How long do you tell them it takes?


petersb

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For anyone that has ever been paid to make a piece for someone, how long do you tell them it will take you?

I know that there are a bazillion variables out there to affect the amount of time that it would take to complete a project, so I am just trying to get a "feel" for approximate times till completion.

You can use your own example project to give a time estimate, or you can use this project, and estimate the time for you to complete it.

Project: (I am building this project with my son right now so I know how long it taking me! ;) )

Steamer trunk out of mahogany. dovetail joinery for the box (hand cut). curved top. removable tray on the inside. size 36" long, 18" wide, 23" tall.

oil base poly finish (satin)

I am making this from one of Norms plans, but you won't have a plan because this is a custom piece that someone is wanting to pay you to build for them.

This is my example but if you have others, it's all good too.

Whenever I go to do a project and I estimate how much time it will take me, I have to double it, and I still go over that!

Thanks

Here is what I am making to give you an the idea of the project that I tried to describe to you.

http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct.php?0203

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Here's the rule of thumb I learned a long time ago...

Think how long it'll take if everything goes smoothly.

Double that.

And then use the next larger unit.

So, if you think it'll take you two days if everything goes as expected, tell them four weeks.

Six hours? Tell them 12 days. "This'll just take a minute!" Two hours.

This works surprisingly well for inexperienced people.

The real way to to learn how to do time estimates is to practice. That means, before you do any project, from cleaning up your shop to the Guild-Build chest of drawers, you estimate how many hours it will take you and the date/time it will be finished. Write it down. Then, when you finish the project you compare reality to your estimate, and think about why your estimate was off. Do that enough times and you start to get good at it.

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...The real way to to learn how to do time estimates is to practice. That means, before you do any project, from cleaning up your shop to the Guild-Build chest of drawers, you estimate how many hours it will take you and the date/time it will be finished. Write it down. Then, when you finish the project you compare reality to your estimate, and think about why your estimate was off. Do that enough times and you start to get good at it.

There's an app for iPhone (there had to be, right?) called "Pug" that is for small businesses that let you set up multiple projects and steps and run timers for each of them. I've gotten into the habit of setting up an entry for each operation I do - milling, cutting, sanding, finishing, etc - and then timing them. It gives me a lot of good info on where my time is going and definitely helps estimating.

It'll even do expenses and reports and all that, but right now I'm just using it for the timers. The biggest trick is just to remember to clock in and out of it. It helped me find some real blind spots I had.

And yeah, I think that's the worst name for a program I've heard in a long time.

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