Machine Shop Rates

[AlaskanRider]

Just did a subaru headgasket job for my sister. Paid 245$ for pressure test and flattening.

Does this this sound high? They did have to shave .005" but they didn't clean them or anything.

What are everyone else's rates like. Fairbanks can be kind of a weird market, there's not a ton of competition, and everything else is so expensive up here.

It was a 600$ job after gaskets and such, I like ford parts better, tons cheaper.

 

[yyc_tbird_sc]

Machine shop rates depend on the size of shop, type of tooling, type of work, and usually the mood of who you're dealing with. I know a buddy that has his own shop, no employees, full CNC mill and lathe, and I'm sure he's billed out his time at $100 per hour....but like I said, it will depend on what all is going on. If you ask for a rush job, you'll usually encur the PITA tax...

 

[AlaskanRider]

They did get it done really fast, >24 hrs turnaround. Next time I will stress that there isn't a rush. Maybe it was the PITA tax.

It just seems like a pretty standard job, there's a ton of Sub's up here popping head gaskets ALL the time. I have no idea how they pressure tested them, they mentioned it held 35 PSI for a while.

Well, they were friendly and willing to share advice. Just seems a little steep.

 

[pcollins]

Honestly it depends on how they machined 'em flat again. It could be done on a bridgeport manual mill, or a CNC mill. It almost sounds like they did it on a bridgeport, as they take longer to set up for a flattening. Grinding the tool, tramming in the head to the mills head.

On a CNC mill its pretty simple. touch the tool off, make a quick program if they don't already have one, pass or two and done.

 

[robertc1024]

I would think that the hard part would be the fixturing to hold all the different sized/shaped heads. It's not like you can just clamp them in your Kurt vise or anything.