Pricing for Lettering and Engraving: Lettering, Proofs and Logo's: Basic pricing for work in this category is fairly simple. For the general public, and with few exceptions such as extra-fancy styles, lettering is priced by the hour, and works out to about $1.50-$2.00 per letter or number, with no charge for punctuation characters. The lettering charge by the hour, instead of by the letter, is effective Oct. 1, 2007. Pricing by the hour allows me to simplify my charges. An example might be where lettering on a 1911 slide is missing completely, and has to have the pattern put on using ink prints. This step alone can take some time and there really is no 'standard' way to charge for that time. It can take multiple tries to get a good pattern onto the steel. The end-result is that the same slide lettering will cost less if the original lettering is there to use as my pattern, and will cost more if it isn't. The former 'per-letter' charge averaged these 2 hypothetical cases, but actually penalized the customer with the good slide, and favored (or discounted) the customer with the bad slide. By charging this job by the hour, the customer with the less-time-consuming job will pay less, and vice-versa. A few other special cases exist. To put the DWM logo on a Luger middle toggle may require surface-annealing the toggle, as about half the time these toggles are too hardened to manage without annealing. So, the hourly charging will incorporate the time to prep the piece, or to touch-up the finish after the lettering is done. Pricing for Logo's/Trademarks were based on complexity. A circled Rampant Colt was $20. The complex S&W logo with trademark lettering was $40. A simple Walther banner was $15. But, here again there can be great differences in the time it takes to do the job. Sometimes pitting around the lettering must first be removed, or the proofs on one gun may be far more difficult than the same proofs on another super-hard gun. So, the hourly charge again will favor the customer with the easier job that takes less time, and will penalize the more difficult job. The average cost across the board will still be about $1.50/letter (which it has been for over 20 years) for the easier jobs, but might be $2.00/letter, as an example, for more difficult jobs. Very fancy lettering, such as Old English, might be $3.00/letter or more. Please see 'Pricing and Job Minimums' on the main menu.