Festivals, Shows and Sales Part 2

Since I really had a hard time wrapping my mind around nearly $1000 for a Noah's Ark with 16 pairs of animals, I had to do something. Most of the cost was tied up in labor to carve the animals. If there was to be any real savings it would have to be with the animals. My first decision was to do the animals with power. After many experiments I settled on the rotary tool with sanding sleeves, and less detail on the animals. After thinking about it, I decided that I could use all salvaged wood for the arks and animals. By salvaged I mean letting my Carpenter friends know not to throw any leftovers away. "Opps" paint from the paint store is also used. Here's what I came up with: OLD Ark wood- 16.00 Fasteners .50 Paint 2.00 Animalwood 18.00 TOTAL $36.50 Labor Ark 8 Hrs Labor Animals 36 Hrs TOTAL 44 Hrs $20 x 44 = $880 TOTAL $916.50 NEW Ark Wood .00 Fasteners .50 Paint .00 Animalwood .00 TOTAL $ .50 Labor Ark 8Hrs Labor Animals 8Hrs TOTAL 16 Hrs $20 X 16 = 320.00 TOTAL $320.50 A Noah's Ark for $320.50 still sounded a bit steep to me, so I decided to cut my hourly rate to $10. This got the Arks down to $160 each. Now some will say that's way to little, but this is just fun for me. This is the price I put on most of the Arks at festivals and sales. Special commissions can be priced more......and generally are.