Saber Forum

I've noticed that anodising on some hilts - even the ones without the added cost of extra careful machining to make silver grooves - costs more than others. Is this due to the more complicated shape of the hilt making it more difficult to evenly oxidise the surface?

I suppose the awkward shapes could lead to uneven coatings which would add to costs. (I really should know about this due to the course I'm studying... But... Well I don't! A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and all!) I guess that sometimes the dye stage doesn't work out properly?

Sorry I really am just being nosy! All I know about anodising is that it's a 2 step process, the 1st where the oxide is porous, and the 2nd seals it all off.

Hmmm I don't know but I would like to know the answer as well.... nice question

Ultra's posted this before somewhere... can't remember where exactly, but the gist of it was this:  Ultra doesn't anodize them himself, but sends them to be anodized.  Thus, he's charged for that, and the price goes up accordingly.

ultra also said cost is also based on the amount of sabers he sends for anodize as well, since anodizing has to be done in large batches so it will be cost efficient for example if the anodized saber is a complex design but will always be for sale by ultra sabers it may be cheaper since ultra will send many to be anodized all the time in large batches unlike uncomplicated  LE sabers  which ultra  will send to be anodized only in a few small batches.

An anodize bath is a fixed cost, so the more hilts we can get anodized at once, the more we can save per-hilt.  The smaller the hilt, the more of them can fit in a bath, but more important is simply how many we get anodized at a time.  The quantity of hilts we can send off for this varies by many factors, but the most prominent one is simply how many we have available at one time - which again, is dependent on many factors.

In addition to the actual bath is the prep.  A hilt must be cleaned thoroughly before being anodized, so the more intricate the hilt, the longer that takes and the more $$ it costs me to have done.

In addition to the bath is the cost of shipping/insuring hundreds of hilts.  That actually costs about as much as the actual anodize job.

No other builder offers this service and it's pretty clear why: It doesn't turn a profit and it's a pain to have to keep inventory of multiple versions of the same hilt.

I offer anodized hilts mainly because I think it's cool, I think yall will like it, and frankly, because I can.

"Because I can." lol.

Thanks for taking the time to answer guys.

Wow - that's an awful lot more complicated than I'd imagined!

I'd rather naively thought that you'd got a small anodising set up somewhere in the corner of your workshop and that it was all to do with the physical difficulties. (I guess it'd cost a fortune to buy, much less maintain that kind of set up... Oh and I suppose the chemicals must be pretty awful too... Yeah I kind of suck at realising how much real life affects everything - much less actual businessy stuff)

The more I stay on here the more I realise just how great you guys are to everyone who buys stuff from you!

Thanks again!

Thanks for replying ultra! It really makes you appreciate how wonderfully crafted the dark and le sabers are!