My bubble isn't bursted ! If you sleep well charging $25 an hour , most likely you could sleep GREAT at $15 an hour .
Most individuals prefer to " work smart , and not hard " . One day you'll get old and won't feel like working " hard " .
In the end , charge what the market commands , $15 or $250 . As far as the pins , someone whom has a small shop may grind them for $25 an hour , but ain't no way a machine shop will do anything at that price . Most have minimum charges also .
Also , those pins started out as A2 and now they are O2 ? And $75 set-up and $10 a pin comes up to $195 in my book . How did you arrive at the $1111.83 total ? If it's the shipping that adds all that cost , we're ALL in the wrong business !
I sleep just fine at $25 an hour and I'm sure my customers do too. You can't charge, what people don't have. That's a losing proposition.
I AM a machine shop and I do whatever the job requires for $25 a hour. The one quote said " $85 minimum lot charge" Means nothing to me as I work by the hour.. I guess if I paid that dude $3g to grind these pins I sell for $35 a piece, he can continue paying the mortgage in the mansion he lives in, but it ain't gonna happen.. I could never charge $350 for one of these pins, but I still need to pins to make a living, so I will do whatever it takes to make these pins and still be able to sell them for $35 a piece and make a profit.
The straight pins are O-1, the center pins I believe are 8620 and the small pin is A-2. (I machine and heat treat the straight and the small pins myself.) The center pins were made in the '60's , but all the pins are are about the same Rc hardness. The same grinding stone is used to grind all 3 different pins
I use to use O-1 on all of them, but A-2 is more wear resistant and doesn't have to be oil quenched (air hardening) before tempering, So I save a step which saves me time.
As for the $1118, that is for grinding all 3 sets of pins (see price chart above) and that doesn't even include return shipping, which I am 99.999% sure it would not be $8 in a small flat rate box from the Post Office like I would send them in. It would most likely be UPS and cost $30 or more (whatever they guy feels like charging at that particular time in his life)