Why 25 pieces costs more than a quarter of 100
Small-batch CNC pricing is dominated by setup, not cutting. What actually drives the per-piece price on an EDC run, and the four changes that move it most.
The question we get most often from first-time EDC buyers: why is 25 pieces almost as expensive as 100? It reads like a shop padding the number. It usually is not. Understanding where the money goes is the fastest way to get a quote down without cutting anything you care about.
Setup does not scale
Before a single part is cut, someone programs the toolpath, proves it out, builds or buys workholding, sets tool offsets, and machines a first article that gets measured. On a knife scale that is typically four to ten hours of skilled time and a soft-jaw or fixture plate that exists only for your part.
That cost is identical whether the run is 25 pieces or 250. Spread over 25, it is the largest line in the quote. Spread over 250, it disappears into the noise. The cutting itself — the part of the process buyers picture — is often under a third of the total on a small EDC batch.
The four things that actually move the price
1. Number of setups. Every time the part has to be unclamped, flipped and re-referenced, you pay for the operation and for the tolerance stack it introduces. A scale machined in one setup with a soft jaw is dramatically cheaper than one needing three. Designing a flat datum face into the part is free at CAD stage and saves money forever.
2. Tolerance callouts you did not need. A ±0.01 mm callout on a cosmetic face costs real money — tighter tooling, slower passes, more inspection, more scrap. Call out tight tolerance on the two or three dimensions that control fit, and leave everything else to the general block. This single change routinely takes fifteen to twenty percent off a quote.
3. Internal corner radii. A 1 mm internal radius forces a 2 mm or smaller end mill, which means shallow depths of cut, many more passes and frequent tool changes. Opening the radius to 3 mm lets the shop use a rigid tool and cut the pocket in a fraction of the time. Nothing about how the part looks in the hand changes.
4. Finishing and its handoffs. Anodizing and PVD are batch processes with their own minimums, so a 25-piece anodize order often pays close to the same bath charge as 100 pieces. If you are planning a second colourway, running both in one batch is meaningfully cheaper than two separate trips.
What small batches are genuinely worth paying for
Small-batch pricing is not something to eliminate — it is the cost of validating a design before you commit. Twenty-five pieces that prove the liner drops into the frame is much cheaper than five hundred that do not. Most brands we work with run prototype, then 50, then scale once the fit is proven.
What is worth refusing is a shop that treats the small run as an annoyance. Rushed setups on a 25-piece job produce exactly the variation that makes you doubt your own design.
Getting a quote you can act on
Ask for the quote itemised: material, setup, machining, finish, packing, freight. A single lump sum tells you nothing about which lever to pull. Once you can see that setup is sixty percent of the number, the conversation shifts from “can you discount this” to “what if we run 60 instead of 25” — which is a conversation that actually gets somewhere.
Send a drawing and the quote comes back itemised by default. Related reading: choosing between titanium grades and finishes that survive a pocket.
A worked example
Rough numbers for a titanium knife scale, to show the shape rather than to quote your part:
| Quantity | Setup (total) | Machining | Finishing | Per-piece |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | fixed | low | at minimum charge | highest |
| 25 | same fixed | 2.5x | at minimum charge | ~55% of the 10-piece price |
| 50 | same fixed | 5x | at or near minimum | ~40% |
| 100 | same fixed | 10x | scaling | ~30% |
| 250 | same fixed | 25x | scaling | ~25% |
The curve is steep between 10 and 50 and flattens after about 100. That flattening point is where setup has been amortised and you are mostly paying for machine time and material.
Knowing roughly where the knee is for your part is the single most useful thing to ask for, which is why you request pricing at three quantities rather than one.
Where the money actually goes
On a 25-piece titanium scale order, a typical breakdown:
- Programming and proving out: significant, and entirely fixed
- Workholding: soft jaws or a fixture plate machined specifically for your part, also fixed
- Material: small, and it includes the offcut you pay for but do not receive
- Machining time: scales directly with quantity
- Finishing: largely fixed at small quantities because of bath minimums
- Inspection: first article is fixed; in-process scales
- Packing and admin: mostly fixed
Add those up and the fixed portion dominates below about 50 pieces. That is the whole explanation.
Reorders are cheaper, and you should ask by how much
If the fixture and program survive, a repeat order skips most of the fixed cost. The second order of the same part can be twenty to forty percent cheaper than the first.
Two things to confirm:
Does the shop keep the fixture and program? Usually yes, and usually for a stated period. Ask.
Is the reorder price stated? Ask for it in the original quote: “price for a repeat order within twelve months, same revision”. It costs nothing to ask and it makes your second production decision much easier.
This also connects to who owns the tooling, which is worth settling before the first order — see NDA, IP and tooling ownership.
The four design changes that move a small-batch price most
Summarised here, covered in full in design for CNC:
- Open internal corner radii so a rigid tool can be used
- Reduce the number of setups, ideally to one
- Loosen every tolerance that does not control assembly
- Remove a finishing operation if the design does not need it
On a first-time EDC part these routinely total fifteen to thirty percent, and none of them are visible to a customer.
Batching your own parts
If you are making a knife with scales, a clip and hardware, quoting them as one project rather than three is usually cheaper. Shared material orders, shared finishing loads, one round of admin, one shipment.
The same applies across a product line. Two designs released six months apart cost more than two designs machined in the same window, even at the same total quantity.
Small-batch cost is one step in the route from drawing to delivered batch, set out in our guide to custom EDC manufacturing.
FAQ
What is a realistic minimum order for EDC parts? One, for a prototype. Ten to fifty for a first production batch. Any shop insisting on a container minimum is not built for this market.
Why is the prototype so expensive relative to the production part? Because it carries the entire setup cost on one piece. It is not a markup, it is arithmetic — and it is still far cheaper than discovering the problem on 200 parts.
Should I order more than I need to get the price down? Only if you will use them. Inventory of a low-value part like a bead or a clip is low-risk; inventory of a version-one scale you will redesign is not.
Can I supply my own material to save money? Sometimes, for unusual laminates or colours. For common metals the shop buys better than you do. Agree who carries scrap risk if you do.
How much should a first article cost? A modest fixed charge plus the part. See first article inspection.
How do I find out where my knee is? Ask for three quantities in the quote. Put them in the RFQ and the answer comes back with the first number.