Commissions

I’ve always enjoyed taking things apart, and especially liked building new things. As a kid I pretty quickly learned that with a little heat and persuasion you could remove the heads on the Playmates TMNT action figures and swap them around. Swapping Shredders head onto various Turtles brought great joy and hours of amusement.

It was somewhere around that age that I started taking things apart, and all to often the parts were cannibalized and used to create something new. My dad was never too happy about this, but with time this skill became more usable and fixing things around the house was of mutual benefit. As I grew up I started making things, sometimes from parts of other things, sometimes from scratch. These projects usually were quite varied, but more often than not centered around geeky things that I enjoyed the most.

Over the years as I created more and more things I had more people asking me to help them with their project, or to build something for them. I started doing this as a side hobby and have been doing it ever since. In 2010 I started my website that showed some of these projects and saw a big increase in people contacting me online to build or make something for them. Going forward I decided to add this commissions section so that people that were interested could contact me about their own project.

How Much?

The first question that I usually get when it comes to having something created, modified or built, is how much does it cost? Which makes sense as it’s probably one of the first questions I would ask myself.

So how much does it cost?

Well… that’s a hard question to answer. The problem is that most commissions tend to be one offs, so I don’t often have something to use as a reference point for materials cost and labor time. However,  I usually can estimate pretty accurately based on the scope of work. In most cases my estimate will end up being within 5-10% of what the final cost ends up.

There is a pretty wide range of things I’ve been commissioned by others to make, so I have a lot of experience in pretty wide array of things. This helps in terms of knowing how much time it will take to make something. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to the final product. Which means I usually won’t be happy with something unless it’s something I would be happy putting my name on. In most cases though this has always been a good thing and I’ve only ever had people really love the things I’ve made for them.

Back to the original question though, how much does it cost?  The best way to get an answer to that question is to contact me by filling out the form at the bottom of this page. Describe what it is you’d like to commission me to build or modify for you, and add as much detail as is pertinent. I’ll have a look, do a little research on the materials and then send you back a quote for how much I think it will cost.

Customized

The possibilities are pretty endless when it comes to creating something. Whether it be based on an existing item, or something from scratch. Whatever you envision the end product to look like can probably be accomplished. You supply an idea for what you’re looking for and I’ll make it a reality.

Technical

Sometimes the most daunting part of these kinds of projects is the technical portion. I’ve got a fairly extensive background in electronics, computers, woodworking, metal work and machining. So if you need technical help to get a project going I can provide whatever level of assistance you need.

Design

If you only have a rough idea of what you want to create, but are missing everything else, that’s not a problem. I can design and add all the important elements that are critical to making what you want a reality. So even if you only have an idea in your head, I can work with you to design the rest.

Perfect

With every project I work on I always hold myself to the same standard. If it’s not perfect and I’m not completely happy with it, then it’s not good enough. Sometimes this is a curse, but the end result is that I’m always very happy with the final product, and I feel very confident that you will be too.

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