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Guy approached me to make an urn for his daughters horse. Asked what he wanted for wood. Segmented and turned or flat work. Horse was roughly 2200 lbs. He saw a couple of my burls and hinted at that. I told him no to that. He asked me for segmented price told him $1000. Asked about flat work, told him $500 and if a friend wood burned images on either one another $350..
He got a little huffy about my prices. Told him time and size was the big factor and I didn't care if I made him one or not.
He was upset and said I'll find someone else with better prices and probably better work. Fine by me wasn't to interested in doing it in the first place. Wife was surprised I didn't tell him a backhoe would be cheaper or the dog food plant needed raw stock. People cop an attitude on me and my mouth tends to run.
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(06-16-2023, 10:59 AM)gear jammer Wrote: Horse was roughly 2200 llbs.
He asked me for segmented price told him $1000.
He was upset and said I'll find someone else with better prices and probably better work.
According to our friend Google, the ashes for a 2,200 lb horse will fill about 10 gallons. That's a BIG urn!
For a segmented walnut or maple that large with only a natural finish, I think you rather badly under-bid that job. With that guy's attitude, you dodged not only a bullet but a cannon shell. Good for you.
We do segmented turning, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.
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Where are they going to get this horse cremated?
They think an urn is expensive - wait until they get the estimate from the crematorium.
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Holy cow!! I was asked by a friend to make one for himself--he's ~250ish. I was thinking that wass going to be a big urn. Not so much in comparison. You did yourself a favor by not getting involved, some clients just aren't worth the headache.
Gary
I've only had one...in dog beers.
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Thanks. I did not know it would have to be that big. I was guessing a 5 or 6 gal pail size. 10 gal. would have been tough.
He had seen one I made several years ago for a very close friend and his wife. They wanted to be together, had been married 62 years. He gave me a very nice birdseye maple burl to make a segmented urn out of. It was huge, I couldn't lift it alone. Not many voids and was real fun to work. It held a little over 3 one gallon jugs of soybeans when I got it done.
Like you said I dodged a bullet and probably a lot of grief not making it.
Thanks again.
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(06-16-2023, 10:59 AM)gear jammer Wrote: People cop an attitude on me and my mouth tends to run.
i found it better for a customer to cop an attitude then to underbid a job and i have an attitude while doing the work.
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(06-19-2023, 06:39 AM)tomsteve Wrote: i found it better for a customer to cop an attitude then to underbid a job and i have an attitude while doing the work.
Good attitude!
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06-21-2023, 08:27 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-22-2023, 07:57 AM by packerguy®.)
There are lots of places that handle horses. I make horse urns for a few of them...basically 12" square.
If he's upset about your prices...he hasn't looked around
I made one years back for a famous Belgen that was close to that size....was like 12x24x12. Huge urn.
Once Favre hangs it up though, it years of cellar dwelling for the Pack. (Geoff 12-18-07)
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(06-16-2023, 10:59 AM)gear jammer Wrote: Guy approached me to make an urn for his daughters horse. Asked what he wanted for wood. Segmented and turned or flat work. Horse was roughly 2200 lbs. He saw a couple of my burls and hinted at that. I told him no to that. He asked me for segmented price told him $1000. Asked about flat work, told him $500 and if a friend wood burned images on either one another $350..
He got a little huffy about my prices. Told him time and size was the big factor and I didn't care if I made him one or not.
He was upset and said I'll find someone else with better prices and probably better work. Fine by me wasn't to interested in doing it in the first place. Wife was surprised I didn't tell him a backhoe would be cheaper or the dog food plant needed raw stock. People cop an attitude on me and my mouth tends to run.
Good thing he is not a friend who you would have to dump for being stupid and cheap. Burl would be 3x the price and normal urns for people are $250 and up with nothing special. If he does come back to have you make it tell him you are not interested.
As of this time I am not teaching vets to turn. Also please do not send any items to me without prior notification. Thank You Everyone.
It is always the right time, to do the right thing.
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Take a few pallets,nail'em together, paint 'em black, charge $2000 and you're good to go.
"Hi Yo Silver, bye bye!"
GM
The only tool I have is a lathe. Everything else is an accessory.
