Let's assume he's buying everything, fully machined, for $5k. Also assuming he's got 30 hours actual build time. Figure overhead costs 30%
So $2k in overhead, 4k in labor assuming it's a one man operation. That's $133/hr for assembly. Definitely high, but not crazy high. If he's paying folks to do that now he's splitting that 133/HR and it's not much.
