth of all this, the better.

If you Don't care that Your President is not a natural born Citizen and in Violation of the Constitution, then Delete this and go into your cocoon.

If you do care then Forward this to everyone in your address book.

Could this be the business of the future?

Workin' in her passion, she honors her parents, I am reminded that as we look for ways to rebuild America from this train wreak we're in, we should be looking at folks like these. Hmm... maybe an endowment from the Arts!
thanks to my friends at WelderWorld!

in reference to: Welder honors her Mother & Father» Abilene Reporter News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Toilet bowl 2010

Hustisford, Wisc. look south down Main St. What brings these folks out in the cold this morning? hmm...Winter Festivities!

in reference to: http://lensoutpost.blogspot.com/ (view on Google Sidewiki)

Toilet Bowl Parade 2010

Sometimes ya gotta take a little time out and vent, we all do every now and then. Although its not an official Tea Party or any thing like that, it is a chance to get out and enjoy yourself, hear in Hustisford, Wisc. It's the annual "Toilet Bowl" The parade is followed by the ToiletBowl Football game at Fireman's park! I took about 30 some odd pictures of this year's event, and thought I would post them in this blog of mine to share with ya.

Sure the polar Bears can plunge into Lake Michigan if they want to, I just refuse to entertain the idea of gettin wet in these temperatures, Burr... Minont N. Dakota is -21% this mornin, hmm...







Jan. 01, 2010 : 11:55 AM


Folks, its about 10% F here in town,
I see some people standing 'round, hmm...


Maybe its a small town USA kinda thing, ya know, real locals, with real families and stories of what is the real American Adventure!


By that, I mean surviving these chaotic times we live in these days, get it? Think about it.
When the hammer falls, and the current political mess is truly exposed for what it is, Some folks could be angry and they might be throwin bricks!, hmm...



There is somewhat of a relief effort goin on here though. We throw the relatively harmless and ecofriendly Toilet Paper at those who volunteer to be targets.

Its all in fun and we understand that by volunteering to be the target, nothing personal, but your gonna get pelted with the ol' wedgee - wipe.

Oh yeah , you are allowed to throw it back! that's what makes it fun!

As the clock ticks down to 12 O'clock, the crowd welcomes in the New Years by tossin the ol' wonder wipe back and forth along the main street parade route in a gesture of sure it can be a crappy life if you let it, but here we say clean up your act, and here's a little something to help ya in your time of need!

Ha ha ha, once again, it's nothin personal, don't spill the 12 ounce' rs ok?

Extreme 4X4, you'll hear these boys playin in the mud this spring miles away on down the road!Next year, maybe I'll build somethin like one of these and document it on this blog, I have most of what I need, hmm.... except a beer can that Big! hee hee..


Ah, yes the new owners of the ol' grocery mart are sportin their Lucky Taco fortune cookies with a flair! I'm a diggin the sombrero thing on top.

Hot seats sponsored for the government! ha ha hmm... maybe?

This guy, got a big ol' V-8 in his Mighty Massey, he used to have a small engine repair shop up the block till it closed, last spring! Still its good to see him, Happy New Year Bob!