This appears to be nothing more than a typical custom fabrication situation. You (pinsiders) acting in the aggregate (like a business) contracting out to fabricate a known qty of an tem at an agreed upon price. If the 'you' isn't a big enough number, the setup costs of the fabricator make it infeasible. In which case, nothing happens, no harm, no foul. If the 'you' is big enough, the fabricator fires up the line at a locked-in profit (assumes the fabricator knows their stuff and how to cost and price properly). Virtually no risk to the custom fabricator. If the fabricator knows their stuff there is also minimal risk to 'you'. Of course, this assumes the fabricator is a viable on-going concern, that they do know their stuff and that on-going support is not necessary. I'm not sure how one could possibly make that call without knowing who the 'fabricator' is and having some time for due diligence.