I wonder how much it would cost to build a nice medium size grinder made entirely out of the titanium they use to anodize the Ti Space Cases? I know it would likely cost a lot more but it would be extremely durable and probably worth the price for me in the long run.
For Production in China costs are roughly:
Zinc grinders cost ~$3.5
Basic Aluminum grinders cost ~$3.5-6
Nicer Aluminum grinders cost ~$8-12
Decked out custom-made Aluminum grinders cost ~$16-19
For a 316 SS grinder, my guess would be that the cost to produce it would be ~$100/unit. (Although, you'd have a really hard time getting someone to manufacturer it...)
My guess for a true, high quality titanium, the cost to produce each unit would be at least $300/unit. If not closer to $500.
Also, my understanding of titanium coated grinders, is that they are not coated in titanium. It's just that the color/finish after anodizing the aluminum is similar to the color of titanium. So while the grinder may be called titanium (making it sound very appealing) what you're really getting aluminum grinder thats similar to the color titanium.
If you carefully read the sales copy on all the different listings of grinders making the titanium claim, you'll see that they are very vague with exactly what their use of titanium is... but they always sneak in something about the finish and how it relates to titanium.
All that said, most grinders (and also aluminum consumer products) are finished with a soft anodizing. But, there's also another anodizing technology, called Hard Anodizing. Hard Anodizing does exactly what it sounds like. Makes aluminum really hard and strong. And while soft anodizing gives you a ton of different color options, hard anodizing leaves you with finishes that are a dark-silverly to black. Typically these colors are named things like gun metal, titanium, etc. (and also black.)
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