peterd51
happy to be here!
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Hi Guys,
I was sorting out some old market stall pieces looking for some metal to make a small trolley (I'll maybe post details about that later in the projects section), and I found some tables and display racks that I used to make and thought of punting them out through Ebay...
and as I took the photos I considered that people here may be interested in a 'how to' series about making market stalls, etc.
There are Sunday markets and car-boots in every town and there's always work to be picked up making full stalls, add-ons, tables, shelfs, display racks and it's relatively easy.
The best way to learn is to wander down to the local sunday market as the traders are setting up and see how they all hang together. Hand out a few cards or flyers (knock these up on your PC, two to an A4 sheet and cut them in half) and I rekon you'll come away with a few orders (take a tape measure and a notebook with you)...
There are a few 'national' companies making full stalls and their prices are quite low, but it's the smaller add-ons that are ordered and built to specific customer requirements where the bulk of this business is.
A major point to consider: in the next 2 - 3 weeks the market traders are gearing up for Christmas and will need extra display space! The next busy period for this kind of work is April/May next year as they get ready for the Summer.
The metal to use is 1" x 1" 16 guage (1.6mm) box for the legs, rails, etc, although some traders like to feel some weight for their money and prefer you to use 25mm x 25mm x 2mm box.
Use off cuts of the 25mm box and cut these into pieces about 3" long, these are known as 'pockets' around here and you weld these onto a leg to take a 'pin'...
the pins are 20mm x 20mm x 2mm box and are cut to 3" or so. These are welded onto the ends of the rails, generally at 90 degrees, and when a pin is dropped into a pocket on a leg the whole thing is pretty rigid...see photo.
I should point out here that I didn't make this one, it's been Arc welded with two spots each side of each pocket where I use MIG and continuous weld. I bought this with loads of gear and knowledge off an old guy who'd been making them for years and he was retiring.
Using pockets and pins, a full-sized standard stall 10' x 4' with a roof can be erected in about ten minutes or so!
One point to note: 25mm box has a welding ridge down the inside and this will need filing out to allow the pin to slide in and out easily.
The table part of the stall is generally 30" high (and incidentally the roof is generally 78" high) so a small display table to sit along the front might be set at 20" to 24" high.
I made these tables 20" wide as I'd made a jig out of angle...if a customer wanted 24" wide then they just put a wider plywood top on it (you 'sell' them on the idea of the slightly narrower 'end' by pointing out it takes less space on their van!).
A table maybe 4' or 5' long, 6' or more is too long as sags in the middle so if a customer wanted a ten foot table you'd supply two 'end' pieces and a middle where the middle one has pockets on both sides. The photo above shows a middle leg section. Obviously you'd supply four rails for this table.
Precise measurements will depend on the customer...but basically you'll weld two table ends with two pockets 1" down from the top of each leg, as shown in the photo...
The pockets are set 1" down as when a rail is dropped in, the top of the rail will then be level with the top of the end frame (clever stuff this, eh?)
The two rails would be cut to length and a 3" pin welded at 90 degrees to each end, see photo.
To finish off you can either weld a 1.5" square 'foot' on the bottom of each leg or get some 1" square plastic plugs and hammer them in...I used to hammer a plug in the top end too as it looks tidier and covers any sharp edges. These things are available from companies like Skiffy (www.skiffy.com) and work out at a few pence each.
Painting is optional, and you'd be charging around £1 to £1.50 per foot of metal. A table 24" high, 20" wide and 5' long will need around 27' of metal (don't forget the pockets and pins!) and you should get £30 to £35 for it.
It's not a fabulous sum but the steel will only cost around £8 or so and it'll take around and hour to knock up if you have a jig (a bit longer if it's painted!)
Take an order one Sunday and deliver it at start of business next Sunday. On a decent sized Sunday market you should be able to pick up a hundred pounds or so every week...as you deliver one item the guys next to him will ask for a price on something else.
Finally, it's best not to get into supplying the plywood...it costs a fortune to buy and after you've picked it up, marked it, cut it to size and delivered it the customer will complain that you're ripping him off as he can get it for a quarter of the price! (I always asked at this stage if they could get me a lorry load at that price...).
I can follow up on this with other details of 'stepped' shelving units and also how to make full sized 'table' or 'walk-in' stall if people are interested.
Regards
Peter
I was sorting out some old market stall pieces looking for some metal to make a small trolley (I'll maybe post details about that later in the projects section), and I found some tables and display racks that I used to make and thought of punting them out through Ebay...
and as I took the photos I considered that people here may be interested in a 'how to' series about making market stalls, etc.
There are Sunday markets and car-boots in every town and there's always work to be picked up making full stalls, add-ons, tables, shelfs, display racks and it's relatively easy.
The best way to learn is to wander down to the local sunday market as the traders are setting up and see how they all hang together. Hand out a few cards or flyers (knock these up on your PC, two to an A4 sheet and cut them in half) and I rekon you'll come away with a few orders (take a tape measure and a notebook with you)...
There are a few 'national' companies making full stalls and their prices are quite low, but it's the smaller add-ons that are ordered and built to specific customer requirements where the bulk of this business is.
A major point to consider: in the next 2 - 3 weeks the market traders are gearing up for Christmas and will need extra display space! The next busy period for this kind of work is April/May next year as they get ready for the Summer.
The metal to use is 1" x 1" 16 guage (1.6mm) box for the legs, rails, etc, although some traders like to feel some weight for their money and prefer you to use 25mm x 25mm x 2mm box.
Use off cuts of the 25mm box and cut these into pieces about 3" long, these are known as 'pockets' around here and you weld these onto a leg to take a 'pin'...
the pins are 20mm x 20mm x 2mm box and are cut to 3" or so. These are welded onto the ends of the rails, generally at 90 degrees, and when a pin is dropped into a pocket on a leg the whole thing is pretty rigid...see photo.
I should point out here that I didn't make this one, it's been Arc welded with two spots each side of each pocket where I use MIG and continuous weld. I bought this with loads of gear and knowledge off an old guy who'd been making them for years and he was retiring.
Using pockets and pins, a full-sized standard stall 10' x 4' with a roof can be erected in about ten minutes or so!
One point to note: 25mm box has a welding ridge down the inside and this will need filing out to allow the pin to slide in and out easily.
The table part of the stall is generally 30" high (and incidentally the roof is generally 78" high) so a small display table to sit along the front might be set at 20" to 24" high.
I made these tables 20" wide as I'd made a jig out of angle...if a customer wanted 24" wide then they just put a wider plywood top on it (you 'sell' them on the idea of the slightly narrower 'end' by pointing out it takes less space on their van!).
A table maybe 4' or 5' long, 6' or more is too long as sags in the middle so if a customer wanted a ten foot table you'd supply two 'end' pieces and a middle where the middle one has pockets on both sides. The photo above shows a middle leg section. Obviously you'd supply four rails for this table.
Precise measurements will depend on the customer...but basically you'll weld two table ends with two pockets 1" down from the top of each leg, as shown in the photo...
The pockets are set 1" down as when a rail is dropped in, the top of the rail will then be level with the top of the end frame (clever stuff this, eh?)
The two rails would be cut to length and a 3" pin welded at 90 degrees to each end, see photo.
To finish off you can either weld a 1.5" square 'foot' on the bottom of each leg or get some 1" square plastic plugs and hammer them in...I used to hammer a plug in the top end too as it looks tidier and covers any sharp edges. These things are available from companies like Skiffy (www.skiffy.com) and work out at a few pence each.
Painting is optional, and you'd be charging around £1 to £1.50 per foot of metal. A table 24" high, 20" wide and 5' long will need around 27' of metal (don't forget the pockets and pins!) and you should get £30 to £35 for it.
It's not a fabulous sum but the steel will only cost around £8 or so and it'll take around and hour to knock up if you have a jig (a bit longer if it's painted!)
Take an order one Sunday and deliver it at start of business next Sunday. On a decent sized Sunday market you should be able to pick up a hundred pounds or so every week...as you deliver one item the guys next to him will ask for a price on something else.
Finally, it's best not to get into supplying the plywood...it costs a fortune to buy and after you've picked it up, marked it, cut it to size and delivered it the customer will complain that you're ripping him off as he can get it for a quarter of the price! (I always asked at this stage if they could get me a lorry load at that price...).
I can follow up on this with other details of 'stepped' shelving units and also how to make full sized 'table' or 'walk-in' stall if people are interested.
Regards
Peter