Your assumption is correct.
welcome one and all to this fine "I'm gonna eventually shoot my neighbor's bawling dog" Sunday morning.
the damnedest thing, last night...
fellow I know, runs a club (no, this is not a joke)
appreciates handcraft and workmanship, and has interest in obsolete weaponry.
he's been following the progress of the bokken project.
outta the blue, he asks what I'd charge to make him one.
"a bokken like this one? lead-cored and with a steel guard and all the trimmings? way more than it is worth, just to cover working hours" sez I.
"more than it is worth, TO YOU" sez he.
"No, seriously," sez I, "I'd hafta charge a thousand bucks for one of these, just to cover the hours invested"
"Yeah, and?" sez he
"..." sez I "Dude, I wouldn't feel right charging that kind of money for a [beep!]ing bokken - they're supposed to be cheap and disposable, compared to a real katana... but I couldn't charge less for something that takes 100 hours to make."
"mm-hmm," sez he "Like I said, more than it is worth to YOU. If I can swing it, and I think I can, I'll want you to make me a set (long and short)."
Now, I dunno if he is serious, or will remain so, or -even if serious- whether he can in fact cough up Two Large...
but...
...damn!
it just feels totally creepy-wierd to have someone even talk about spending that kind of cash over some hand-crafted thing I make in my spare time.