How much would it cost?

...

and in a later post,

It isn't clear what you want, without a drawing or any clear-cut indications of materials (Does "scrap" mean that wood, aluminum, plastic, clay are ok? Or just steel?) but one thing you might consider is buying some fluted brass curtain rods (about $79 for 6 rods, 30') and cutting off 6" pieces. Materials would run you at least $1.10 per column. If the square capital or base is vital, your costs would go up a little or a lot, depending on how you stick things together. For example, if you glue 3/4"-long blocks of 1"x1" bar on the ends of a 4.5"-long rod, pretty cheap. If you cut the 1"x1" blocks a little longer and turn a round on the end to stick inside the rod, labor would go up a bunch. If you could live with hex-shaped capitals or bases, buy a few pounds of short 5/8 or 3/4" bolts, etc.

-jiw

Gunner wrote:>>

I've always liked Heinlein's "How long is a piece of rope?"

David

How big is a rock?

Harold

Excellent!!!

Gunner

"Considering the events of recent years, the world has a long way to go to regain its credibility and reputation with the US." unknown

Ask a painter "How much to paint a bedroom"? Specs: Oh yea, it's a big room! Ask a plumber "How much to fix my pipes"? Specs: Lots of pipes in basement. Ask an electrician "How much to wire my garage"? Specs: It's a 2 car garage.

John Normile

Sure they do. The mental image (or a drawing depicting it) would contain much more information than a brief description. There are many ways to meet the limited description that may not be what the asker initially imagined -- but might still be acceptable or even preferable. Loose specs allow the imagination of the fabricator to come into play, sometimes with very interesting results.

I think that's one of the differences between a journeyman machinist and a really good modelmaker: the ability to make something that does what was wanted, based on a description by someone who hasn't the slightest idea of how to make what they want. I've known some really good modelmakers! Part of that skill and talent is knowing how to "interview" the requestor to figure out what he really wants. Any sketches or drawings made are usually made by the modelmaker.

QED. Now remove the constraint of matching mental image, merely meeting the rather limited description. The difference is that the first iteration may not be "right" even if it meets the description.

Perhaps the buyer only has a vague mental image (and limited imagination), would need to see "something physical" to better understand what he wants -- and/or what he doesn't want. Then he can say, "like that, except....." That's fine if the fabricator has the patience ..... and is paid fairly for his time & materials if doing it for money.

Not all design is done in a straight-forward monotonic fashion. Trial-and-error, "do-and-review" is not efficient, but it does work. Sometimes it's even fun if efficiency is not an issue. I don't like doing it for others, but I do it for myself now and then: start with a vague idea, make something to better understand what I really want

-- and don't want.

No one would give him a fixed-price estimate to "build to print" -- because there is no print. A time & materials quote is more appropriate in such circumstances, with perhaps an estimate of cost for the first model, or perhaps a drawing of the fabricator's vision of what it might be like and how it might be made. He needs design help as well as fabrication help, just doesn't realize that.

Where is it written that a fabricator can't employ a little imagination and creativity? The tricky part is getting paid for it.