Contrasting Mature Metal and Badass Workroom
Both amazing but both very different
I have a good amount of experience with both artisans. With Mature Metal, I have the iconic Jail Bird as well as a Spyder. With Badass Workroom, I have a titanium BA-28 with a cuff (flat) ring, a pair of tetherspouts, and I’m currently working with him on something of my own design under his BAWR Premium Service.
I am not going to write this as a silly A vs B style article as that doesn’t do either of them justice.
But I did make an over-the-top A vs B image to wow you with. You’re welcome.
Mature Metal is almost the definition of pedigree, of heritage. William has been making custom chastity cages for over 20 years and Mistress Mature Metal has been the face of the company for almost as long. They, hands-down, have some of the best customer service you will find in any industry. Their cages are very well made and will outlive your great grandchildren. While some of their designs are unique and attractive, their use of traditional metalwork techniques put a limit on what they are capable of.
Badass Workroom is a bit of an enigma. Finding out who is behind BAWR is a challenge but it seems like Guan is slowly opening up a bit about himself and his business yet we still know very little about him other than he operates in Hong Kong and has numerous domain names (he’s had hosting issues in the past).
He is often criticized as simply copying other’s designs. And there’s some truth to that; well, there’s a lot of truth to that. But from what I know of the custom market, he’s also made some innovations. I suspect the method he attaches accessories to cages is his design. But he’s copied Cherry Keeper’s junction on some of his designs so closely, that they are actually cross compatible. In the BAWR Premium service I’m using, he showed me a render of how he planned on doing the junction and it came right out of Red Chili (he’s going back to the drawing board, mainly because it’s fugly).
His capabilities include traditional metalwork in both 316L as well as titanium and DMLS printing in both metals1. He has numerous designs but many of them are hard to distinguish from one another. He has robust support for piercings as well as tetherspouts and has multiple security solutions including E-clips for those who want to be seriously permanent. While his prices are a bit over Mature Metal2, I would say his cages show that he has techniques available to him that William does not. William is an excellent craftsman but he’s working with what are likely metalshop tools that any well equipped home metalshop might have. Guan seems to have far more advanced tools at his disposal.
I think one of Guan’s largest issues is timelines – he can commit to a schedule but he hardly ever meets his commitment. My BA-28 order started very early in my chastity journey with a $100 resin test cage. Before I had it, I had ordered and received a Jail Bird. After some months I emailed him about the cage that was supposed to take four to six weeks (and gave him much updated measurements as by then, Mature Metal had taught me my measurements) and after 5 1/2 months, I received my test cage. And it fit perfectly so I went ahead and ordered it in titanium.
He did make good on the extreme delay. My BA-28 I had in hand in a bit over six weeks. Of course that was two weeks longer than he committed but still months faster than other people were receiving their cages.
Mature Metal, by contrast, consistently meets their timelines.
But returning to BAWR – Guan does make good on his mistakes; he seems to understand what’s fair and treats his customers accordingly.
But he is very short on time. And very long on work.
Which brings me to the most stark contrast between the two artisans: BAWR will make exactly what you ask for, even if it doesn’t make any sense. He basically doesn’t have time to give you advice or opine on your choices.
Going back to my early days in chastity – I first found comfort in a ridiculously sized ring, a Cherry Keeper 64x58 mm oval ring. I gave those numbers to BAWR and he was going to run with it.. well, 5 1/2 months isn’t exactly running.
When I gave those numbers to Mature Metal, they questioned me. Mistress Mature Metal (and I’ll never forget this) told me over the phone in her quaint West Texas accent, “Hon, you don’t need a ring that big, you just need a bigger ball gap”. My first Mature Metal ring was 51 mm, not 64x58 mm. I very well could have spent $500 on a horribly fitting titanium cage from Badass Workroom – and I wouldn’t have even known it.
Mature Metal showed me what proper fit was and ever since then, every cage I’ve ordered has fit like a glove.
So, that brings me to my conclusion.
Unless you absolutely know you know cage fit. And I’m talking about being able to wear a 160 g steel cage without a strap, being able to forget you’re even wearing a cage, and sleeping every night all night (well, as much as your caffeine habit allows), go to Mature Metal. And talk to them. You can ask for a 51 mm ring and it can still be the wrong size. Reach out to them over the phone or over email and tell them everything, about every cage you had and what your issues were. Leverage that 20 years of experience in making 20,000 custom cages; take advantage of their amazing customer service. If you don’t, you’re giving up hundreds of dollars in value (I'm trying to put a price on knowing how a cage should fit — I'm likely undervaluing it).
But, once you do know your fit, Badass Workroom becomes very compelling. Titanium is an amazing material. Anodization offers you some customization options you won’t get in any other metal. And the welds are impeccable.
But if you go there still struggling with comfort and fit, you will have a very nice poorly fitting cage. There’s nothing magical about the workmanship that will fix a bad fit. And it’s not like shipping it back to Hong Kong for adjustment is a fun process. Sending back a Jail Bird to Weatherford, TX (assuming you’re in the US), is two days and $10. I had the ball gap adjusted on my Jailbird; I shipped it out on Monday and had it back Friday.
So finally, both artisans are amazing and both have compelling reasons to patronize them. And frankly, I think there are few in the custom market that rival them when considering the entire spectrum: quality, capability, design, service, knowledge, and price. I would be perfectly happy recommending either to anyone who knows their fit. I would only recommend Mature Metal to those who don’t.
He must be outsourcing the 3D printing as those machines are incredibly expensive..
He recently increased his 316L prices by $80 and titanium by $100.