All-In Welding Cost per Foot
Consumable per foot, filler cost, labor hours and cost, and the all-in cost per foot of weld.
Example
You enter
- Deposit per foot (lb/ft) 0.1
- Deposition efficiency (%) 95
- Filler cost ($/lb) 2.5
- Deposition rate (lb/hr) 8
- Operating factor (%) 30
- Labor rate ($/hr) 65
- Shielding-gas cost ($/ft, optional) 0.05
You get
- Consumable per foot 0.105 lb/ft
- Filler cost per foot $0.26/ft
- Labor cost per foot 2.70833
- All-in cost per foot $3.02/ft
Details, formula, and sources
Where labor and the operating factor, not the filler, usually dominate. A real bid adds shop overhead, grinding, and power.
Consumable per ft = deposit per ft / efficiency; filler cost = consumable x filler cost per lb; arc hr per ft = deposit / deposition rate; labor hr per ft = arc hr / operating factor; total = filler + labor + gas per ft.
AWS welding cost and consumable references (deposition efficiency and operating-factor ranges), by name.
The cost arithmetic is public; the deposition efficiency and operating-factor ranges are published in welding cost references.
Estimate. AHJ and licensed professional govern.
Field names used by the API: deposit_lb_per_ft, deposition_eff_pct, filler_cost_per_lb, deposition_rate_lb_hr, operating_factor_pct, labor_rate_per_hr, gas_cost_per_ft, consumable_lb_per_ft, filler_cost_ft, labor_cost_ft, total_cost_ft
- Deposition efficiency the stub, spatter, and slag loss -- SMAW about 60 to 65%, GMAW solid about 90 to 98%, FCAW about 80 to 85%; default 95%AWS welding cost references
- Operating factor arc-on time divided by clock time, typically 20 to 40% for manual welding and higher for mechanized; default 30%AWS welding cost references
- Deposit per foot comes from weld-usage (deposit weight / weld length); user-suppliedweld-usage