What would you pay?

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I have just sen this e-bay item on another forum, incredible workmanship but what would you pay for it?

 

I think its just for the one engine but there are pictures of another two when you go through all of them, make sure you click the enlarge button to see it at its best.

 

Shame about the grub screw hole in the flywheel rim, cap head screws and slotted screws holding the handwheels on otherwise I would have snapped it up

 

Enjoy, Jason

 

PS no connection with sale or purchase for that matter

Edited By JasonB on 02/10/2010 07:54:24

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

[michael coleParticipant @michaelcole91146]

I would pay up to £50 as it not really my cup of tea. I would hate to steam it and that will be a big

lwaste of a model.

 

Mike

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Jason, it does say that to auction is for pics 1-8. However it looks a bit commercial to me. Not really my cup of tea either, might have stretched to £80 to £100 if I had some spare pocket money.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 02/10/2010 08:46:52

[adyParticipant @ady]

Free postage though!

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

Well, we’ve got a spare space in the toilet where we could display something like that – so I’d probably run to about £25, I think… maybe £30?

 

 

[NJHParticipant @njh]

An interesting question which gets to the heart of MODEL engineering as a hobby. I’ve attended lots of ME exhibitions over many years and am always amazed at the variety and quality of some of the exhibits. The thing is though, with the possible exception of clocks, surely none of the items has any use? The whole hobby is about the making of models. That is learning and developing skills, researching, planning and producing your chosen project. Sure a well equipped workshop is also capable of making or repairing  pretty much anything but that is an added bonus!

In terms of value then my poor and feeble attempts are worth very little to you but to me they are priceless (ie not for sale!) as they represent my personal achivement in the hobby.

 

$105,000 (about £66,000) for the item advertised ? How long would it take to produce an item of that quality ? Well at £15 per hour that would be 2 years work excluding any overhead costs – it would take me much much longer than that to produce a very poor copy! What would I pay for it ? Nothing. The doing is important  – the owning of other folks efforts is not. I would like to see it however as seeing what CAN be achieved I always find inspirational.

 

Regards

 

Norman

 

 

 

[adyParticipant @ady]

Some are makers and some are collectors.

Some are both.

 

Ebay has been a tremendous conduit for making these things available to all.

 

 

I look at fancy cars selling for $200,000 and consider people who buy them as barking.

If I won one in a competition I’d sell it and get an astravan which is far more versatile and useful.

 

Most things in life are in the eye of the beholder.

Edited By ady on 02/10/2010 09:35:00

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Ah — when I read the ad properly (always a good idea!) I see that this took a Tool / Watchmaker  4 years to make. If that’s all he was making that works out at about £7.50 per hour!

I seem to recall that 4-5 years is about the time Cherry Hill takes on one of her masterpieces – goodness knows what they might be “worth”

 

Steve if you are going to keep it in your toilet, unless you have more than one, don’t  Invite me round as I would probably lock myself in there for some time!

 

Going out now to buy some fine emery paper!

 

 

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

Posted by NJH on 02/10/2010 11:45:53:

Steve if you are going to keep it in your toilet, unless you have more than one, don’t  Invite me round as I would probably lock myself in there for some time!

 

Going out now to buy some fine emery paper!

 

 

Don’t worry – we have three. I’m not so sure about using the emery paper in them though. Can’t you get something a little softer?

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Arggggggggggggh  Steve !

 

Your comment brought tears (of laughter) to my eyes . I don’t really want to think about it much more but you should know I have cancelled the trip to get emery paper!

 

Regards

(Still laughing)

 

Norman

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

My question is why would you need spare parts and so many drawers full?

[TigermothParticipant @tigermoth]

If you’re bidding on this item and win it, you’ll probably be taken for VAT when it arrives. Items arriving from the US seem to be attracting the attention of HM Customs and excise!

On the other hand, if you can afford to bid on this item a little VAT isn’t going to put you off.

Nice item but I think I’ll give it a miss!

Bob

[NEIL SMITH 1Participant @neilsmith1]

No need to worry about VAT as the seller only  ships to USA from Switzerland.I wonder if he would take $20 for just the drawers? They would be usefull for keeping the emery cloth clean.Although the engine is described as being handmade, it has a CNC look about it to me,as do the spares.

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

So what sort of market is there for selling models? Is somewhere between £7.50 and £15.00 per hour a sort-of reasonable rate? I’ve never really looked into this before – I’m slightly intrigued now. Is this guy seriously likely to get the sort of money he wants for this engine – any past experience here?

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I don’t think thats a reasonable rate.

 

Lets look at say a Stuart 10V, basic casting set costs £73, ready to run costs £502 both plus VAT. I know of someone who regularly makes small engines for clients and can do a 10 V or H in about 9hrs so lets say 10hrs to make thats £42/hr and his machine shop hourly rate is higher than that.

 

Different if you are just doing it as a hobby or are retired and just want some pocket money but if its your living and you have overheads its a different matter.

 

Jason

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

I would not charge out at anything less than £25/hr for a hobby job, I have too much to do of my own to work for anything less.

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