Home / Reference / Cost estimator
What Should a Keyboard Case Run Cost?
A planning number, so you know whether a quote is sane before you commit to a buy target. Every factor this uses is printed further down the page, because a calculator that hides its model is just a guess with a nicer font.
This is not a quote. It is a typical market range. Real prices depend on your geometry, your cosmetic standard and how busy the shop is, and the only way to get one is to ask a shop.
Estimated unit cost
—
USD per unit, ex works, before freight and duty.
- Machining—
- Finishing—
- Tooling, spread over the run—
- Per unit, midpoint—
- Run total, midpoint—
How the model works
Five terms, in the order they matter. If you disagree with a number here, change it in your head and the estimate moves the way you expect.
- Machining base$46 per unit at a reference quantity of 100, before any factor. Multiplied by the part, layout, material and mount factors below.
- Quantity curveApplied to machining only. 3.2x at one piece, 1.15x at fifty, 1.0x at one hundred, 0.84x at five hundred. Setup and programming are the reason the low end is so steep.
- FinishingA per unit charge plus a batch minimum. The batch term is why fifty and two hundred cases can cost nearly the same to finish, and why the per unit price falls so sharply across that range.
- Tooling$1400 base for fixtures, soft jaws and programming, scaled by the same part and mount factors, charged once. Spread across the run when the box above is ticked.
- RangeThe figure is shown as plus or minus 25 percent, because a cosmetic standard, a busy anodiser and your actual geometry each move the real number more than any factor in this model.
The factors, in full
Nothing hidden. These multiply the machining base and, for part and mount, the tooling base.
| Part | x | Layout | x | Material | x | Mount | x |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top case | 1.00 | 60 or 65 percent | 1.00 | 6061 aluminium | 1.00 | Tray mount | 1.00 |
| Bottom case | 1.15 | 75 percent | 1.20 | 6063 aluminium | 1.02 | Top mount | 1.12 |
| Full case set, top and bottom | 2.00 | TKL | 1.45 | 7075 aluminium | 1.30 | Gasket mount | 1.20 |
| Plate | 0.18 | Full size | 1.80 | Brass C360 | 2.10 | Leaf spring | 1.45 |
| Weight | 0.30 | Numpad or macropad | 0.55 | Copper C110 | 2.60 | Integrated plate | 1.60 |
| Stainless 304 | 2.80 | Not applicable | 1.00 | ||||
| POM, PC or FR4 | 0.35 |
Finishing, per unit and batch minimum in USD: Type II anodising 7 plus 900. Type III hardcoat 10 plus 1100. Electrophoretic coating 11 plus 1400. Cerakote or powder coat 9 plus 800. PVD 16 plus 1800. Polished or brushed 14 plus 300.
What this cannot know
Four things move a real quote more than anything in the model above, and none of them can be captured by a dropdown.
- Your actual geometryHow deep the pockets are, how many setups the part needs and whether there is an undercut nobody noticed. Ask each shop for a setup count with its price.
- Your cosmetic standardA tight standard with no written definition is the most expensive thing on a drawing, because the shop prices the worst reading of it.
- How busy the shop isThe same part quoted in two different months from the same shop can differ by a quarter.
- Metal price on the dayYou buy the billet, not the finished case, and most of that billet becomes chips.
Now get a real number
Use the RFQ template, ask three shops at three quantities, and compare the breakdowns line by line. The reasoning behind every term in this model is in where the money goes.