A guy at work has offered me $2,000 to build him a custom pool table (ala
Brunswick) I agreed, except that he is on his own for the slate top and
bumpers.

Did I do a bad thing? (no signatures on anything yet, no dead Presidents
have changed hands ... not so much as a hand clasp to signify a contract)

Bill

"W Canaday" wrote in message
news
A guy at work has offered me $2,000 to build him a custom pool table (ala
Brunswick) I agreed, except that he is on his own for the slate top and
bumpers.

Did I do a bad thing? (no signatures on anything yet, no dead Presidents
have changed hands ... not so much as a hand clasp to signify a contract)

Have you priced the material yet? What is your skill level? If you are a
slow worker and it takes you 1000 hours, it is probably not a good deal.
Sounds like a pretty big project for the money.

"W Canaday" wrote in message
news
A guy at work has offered me $2,000 to build him a custom pool table (ala
Brunswick) I agreed, except that he is on his own for the slate top and
bumpers.

Did I do a bad thing? (no signatures on anything yet, no dead Presidents
have changed hands ... not so much as a hand clasp to signify a contract)

Bill

Go price a real Brunswick and add 40%

W Canaday wrote:

A guy at work has offered me $2,000 to build him a custom pool table (ala
Brunswick) I agreed, except that he is on his own for the slate top and
bumpers.

Did I do a bad thing? (no signatures on anything yet, no dead Presidents
have changed hands ... not so much as a hand clasp to signify a contract)

Bill
sounds waaaay too cheap. seriously.

W Canaday wrote:
A guy at work has offered me $2,000 to build him a custom pool table (ala
Brunswick) I agreed, except that he is on his own for the slate top and
bumpers.

Did I do a bad thing? (no signatures on anything yet, no dead Presidents
have changed hands ... not so much as a hand clasp to signify a contract)


If you have to ask, you already know.

In my misspent youth, spent a lot of time bent over a green felt surface.

Based on your description above, $5K wouldn't get me to look up from my
shot.

Lew

On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 03:55:51 +0000, Lew Hodgett wrote:



In my misspent youth, spent a lot of time bent over a green felt surface.

Based on your description above, $5K wouldn't get me to look up from my
shot.

Lew

I, too, have bet $50 at the local gun & knife club when I didn't have $5.
Per ball.

Managed to get drunk without developing any new leaks.

Bill

On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 23:14:09 -0400, W Canaday wrote:

A guy at work has offered me $2,000 to build him a custom pool table (ala
Brunswick) I agreed, except that he is on his own for the slate top and
bumpers.

Did I do a bad thing? (no signatures on anything yet, no dead Presidents
have changed hands ... not so much as a hand clasp to signify a contract)

Bill

Thanks for the quick responses. I'll let him know that the pricing needs
more research ... that if he wants to cut a check today, fine. But it's a
deposit.

Bill

W Canaday wrote in
news
A guy at work has offered me $2,000 to build him a custom pool table (ala
Brunswick) I agreed, except that he is on his own for the slate top and
bumpers.

Did I do a bad thing? (no signatures on anything yet, no dead Presidents
have changed hands ... not so much as a hand clasp to signify a contract)

Bill

$2k is cheap for a custom kitchen table, let alone a pool table.

How well do you know this fellow? And how well do you like your current
place and mode of employment? There are risks here unrelated to the
technical challenge or the price.

Patriarch

On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 23:07:54 -0500, Patriarch wrote:


$2k is cheap for a custom kitchen table, let alone a pool table.



I'm going to let him know you said this. ;-)

I think, now that I've had a chance to review the comments I've gotten
(thanks ALL!), that the conversation should start around $6,000 and move
up, rapidly, for any special features (such as carving, inlay, gikding,
and so on) that he might have in mind.

As for our relationship? If he dies tonight I'll kip in a few bucks toward
flowers .... but I'm not likely to bother getting my suit cleaned for the
funeral. I'm sure he'd do nearly as much for me (minus the money for the
flowers).

Bill

"W Canaday" wrote in message
A guy at work has offered me $2,000 to build him a custom pool table (ala
Brunswick) I agreed, except that he is on his own for the slate top and
bumpers.

Did I do a bad thing? (no signatures on anything yet, no dead Presidents
have changed hands ... not so much as a hand clasp to signify a contract)

How much experience do you have with custom work? Any custom pool table that
I've ever seen has a great deal of ornate carving on it. As well, what you
consider to be custom and what he considers to be custom could vary greatly.
I'm guessing that a suitably large amount of wood would be required as well
as knowledge of pool table support structures. The material for building the
base alone could easily cost you $2000 and then there's your labour on top
of that. Go do some Norm measurements on a quality pool table and then come
back and tell us what the answer is to your own question.

Take a look at this. And I think they overlooked the finish supplies and
time. Their plans are very good by the way. Cheers, JG

http://www.pooltableplans.com/TheRealCost.htm

W Canaday wrote:

A guy at work has offered me $2,000 to build him a custom pool table (ala
Brunswick) I agreed, except that he is on his own for the slate top and
bumpers.

Did I do a bad thing? (no signatures on anything yet, no dead Presidents
have changed hands ... not so much as a hand clasp to signify a contract)

Bill

In article ,
W Canaday wrote:

A guy at work has offered me $2,000 to build him a custom pool table (ala
Brunswick) I agreed, except that he is on his own for the slate top and
bumpers.

Did I do a bad thing? (no signatures on anything yet, no dead Presidents
have changed hands ... not so much as a hand clasp to signify a contract)

Bill

After doing a proper drawing and a bunch of phone-calls to price the
materials, delivery, etc,, there's about 300 left to buy the
pockets....empty pockets.

IOW.... try 5-6 kilo-bucks for a break-even point.

yes

On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 11:15:26 -0400, leonard wrote:

yes

Thank you, Leonard. You don't know how much your input means to me.

Bill

A better way to do this is to charge labor + materials. Give them a good
estimate for materials with a +/- 20% along with your price for labor. Been
doing that for some years and have had no problems. More importantly, its
critical to agree up front on what the piece will look like before you comit
to anything. Your idea of a pool table and a customer's idea may be very
different. Hope that helps.
"W Canaday" wrote in message
news
A guy at work has offered me $2,000 to build him a custom pool table (ala
Brunswick) I agreed, except that he is on his own for the slate top and
bumpers.

Did I do a bad thing? (no signatures on anything yet, no dead Presidents
have changed hands ... not so much as a hand clasp to signify a contract)

Bill