---
title: "Making One, Making Thousands"
description: "The cheapest way to make one of something is almost never the cheapest way to make ten thousand. Tooling, jigs and tolerances are the price of repeating a design exactly."
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/making-one-making-thousands-mt_0wbzsY10cQ
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/making-one-making-thousands-mt_0wbzsY10cQ.md
retrieved: 2026-09-12
---

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# Making One, Making Thousands

The cheapest way to make one of something is almost never the cheapest way to make ten thousand. Tooling, jigs and tolerances are the price of repeating a design exactly.

Subject: Design & Technology · Area: Designing & Making · Ages 14 to 16
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/making-one-making-thousands-mt_0wbzsY10cQ

## Ready when they can

- Explain why a mould is worth paying for at high volume and not at low volume
- Say what a tolerance is and why parts that must fit together need one
- Name what a jig or a template does for repeatability
- Compare one-off, batch and mass production on cost per item and on flexibility

## Lesson: Why the thousandth costs less

The cheapest way to make one of something is almost never the cheapest way to make ten thousand. Tooling, jigs and moulds cost upfront and then pay back across every copy.

**Example.** A steel mould costs a fortune, so for ten copies you carve by hand instead. For ten thousand it wins easily, since its price spreads thin across the run.

Repeatability needs two helpers. A tolerance says how close is close enough for parts to fit, and a jig or template holds each copy in the same place. Without them, copies drift.

**Tip.** Compare one-off, batch and mass runs on two dials: cost per item and flexibility. Mass wins on price per item, one-off wins when the design keeps changing.

**Recap.** Upfront tooling buys repeatability, and volume decides whether it pays.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [CAD and Making by Machine](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/cad-and-making-by-machine-mt_jNf8g85YbY)

## Opens up

- [The Whole Life of a Product](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/the-whole-life-of-a-product-mt_hyBZiDvDoX)