The OUTRAGEOUS Price of kilts!

[GMan]

Well said Alan!

[Robin]

My turn...

A dirk kilt pin with a deer antler handle... €32,50



Materials used:
About 50 grams of leadfree pewter, a piece of antler, a 50mm brass pin with secuity closure, a 20mm M2 bolt, a 10mm M2 bolt, a M2 nut, a small balsa wooden box, a bit of wood chips, a printed label, a bit of seal wax, 2 drops of 2 part epoxy glue, potasium permangranate, to give the antler "character", 70cm colored rope, a small box or padded enveloppe, labels, printer cartridge ink, blackening/weathering acid, Zapon spray varnish, electricity, water, soap (to clean my hands once in a while)...and sometimes a bandage when I hurt myself.

About €4,50 ....I'm such a crook

Tools used:
A professional melting pot (€300 investment), re-usable oiled casting sand, a casting form, a band sanding machine to reduse the weight and flatten the rear of the pin, a Proxxon with flexible shaft (to drill holes and mill bolt head space), a large file to remove sprue, 10 different pin files to shape the pin, 350, 500, 1500 and 2000 grade sandpaper, 2mm and 1.5mm drills, polishing wool, rubbing compound, metal polish, an old tshirt, glue clamps, 2 ear cleaning tips.

Let's say...€1,00

Sub total...€5,50...I should be flogged to death for ripping my poor customers off

Now let's add some wee minutes work...

-Preparing the casting form....10 minutes.
-Fire up the melting machine, casting and cleaning up...5 minutes.
-Digging out the cast and check the result...5 minutes (not good? start again).
-Clean the pin...5 minutes.
-Sand down the back of the pin and remove access material...10 minutes.
-Drill holes and mill bolt head space...5 minutes.
-Smoothen the surface with pin files and sand paper...10 minutes.
-File the fish scalers...5 minutes (no mistake here!)
-Smoothen the surface with 1500 and 2000 grade sand paper...5 minutes
-Shape the antler to fit the handle space, 10 minutes.
-Insert the handle bolt and glue (2 part epoxy) the antler "block" in place (clamp in place and let cure)...5 minutes.
-File and sand down the antler to follow the shape of the handle...10 minutes.
-File and sand the antler to make it 3 dimensional...5 minutes.
-Drill holes in the backing pin...make sure the holes match the holes in the pin... drill some shallow holles in the back of the pin also for more grip for the epoxy....5 minutes.
-Sand the back of the pin and clean it with alcohol to degreace the surface...5 minutes.
-Attach the pin with 2 part epoxy glue, hammer the lower bolt (shortened to fit) in, secure the top bolt with a nut...clamp to cure...5 minutes.
-Cut and file off the top bolt end...5 minutes.
-Put the pin in an acid bath to blacken it...clean with water...repeat 2 or 3 times (dab corners with ear cleaner thingy when needed)...5 minutes.
-Polish the blade with fine metal wool and metal polish...leave the blood groove and fish scalers blackened...5 minutes.
-Rub the ferrules with a finger to give it a smooth but blackened finish...0 minutes.
-Dab the antler handle with deluted potasium...use another ear cleaning thiny to do this...rinse with water (repeat when needed)...5 minutes.
-Sand off the antler handle with 2000 grade sand paper (stay away from the ferules!!!!) until it looks nice...5 minutes.
-Inspect the pin and give it a final polishing...5 minutes.
-Varnish the pin with "Zapon" spray varnish...mainly to give the antler a nice shiny finish and to protect the blackened ferules...repeat this 2 times...let cure in between...10 minutes.
-Make a picture of the pin...put it on the comp...crop it....10 minutes.
-Measure and weight the pin, label the pin, put it in it's labeled box with, add a wax seal....5 minutes.
-Edit the web page and upload it to the server...5 minutes.
-Reply emails send by those who don't have a clue I'm a criminal trying to rip them off...make more pictures when someone asks for it...and inform them about the different P&P options....5 minutes.
-OMG!!!! someone took the bait!!! send the poor bastard a PayPal invoice and take the money (oh...minus 5% PayPal charges btw), put the pin in a box, print adress, fragile and retour labels, walk to the post office and send it to the poor sod...I won't "charge" a nice stroll to the post office...0 minutes.
-Edit the web page again..."sold" (muhahahaha!!!!), upload...5 minutes.

Total....180 minutes work €32,50...minus €5,50 used materials...minus €1,62 PayPal charges...is €25,38 in the pocket.

€8,46 (=$11,41) per hour.

I think I forgot to mention stuff like Google advertising expenses, website expenses, health insurence, business cards, communication with suppliers and some more.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Alan,

As a kiltmaker, let me just say THANK YOU!

[Big Mikey]

As many before have said, this is a great explanation of value versus cost. I believe that as individuals, we make judgements on what we feel are justified costs. Having just invested in a handmade tank, I have no doubt that I received great value. If the makers wages are approximately half the cost, he made a little but with almost ten yards of material in the garment I know why the cost was high.

I use the comparison of vehicles. A new Harley Davidson runs about $25,000 whereas a new Pontiac compact runs about $13,000. Paying the former for transportation without a heater, that allows me to get wet in the rain and costs twice as much to insure, is just silly.

This is just one more opinion, for better or worse.

[RockyR]

Alan ! You've got to stop this now.

If the kiltmakers figure this out they're all going to quit and go get jobs as boring IT Project Managers. (I can say that because I ARE one.) If that happens then all the sewingly challenged folks like me will just be out of luck.

Seriously, I don't know how they do it.

Remember Pittsburgh Kilts? Jeff was a GREAT guy and from what I have seen, a very solid kiltmaker (pun intended), but he threw in the towel a couple years ago to go back to HIS I.T. job. The money just wasn't there to support his family.


Thanks Alan for the "non-biased" breakdown of how long things take.

TO clarify 1 little point, it takes ME 20 to 26 hours to get a Premier kilt done, and that's WITH machine sewing the pleats "inside out" so you don't see stitching. How any traditional kiltmaker says s/he can get 2 OR 3 done in 1 day is full of it... unless they have 5 or 6 people working for them. Then MAYBE they can geta a few done in a day.

[LordKiltClad]

Robin,
your beautiful pieces of art that adorn the bottom right corners of so many kilts are worth their weight in gold. I honestly would have paid more if you asked it.

Same goes for all the kilt makers. I can see why and how such things are worth what they are.

Dread's head gear, Freelander, Turpin, A_Hay, etc's Sporrans, Cavs leather, etc, etc, etc, etc. All worth every penny spent.

[JRB]

On top of everything said, just think of the longevity of a typical hand made kilt. How long do a pair of jeans last you? I usually wear out a pair of $40.00 jeans in less than two years. I have no doubt that my kilts will last beyond my lifetime. They're a bargain when you look at it that way.

[Dirka Skene]

Wow. Thanks for the perspective.

[Robin]

I think the main drive of all craftsmen (kiltmakers, leather workers, cooks etc.) is the love for what they make...or do. Not all have to like it, but a happy customer and the knowledge you made something with love for someone who appreciate it...is awesome. We need money to live, but it's not the reason we do our thing I guess. It's nice to make nice things...it really is (and learn from mistakes once in a while)

[turpin]

I am in total agreement on the kilt-makers time. Anyone who has read The Art of Kilt Making knows there is a lot of time involved, not only in sewing, but in ensuring proper measurments from the customer, finalizing the order, ordering cloth, cutting, layout, pleating, finishing, shipping. All take time, all necessary for a quality result and a satisfied customer. As for the weaving, forget that there are farmers involved who raise and shear the sheep, spinning, carding, fulling(?), dyeing, before the thread even gets to the looms. Then, the set-up for the run, finishing the selvedge, and all that subsequently takes place between that and sending cut cloth to the kiltmaker. I like having an inexpensive kilt to knock about in, but I truly appreciate what goes into my favorite part of kilting. My favorite knock-about kilts are those woolies I have gotten used that have been softened by wear.

And thanks for recognizing the time and steps involved in making a good sporran. While not in the same league as a good kilt, none of us wants to put out less than a quality product and that takes time. And we make mistakes (At least I do - just ask Big Mikey about ol' number 13) that have to be redone.