Basingstoke (fictional) · demo build
Precision sheet metal, quoted while you wait.
Hartwell Fabrication cuts, folds, welds and coats to drawing. The quote desk on this site prices jobs from the published rate card below — describe the work, get an itemised estimate in seconds, firm on the drawing. It answers at 2am, because that’s when you’re doing your costings.
Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:30am–4:30pm. The quote desk doesn’t keep them.
Laser cutting
mild steel to 12mm, stainless to 8mm, aluminium to 6mm
CNC folding
up to 3m, ±0.2mm repeatability
Welding
MIG and TIG — coded welders for structural work
Powder coating
any RAL colour, in-house booth
Small-batch machining
drilling, tapping, countersinking
The rate card.
Published on purpose — it’s what the quote desk answers from.
| Work | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mild steel (3mm, per part) | £4–£12 | laser cut, by size and nesting |
| Stainless 304 (3mm, per part) | £9–£24 | laser cut |
| Folding | £1.80 per bend | min. £15 per batch |
| Welded assembly | £38/hr | quoted per job from the drawing |
| Powder coat | from £8 per part | batch rates over 50 parts |
| One-off prototypes | min. £45 | same rates, small-batch surcharge waived on repeat orders |
Indicative rates for a fictional firm. The point of publishing them: an assistant grounded in a real rate card can’t invent a price — it can only read one. .
Lead times, and where your job would sit.
Current lead times
- Laser + fold only3–5 working days
- Fabricated assemblies7–10 working days
- With powder coatadd 2–3 days
- Genuine emergenciesring Dave — sometimes yes
This week on the shop floor
simulated — it’s a demo
- Batch of 60 · enclosure panels, 2mm mild steelOn the laserWed
- One-off · stainless guard, TIG weldedIn the weld bayThu
- Repeat order · 200 brackets, RAL 7016Powder boothFri
- Prototype · folded chassis trayAwaiting drawing sign-off—
In a real build this reads your actual job board — so the quote desk cites live lead times instead of a guess, and customers stop ringing to ask.
The quote that didn’t go cold.
A simulated thread — the pattern is the product.
Tuesday 09:12 · quotes@hartwell — sent automatically after the chat
Morning — itemised quote attached for the 20 brackets (3mm mild steel, RAL 7016): cutting, folding, coating, delivery. Price is firm against the drawing you sent. Any questions, just reply — the desk answers out of hours too.
Friday 14:30 · the polite nudge — sent because no reply by day 3
Just checking the quote landed all right. If the price needs to move for a bigger batch, say the word — batch rates kick in over 50. No rush from our end; the quote holds for 30 days.
Monday 08:04 · the reply that usually never comes
Sorry — busy week. Yes, go ahead with the 20. PO to follow this morning.
Most fabricators lose more to unanswered quotes than to lost jobs. The desk quotes, waits, nudges once, politely, and stops — that’s the whole trick, and it runs itself.
What’s real here.
Real
The quote desk, the estimating from the rate card, the honest no on jobs outside the envelope. Try to catch it inventing a price.
Simulated
The firm, the shop-floor queue, the email thread. Labelled where they stand — nothing on this page pretends.
Yours
The same desk, grounded in your real rates and your real job board. Estimated per job by Katalis — describe your firm and she’ll give you a straight range.