That's the painful part. Shop labor at the time was $45 per hour (I didn't set this) skilled or unskilled.
Amanda quoted an hour each for them. All said and done with setting up the graphics, getting the swords stable, and actually engraving them it was probably 5 hours of work.
So we got $90.00 for the pair.
If I was allowed to charge a reasonable rate for the work we do (and I wasn't at lunch when the price was quoted) I would have probably said $150 each. Though from the look of the customer, they wouldn't have paid it. They thought $90 total was expensive.
If you're doing 12 it will be worthwhile to build a jig, assuming the swords are all consistent. Ours were high quality, real officers swords. There are a lot of knock-off katana (samurai swords) being produced.
If it were me, without seeing the blades or knowing the text, I would say, with padding, 2 hours to build a reliable jig, 1 hour to get the curve in the computer properly for setting up your text. And then one hour each for the swords to set them in the jig and engrave the text.
Sei
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