Our story for boron largely follows the same backstory arc as the case with beryllium: both are exotic lightweight elements that require very specialized machining processes to whip into shape. And, since our suppliers had never worked these two into specific shapes before (they're normally sold in ugly brick-like chunks) there was a lengthy period prior to getting it right.In this particular case, boron is a pricey element to find in very pure grades as it suffers from both low commercial demand and excessive difficulty in extraction from its ores. So no matter what it starts out expensive. Secondly, there's the technical challenge of teasing it into the desired geometry. Where other more commonly seen metals can be shaped and polished easily there simply wasn't any ready reference outlining the steps for the machinist to guide him on how to cut this material in surgically precise fashion. This goes a ways in explaining why boron, as opposed to all the other cubes we offer, has a price that increases per gram as the size of the cube gets larger. We have been given a quote of $3,700 for a 50mm cube... and there was no smiley emoji or a "just kidding!" after that jaw dropping sum. That's just nuts if you ask me.But I digress...Boron is an exceptionally hard ceramic-like substance. Like the diamond it shares many traits with, its hardness comes with the penalty of brittleness so a good deal of care should be taken to avoid dropping as it may shatter. These cubes made from boron powder that is compacted and fused under immense pressure giving it the desired form. However, because the starting material is inherently without structure this still leaves the edges and corners particularly vulnerable. Comes in a protective box.The 10mm cubes weigh an ethereally light 1.3±0.05g
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