Was I Overcharged for Machine work?

[Shaftski]

you could have gone cheaper on labor but then also deal with shipping both ways, where the item could get lost forever. the price you paid is worth the peace of mind if it's a sentimental or rare part IMO, i would have paid even a little more if they were rare parts to guarantee their safety.

[Agglet]

That seems more than fair. I do HVAC work and I think a lot of people are used to Walmart prices and Amazon shipping and don't understand how much work something that seems small can really be. I recently had a customer that was building a new house decide she wanted the mechanical room moved from the corner 20' to the middle of the basement. No big deal right? The venting had to be changed, the gas piping had to be redone, new wiring had to be pulled, the custom sheet metal for the ductwork had to be scrapped and an entirely new design drawn up. Naturally she was pissed that there was an added cost and delay for this sort of thing because it was just moving the furnace 20'.

[Drcemento]

I get it - I run custom shop myself building high end precast concrete pieces which involves multiple specialties - woodworking, cast rubber, resin, fiberglass foam - just to get a mold made that you then have cast and know the in's and outs of concrete and concrete finishes- nothing about what we do is easy or cheap. we are lucky - we're in the Napa valley we get what we are worth - the only real enemy is myself when it comes to charging correctly for a job. there are more like me all over the states and they are brimming with skill and enthusiasm, but are often capped by a market that just does not value the skill involved, and these guys still do it cause they love it but don't make the living they should.

I've had many parts machined on other peoples dime over the years and have gained an appreciation for the skill, tools and time involved. making one of anything is insanely expensive. I would say that dude was quite fair. His concept of easy and quick in relation to your job was probably true in his mind - he's just looking at it differently than you and for him $340 bucks is beer money in the machine shop world.

my approach to the paintball projects I want to do is to slowly start acquiring the skills and things I need to start doing all the mods I want to do. my shop needs a sweet drill press! business expense! lathe is next i think....

thank your lucky stars for kooky lone wolfs like Doc willing to do the paintball gods work - i aspire to be him in a few years. get rid of annoying soul sucking employees and build what I please. hopefully you all can benefit from me someday.. it won't be super cheep but i'll do it cause i love it.

[Tinman74]

Also an hvac guy! Spot on

[Trbo323]

The hourly rate feels right, I'm surprised how long that work took him though. You are not asking for milling, drilling and tapping

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[shooter311]

Yeah, that was my feeling. I was happy with the hourly rate. I was just surprised they spent almost a whole day on it. I assume they used CNC machines and stuff while I was thinking they would just use a drill press and tap. Everything was done perfect and I paid for it. I am not upset in any way, it was just shocking because in my mind it was going to be less than half that.

[DocsMachine]

Er, yes, it was all three on the backblock.

First, mill a channel, drill and tap two holes, mill a bar to fit in that channel, drill and countersink. That's after you figure out where everything is supposed to go, where you can get away with drilling said holes, etc.

Doc.

[Trbo323]

Er, yes, it was all three on the backblock.

First, mill a channel, drill and tap two holes, mill a bar to fit in that channel, drill and countersink. That's after you figure out where everything is supposed to go, where you can get away with drilling said holes, etc.

Doc.

Ok, admittedly I didn't realize there was a channel being milled in there

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[Tarsun2]

looks nice though.
i would have used a cordless drill and a set of harbor freight taps... had the drill bit wonder, break a tap, destroy the part and scrap the project.

[shooter311]

That was my feelings exactly. I really feel like I could have done this myself (not nearly as well as they did). However, If I messed up as far as I am concerned all of these parts are irreplaceable.

Micro back block
Sterling Trigger frame
90s Sterling body

The hammer wouldn't have been a big deal, but that was the one part that was stainless steel and not aluminum, so I was mostly wondering if that would work.

[Tarsun2]

it might have been a shock to your system but in the end, i think you did good. i think you made the right choice.
its better it worked out like this tbh. if he gave you the price upfront, you might have been more inclined to tackle it yourself with less than stellar results.

still good that you posted this too. now others can gauge the cost of custom mill work.