The trailer is in...

[D. Tillery]

Thanks Cary, I'll definitely be in the market for some of the unique hardware required to build a tear.

I would never inquire about the time it takes you to build your tears. When people ask me how many hours it takes to build something I always get the feeling that they are trying to do some hourly wage calculation for me. What they do not understand, and what Dean aluded to, is that it takes years to acquire the knowledge and equipment to do a job. You can't let people reduce a job into how long it takes you to do it. The site concensus or 200+ hrs for a homebuilt is intimidating. I will have to shave some time off that. (Famous last words!)

And I hope you don't mind us home builbers borrowing some of your great ideas. You are right about the shell being the easiest part. What wakes me up at night in a cold sweat is all the interior finishout, especially since I don't know much about woodworking.

Anyone out there want to trade metal fab for woodworking?

Hey Dean, I think this site is about "how to make a watch"! Sometimes it is hard to convey the required information in a sound bite. D. Tillery

[Larwyn]

Thanks Cary, I'll definitely be in the market for some of the unique hardware required to build a tear.

I would never inquire about the time it takes you to build your tears. When people ask me how many hours it takes to build something I always get the feeling that they are trying to do some hourly wage calculation for me. What they do not understand, and what Dean aluded to, is that it takes years to acquire the knowledge and equipment to do a job.


Hey Dean, I think this site is about "how to make a watch"! Sometimes it is hard to convey the required information in a sound bite. D. Tillery

The equipment issue is a big one. I once thought I wanted a home machine shop. After accumulating only a few of the required tools, I relaized one day that I was now equiped to drill a "$1,000 hole in a $2 project!!

I eventually found new homes for most of that stuff. I found that degree of precission was too time consuming, expensive and took up way too much of my limited shop space.

[Cary Winch]

Buford,

Good observation about kits. Most people ask us about plans, but our design is way to involved for a plans built. But, a kit would work very well. We are working on kitting our units. But, there a some design changes we feel we need to incorporate first. Then of course there is the time factor. I am not sure who around here will have the time to document the kits with the amount of business we have been hit with lately. The kits kind of slid down the list a bit but all of the stuff that ended up in front of the kits will help make the kits better.

Stay tuned.

Cary

[Cary Winch]

Mr Tillery,

You are absolutely right. Our labor hours are not relevant and fairly proprietary. It always takes way more time the first time we do something on our units than every one after that. Plus we build our units in batches and when we set out to do an assembly we do all of them at the same time. That saves a bunch too. So, I really wouldn't know how to relate our hours to homebuilt hours because of the assembly line type operation that we are in. That is why I am buying in on the 200 hour concensus, sounds right to me.

Other time factors that people forget about is things like determining the right way to do things and what hardware to use and such. I know when prototyping something I find myself making countless trips to the hardware store to figure out what type of screw might work. Then I usually end up doing some other way anyways.

And don't forget do overs. Even on our units there is plenty of that. Sometimes it just doesn't come out right and gets thrown in the corner while you start over. Generally most people feel that the third teardrop is the charm for homebuilts (hear that Mike). I am not sure that one can count the time and material of the first and second teardrops as part of the cost of the final version but it needs to be factored somehow.


Cary

[mikeschn]

Generally most people feel that the third teardrop is the charm for homebuilts (hear that Mike). I am not sure that one can count the time and material of the first and second teardrops as part of the cost of the final version but it needs to be factored somehow.


Cary

Oh that's an easy one... you sell the first two and use the proceeds to build the third one.

I am losing a lot of time designing because I am planning on putting the final design on my webpage, so not only does it have to be fully featured, it has to be easy to build, and easy to add features to... Definitely a challenge.

I nailed down the design of the third one this evening, and posted the photos in another thread...

I learned a lot playing around with the different designs. It gives me a unique appreciation for your a/c design. I could build it, but it would not be a weekend project for the first time builder. So I scratched it.

As for the hours, yes, 200 to 250 hours of real build time. The time during the week that you spend designing, and running to home depot doesn't count.

Mike...

P.S. Will there be a 4th? Don't know for sure... I've been toying with a curved weekender and also a Raven Argonaut. But Chell has been hinting about a new kitchen floor... and we all know what comes first...!!!