considering starting to sell cannons and need input

[stevew8]

So Ive started to build and sell these cannons. I make everything except the screws and chains from scratch however I do take those and blue them as well. What do you guys think of them. The ones I make the most of are 12.5in long with a 1 in bore Been thinking to sell them completed at 1000 and barrels for 450. I also make some 10.5 with 3/4 in bore and I made some 14.5 with 1in bore out of stainless steel as well but they havent been completed yet.

I really dont know if my price seams reasonable. thoughts.

 

[Islander]

They are cool looking. Paying as a vendor will certainly go a long way to establishing how you will do business here. Let your conscience be your guide, but what you've posted is essentially a commercial sales ad. And without enough post to sell on the non-commercial forum without being a paying member.

 

[stevew8]

Im trying to get real input on value that is the point of this post and as Im bran new to this forum im unfamiliar with how it works but yes if it appears to be worth it then id def purchase the membership. As of yet I havent sold a single thing so Im looking for input to see if they are even worth it or what they may be worth hense im not posting a for sale add.

 

[DryBaller]

Those look great!

 

[Rich44]

Being a machinist and selling your goods can be tough to do. Picking your product is very important. It is so easy to rack up the hours in making that it seems almost like your giving your time away. Making a complete cannon and carriage is time consuming. But I am sure you know that now as with the $1,000 price. While you are very good at your work, would think being more accurate in detail would help. Philip head screws and chains of rather large size do not help and maybe a better cannon profile shape.

I will probably hear about this is too harsh of a answer, but this answer is directed at me also. I would love to sell cannons but it takes me much too long to make one and come up with a selling price. I tend to drift away from the correct detail also and add my design. And truthfully I would prefer to keep it as a hobby instead of selling with problems of the law, taxes, and public disappointment of my product showing up. While I did make and sell more very difficult items (that were not on the market to buy) soon found I was too greedy of my time for myself and family.

Good Luck.

 

[stevew8]

Being a machinist and selling your goods can be tough to do. Picking your product is very important. It is so easy to rack up the hours in making that it seems almost like your giving your time away. Making a complete cannon and carriage is time consuming. But I am sure you know that now as with the $1,000 price. While you are very good at your work, would think being more accurate in detail would help. Philip head screws and chains of rather large size do not help and maybe a better cannon profile shape.

I will probably hear about this is too harsh of a answer, but this answer is directed at me also. I would love to sell cannons but it takes me much too long to make one and come up with a selling price. I tend to drift away from the correct detail also and add my design. And truthfully I would prefer to keep it as a hobby instead of selling with problems of the law, taxes, and public disappointment of my product showing up. While I did make and sell more very difficult items (that were not on the market to buy) soon found I was too greedy of my time for myself and family.

Good Luck.

Thank you that was very well written

 

[CuNosecap]

I will probably hear about this is too harsh of a answer, but this answer is directed at me also. I would love to sell cannons but it takes me much too long to make one and come up with a selling price. I tend to drift away from the correct detail also and add my design. And truthfully I would prefer to keep it as a hobby instead of selling with problems of the law, taxes, and public disappointment of my product showing up. While I did make and sell more very difficult items (that were not on the market to buy) soon found I was too greedy of my time for myself and family.

Rich hits the nail squarely, and I think the principle can be extended to most of us "noncommercials" on this forum. I for one enjoy building, but my results are not the perfection the public demands. So I build for me and for family. And heck, if I tried to price my time in to my hobby, no one would pay me what I think I am worth!

With that said, I love your cannons. But me personally? Not in the market, so I can't tell if your price is appropriate.
Rick

 

[stevew8]

Good looking screws has been difficult to find but I agree I need to update them to probably a flat head at least. What would you suggest. As far as the design I attempted to scale down napoleonic cannon as best I could. Maybe it didn’t scale down to look exact but dimensions wise it’s pretty close. Time is hard to justify on these especially the carriages and getting them historically accurate feels like a loosing battle unless I want to charge 5000 a piece. I’m going for the look factor more than accurate on the carriages I guess. As far as the barrels I programmed them on the cnc and with boring take about an hour and half to make a 12.5 in barrel. Then finishing it and bluing it another 1.5 hours so 3 hours each I’d say. So not bad was thinking of selling those at the $400-500. I’ve seen several that just sell the raw barrel not blued for around that 150-300 range but they have little to no profile as well.

 

[stevew8]

Rich hits the nail squarely, and I think the principle can be extended to most of us "noncommercials" on this forum. I for one enjoy building, but my results are not the perfection the public demands. So I build for me and for family. And heck, if I tried to price my time in to my hobby, no one would pay me what I think I am worth!

With that said, I love your cannons. But me personally? Not in the market, so I can't tell if your price is appropriate.
Rick

Rich hits the nail squarely, and I think the principle can be extended to most of us "noncommercials" on this forum. I for one enjoy building, but my results are not the perfection the public demands. So I build for me and for family. And heck, if I tried to price my time in to my hobby, no one would pay me what I think I am worth!

With that said, I love your cannons. But me personally? Not in the market, so I can't tell if your price is appropriate.
Rick

thanks for the input I agree it’s hard to not be greedy about my time

 

[CuNosecap]

Steve, you can get steel slotted screws at trackofthewolf.com. I just replenished my supply. They take bluing or browning easily.

And it is not being greedy, it is just reality that handmade cannot keep up with full on production outfits.

 

[stevew8]

awesome ill look into it thanks for the help!

 

[Dismount]

So Ive started to build and sell these cannons. I make everything except the screws and chains from scratch however I do take those and blue them as well. What do you guys think of them. The ones I make the most of are 12.5in long with a 1 in bore Been thinking to sell them completed at 1000 and barrels for 450. I also make some 10.5 with 3/4 in bore and I made some 14.5 with 1in bore out of stainless steel as well but they havent been completed yet.
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I really dont know if my price seams reasonable. thoughts.
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checkout Empire cannons they are doing this setup. I have bought 3 or more small cannons and just my opinion only I like a beefer trunnions and the napoleon style barrel. good luck and beautiful work sir.

 

[Captndan]

It’s unfortunate that you received so much negative response right from the start. Keep going and make your dream come true.

 

[Ed C.]

$1000. I don't know. What type of profit do you make after factoring in materials and your time? How big a market is there for these in that price range? Maybe take orders and build on demand. Very nice work.

 

[Juice Jaws]

So Ive started to build and sell these cannons. I make everything except the screws and chains from scratch however I do take those and blue them as well. What do you guys think of them. The ones I make the most of are 12.5in long with a 1 in bore Been thinking to sell them completed at 1000 and barrels for 450. I also make some 10.5 with 3/4 in bore and I made some 14.5 with 1in bore out of stainless steel as well but they havent been completed yet.
View attachment 336016View attachment 336018View attachment 336020View attachment 336019View attachment 336017
I really dont know if my price seams reasonable. thoughts.
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They look very nice, get a good insurance co. so if something goes wrong.

 

[PathfinderNC]

You can sell them for $2000 if you want. What matters is if someone buys them.
First question is, what are these cannons supposed to be? How will you market them? A novelty gun to fire? Are they supposed to be a scale model of an actual cannon? A mantle decoration?
Do a comparison with what’s out there in your target price range.
As mentioned, there are a bunch of issues with the ones we see pictured, including the chain, the screws, the cotter pins, the wheels without metal rims, the profile of the tube, and much more.
It’s fair to say that you are up against some formidable model cannon makers and for a thousand dollars you might need to rethink your approach.
Nonetheless keep at it if it’s something that you love doing and hopefully you’ll get some financial return on your hobby.

 

[Youngblood]

My personal opinion.
Lots of places make and sell these small cannons but not alot make bigger ones with larger bores. Make bigger ones and make some that are breech loaders. Rifled or not.
The Whitworth design is not complicated for a machinist and its perfectly legal.

So please, make bigger, 2 1/4 (popular size) bore up to 3 pounder (2.91) inch and 6 pounder (3.67) inch.

And Whitworth type breech loaders.
(I will buy one)

Your small ones are cool and i think fair priced. Good job, sell those too.

 

[Davey Boy]

So Ive started to build and sell these cannons. I make everything except the screws and chains from scratch however I do take those and blue them as well. What do you guys think of them. The ones I make the most of are 12.5in long with a 1 in bore Been thinking to sell them completed at 1000 and barrels for 450. I also make some 10.5 with 3/4 in bore and I made some 14.5 with 1in bore out of stainless steel as well but they havent been completed yet.
View attachment 336020View attachment 336019
I really dont know if my price seams reasonable. thoughts.

In my opinion it is overpriced and not close enough to scale.

It looks like the trunnions are welded in place, bore looks oversize, knob shape unacceptable, wheels don't look right, chains too large, don't like blue, taper and concave section is not appealing.

Should show hidden lines indicating the bore, location of fuse hole especially in relationship to end of bore.

If it is made to a specific scale to a known period cannon, would be good to see it.

If you engrave, stamp, mark, on the barrel it should be underneath, so it isn't readily visible.

Don't use cotter pins, how does a scale model person adjust elevation on the screw?



What you have done well that I like is you have programmed the barrel machining for repeatability in manufacture.

Offered in different selection of materials and assembly.

The wood, intricate metal pieces, wheel assembly have been done so the finished piece can be viewed.

Remarkably, you have asked in a forum of interested users what they think of it. Bravo!

 

[nhmoose]

First need an LLC to be the entity.
Second an EIN for the LLC
Everything has to be kept under the LLC including bank accounts
Third Liability insurance. note very important.

Do not risk your home, future earnings in the endeavor. Same for anything to do with firearms.
I had an 07 manufactures license after 12 years I took a 20K loss great investment not.