Look, none of you actually have one of these, so none of you have seen more than a quick glimpse on a build stream of how this is designed and put together. First, I've worked with BA previously on multiple projects, and I can tell you, he's the last designer in this community to be over pricing things just to make a quick buck. I know how long he's been working on this board, I know how much time and effort he's put into it. Second, he's a mechanical engineer by trade, he's designed and made quite a few boards at this point, and made plenty of other things before that, pretty sure that if anyone does, he knows how to optimize a design for cnc.
Anyway, lets start with the cost of materials. Now, I haven't actually seen the quote BA got for this, but just going off of quotes I have gotten recently, and the fact that I own one of the prototypes, I'm going to make some educated guesses. Hopefully he doesn't get mad at me for breaking this down like this lol
because of the size (approx 5.25-5.5" width, 15" length, 1.75-2" thickness, and you need two of them), you're looking at $300-350 worth of aluminum. just the aluminum. that's cost. without any markups. that doesn't include machine time, that doesn't include ano, that doesn't include brass or stainless parts, that doesn't include plating.
So factor in machine time, which for this will be more than normal, because you're removing a large amount of material from both halves and have multiple setups for multiple pieces (the top needs 3 setups, the bottom needs 2, 2 for the weight, and 2 for the back accent), you're looking at about $200 for machine time for all the pieces. and don't forget, we haven't priced the material for the weight or the back accent yet...
So, lets get to those. the weight is about 4"x6"x1" and the back accent is about .4"x1.5"x15". I'm going to say the brass weight is probably about $60 and the brass back is probably about $80. and I'll guess the stainless is probably about $70 and $100, respectively, for those same parts.
So, for the brass versions lets say you're at about $300 for the aluminum, $130 in brass, and $200 in machine time and finishing. That's $630 to the front door. For the stainless version $680 to the front door.
Why "to the front door"? because we haven't even factored in cost of shipping yet. anyone here shipped 650 lbs of aluminum, brass, and stainless from China any time recently? yeah didn't think so. you're looking at probably about $3k. split that up across 80 units, and you're talking another $35-40 per board. so we'll go low on that one and say $35.
now you're at $665 and $715, respectively. and that hasn't even included the PCB or plate, or shipping to the customer.
So, not including the plate or PCB, he's making $50 on a blue and brass version, and $25 on a night sky and stainless version. Throw in the PCB and plate and he's barely making anything on these boards. yep. totally sounds like he's taking advantage and gouging people...