QuotedPartCost guides · Updated 2026-10-30
What do welding and fabrication shops charge per hour?
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A welding rate should recover the person, equipment, building, non-billable time, and overhead that make the weld possible. This example uses the same pure hourly-rate calculator as the shop-rate model: every annual cost and the 65% billed utilization assumption is shown. A short weldment arithmetic example then shows how hours become a quote.
See how QuotedPart connects to your workflow with its API, MCP server, autonomous quoting and shop-specific learning.
Shop and field work are different costs
The table models a shop cell with an $85,000 equipment package, an operator at $34/hour before burden, and 65% billed utilization. Floor space, power, upkeep, operator burden, and overhead are kept separate so a shop can change the line that is actually wrong.
Field work usually adds travel, mobilization, lifting, permits, and a lower share of productive hours. Do not copy a shop-cell rate into a field-service quote without adding those explicit costs.
- Use the same cost categories for both rates.
- Track travel and setup as billable line items when appropriate.
- Keep profit separate from payroll burden.
Worked weldment arithmetic
Suppose a small 1018 frame needs 2.5 fit-up hours, 1.75 welding hours, 0.75 cleanup hours, and 0.5 inspection hours: 5.5 labor hours before material and outside finishing. Multiply those hours by the shop's approved weld rate, then add steel, consumables, workholding, and any coating. The example is labeled planning arithmetic because the current engine does not infer weld beads from a drawing.
For a production route, replace each hour with actuals from the first completed frame. Keep fit-up and cleanup visible; they are often the reason a weld quote misses.
- List consumables and purchased hardware.
- Separate workholding fabrication from repeat welding.
- Record actual hours by operation after the first lot.
A rate only works at its utilization
At 65% billed utilization, the calculator divides annual costs by 1,300 billed hours rather than 2,000 staffed hours. If the cell is booked only half the time, the break-even rate rises even though the machine and operator did not change. That is why a published hourly number without utilization is incomplete.
Review the model against dispatch and payroll every quarter. The table is an example of the arithmetic, not a survey of what every US fabricator charges.
- Use billed hours, not clocked hours.
- Check burden and insurance annually.
- Do not promise a rate that fails to recover fixed cost.
Use the result as an estimator's starting point
For this welding and fabrication shop hourly rate: build-up example example, an estimator can challenge every welding and fabrication input. Replace this fictional geometry with the customer's STEP file or drawing, then replace the catalog stock price, work-center rate, setup minutes, and markup with the shop's current shop welding cell values.
Keep the lot setup visible when you send this quote for welding and fabrication shop hourly rate: build-up example. Confirm stock form, material condition, tolerances, inspection, deburr, and outside-process timing before promising a ship date. If one of those inputs changes, rerun the calculation and show the buyer what moved.
- Show both unit and lot totals.
- Label illustrative values clearly.
- Have the estimator review access, tooling, and first-piece risk.
Illustrative US small-shop welding-cell rate build-up
- • Material: Steel 1018; the US catalog input is $2.46/lb and machinability 0.50 relative to 6061-T6.
- • Process: Welding and fabrication; the pricing model includes CAM programming, 12 toolpaths, Mill, 3 setups, Deburr, Inspect and calculates the quantities shown.
- • Geometry: 4 × 3 × 1 in; Fictional 4 × 3 × 1 in prismatic reference part. Two mill setups are inferred from the top and side features.
- • Markup: 30% catalog default. Taxes, freight, customer-specific rates, and unlisted outside services are excluded.
- • The rate table is the pricing model-backed hourly-rate example; the weldment hours below are stated planning assumptions, not a measured production cycle.
- • Every dollar and minute in the table is a reproducible example from the stated inputs, not a market average or supplier promise.
| Rate line | Annual amount | Billed-hour share |
|---|---|---|
| Machine payments and interest | $15117.86 | $11.63/h |
| Floor space | $3000.00 | $2.31/h |
| Power | $1456.00 | $1.12/h |
| Service, coolant and tooling | $12000.00 | $9.23/h |
| Operator, with taxes and benefits | $88400.00 | $68.00/h |
| Share of shop overhead | $42000.00 | $32.31/h |
| Total cost | $161973.86 | $124.60/h |
| With stated profit | — | $143.28/h |
Sources and limits
Claims are dated where they can change. Product calculations are examples from the stated inputs, not a promise about a customer's quote. Competitor wording is attributed to the source shown.
- The numerical table is computed at build time from the stated geometry, catalog inputs, and shop-rate assumptions.
Questions
Is this a guaranteed 1018 steel weldment quote?
No. It is a transparent estimating example. Replace the example inputs with the customer's drawing, stock quote, current shop rates, and inspection or finish requirements.
Why does quantity change the unit price?
Setup and programming are lot costs. The pricing calculation spreads those costs across the stated quantity and keeps the per-part run time and material inputs visible.
Price one of your own parts
Drop a PDF drawing or a STEP file. QuotedPart reads the print, measures the model and prices it in seconds, on default shop rates you can change.
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