Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site

Romy wrote :
"...if you outsource the job of making your 40Hz horn then what price you feel would  be reasonable to pay for the pair?..."

I will take the question to mean the price it might cost to pay someone to make similar horns (similar mass and rigidity; round section throat progressing to a rectangular mouth, which requires a mold).

It would be best to find someone who has never done such a thing, as he might agree to take on the work for, I don't know, $20 to $30k... However, the price for an additional pair would be double the price of the first pair, as the guy will have wised up by then!

I am going about this in a sort of one-off way. If I were planning to make several pairs, I would have used a less labor-intensive process; there would be less torture involved, and the theoretical price might be less... Knowing what's involved, I can't imagine anyone accepting such a job for anything like what we might consider a reasonable amount to pay for mid-bass horns.

Look at materials cost for the horns (meaning without taking into account labor or the cost of materials for the mold) :

Each horn flare uses 900 lbs of raw material, for a total of 5000€
This is for the raw flare, and does not include any exterior finisher or "WAF cover" (while the horns have a smooth interior, the exterior is quite "rustic", with a lot of deep bracing, looking something like the web of a spider who eats only waffles and looks only at the Eiffel tower)

To that I would estimate to have spent another 1000€ (because I did not skimp) for the back chambers and associated parts (8 x 28" diameter discs cut from 30mm thick hard plywood, 24" diameter sewer pipe with 5/8" wall, serious wheels, boxes of large bolts and a bunch of other hardware).

So I am up to about 6000€ in materials before considering labor costs, and we haven't even considered paying for a mold.

I am doing it in a way that a professional fabricator would most likely not consider kosher; if out-sourced, the job would be done differently, involving less man hours, but would probably end up costing as much as a pair of small custom boat hulls, as the process would likely be similar (serious molds followed by hand lamination or possibly a nasty chopper-gun).

I use non-toxic materials, which is good, because I have been at it evenings and weekends for like 3 months now, and am finally to the point of "pulling parts"... Working seriously (not the case lately) it takes me around a month to get half a horn to a sort of rough state, which I then set aside. Because I do not enjoy work that involves repeating a process, I then embark immediately on a week-long bender, slowly coaxing myself back to the workshop. Once all parts are to this rough stage, there will be a bit of finish work to do, making sure everything mates correctly. Then fabrication of rear chambers, painting and final assembly.

I may or may not make WAF covers for the exteriors (they could be added later).

I will post photos at some point.

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site