7 ms·

OP here. As someone who launched and fulfilled a small plastic gizmo on Kickstarter and then sold them on Amazon and at local Makerfaires, this equipment really

by doodah 7y ago

OP here. As someone who launched and fulfilled a small plastic gizmo on Kickstarter and then sold them on Amazon and at local Makerfaires, this equipment really spoke to me. Hence the submission. I 3D printed my product initially and found market fit at $5/piece, which didn't leave me with a lot of options to go into production and build a profitable business off it. 3D printing them was unsustainable. Which is why I'm not currently selling them. In order to produce them cost effectively, I'd need molds that cost several times what this entire system cost. And after that I'd have to order thousands at a time to bring my cost down to say $1. I passed on that at the time and considered producing them myself but this machine didn't exist at the time. If it had, I might be making them now! There are other benchtop/low volume molding systems but nothing comes as close to automatic production as this one. As for the company's site, this is fairly typical, but I'm sorry I didn't link to a better page. It certainly didn't get my blood boiling though. Them showing their price brings lots of good will. The CNC mill is also very interesting, with 4 motors driving the Z axis simultaneously.

radcon 7y ago
> In order to produce them cost effectively, I'd need molds that cost several times what this entire system cost. Was that price from China or the U.S. (or somewhere else)? > I passed on that at the time and considered producing them myself but this machine didn't exist at the time. If it had, I might be making them now! Does this mean you stopped making your product after fulfilling the Kickstarter orders?
- doodah 7y ago
  Chinese molds would have been 2x. Plus all that goes into working with China (as a very small fish at that) I was pretty concerned with paying $20k for what wouldn't amount to much more than a boat anchor. After fulfilling around 700 units on Kickstarter, I sold another 300 at local Makerfaires and around 100 on Amazon (using Vendor Express.)
  - bennythomson 7y ago
    What was the part you designed? Do you have a link to the Kickstarter?
    - doodah 7y ago
      Sure. The product was a new type of tube squeezer called Squizmo (Squeezing Gizmo.) I know I'm biased, but I think it is the best tube squeezer ever made. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1954489654/squizmo-a-3d-printed-self-sealing-tube-squeezer https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1954489654/squizmo-a-3d...
      - IgorPartola 7y ago
        I have seen devices like this several times, and what I honestly don’t get is why not just press the tube against the edge of a counter and squeeze that way?
        MichaelApproved 7y ago
        Not OP but I agree with you regarding tube squeezers. Just lean it up against the counter and pull down. However, I guess this one has the unique feature of letting you reuse smaller tubes by cutting off the end and refilling from a larger tube. I get the convenience of using a smaller tube, so refilling it would be nice, but doesn’t convenience go away when you have this big plastic squeezer thing at the end of it?
        onemoresoop 7y ago
        What's wrong with just folding the end of the tube and rolling it in (like a squeezing spiral)? I grew up in Easter Europe, we were always squeezing the toothpaste to the last drop.
        onemoresoop 7y ago
        It seems like I was spite down-voted for mentioning a hack that removes need to create an ever more plasticky device that is useless IMO and pollutes the environment and kills animals. Until we find a way to recycle plastic properly we should think twice about the lifetime of every plastic item we create or bring into this environment. Thanks for reading this.
catherd 7y ago
Not sure who you were talking to or how big your widget is, but if it's a single piece that fits in a 15cm cube and doesn't use expensive tolerances or shapes you're probably looking at somewhere between $4-$15k for a Chinese injection mold. My company makes a few of these each month.
- doodah 7y ago
  It would fit into that size cube and the part doesn't have crazy tolerances. The shape complicates the mold significantly. Even after redesigning for moldability, there would be pretty complicated parting lines and shut offs. Your situation was pretty different... Your company buys them, I was buying as an individual. You likely have a proven source, I didn't. It just wasn't a risk I was willing to take at that point in my life.
  - catherd 7y ago
    Actually, we're a contract manufacturer based in Shenzhen and that's what we sell them for. You probably made the right call, though, even if you had found a perfect supplier. Hardware projects funded by individuals almost always end in heartache if they try to go big.
    - doodah 7y ago
      Cool! I'll keep you and your company in mind in the future. At the time, I think I made the right call. Now with this machine being available I'm reconsidering. The mold bases are pretty inexpensive too. I could make the same investment I was going to make several years ago, but have a machine if it doesn't work out rather than a hunk of precisely machined, rather useless, steel on the other side of the world.
    - d-sc 7y ago
      Send an email to the address in your profile.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago
    Not to mention that you could be looking at multiple iterations of the mold. If you're selling a low-volume product, 4 molds @ 15k each could be your entire expected lifetime revenue.

by doodah 7y ago

radcon 7y ago

> In order to produce them cost effectively, I'd need molds that cost several times what this entire system cost. Was that price from China or the U.S. (or somewhere else)? > I passed on that at the time and considered producing them myself but this machine didn't exist at the time. If it had, I might be making them now! Does this mean you stopped making your product after fulfilling the Kickstarter orders?

doodah 7y ago
Chinese molds would have been 2x. Plus all that goes into working with China (as a very small fish at that) I was pretty concerned with paying $20k for what wouldn't amount to much more than a boat anchor. After fulfilling around 700 units on Kickstarter, I sold another 300 at local Makerfaires and around 100 on Amazon (using Vendor Express.)
- bennythomson 7y ago
  What was the part you designed? Do you have a link to the Kickstarter?
  - doodah 7y ago
    Sure. The product was a new type of tube squeezer called Squizmo (Squeezing Gizmo.) I know I'm biased, but I think it is the best tube squeezer ever made. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1954489654/squizmo-a-3d-printed-self-sealing-tube-squeezer https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1954489654/squizmo-a-3d...
    - IgorPartola 7y ago
      I have seen devices like this several times, and what I honestly don’t get is why not just press the tube against the edge of a counter and squeeze that way?
      - MichaelApproved 7y ago
        Not OP but I agree with you regarding tube squeezers. Just lean it up against the counter and pull down. However, I guess this one has the unique feature of letting you reuse smaller tubes by cutting off the end and refilling from a larger tube. I get the convenience of using a smaller tube, so refilling it would be nice, but doesn’t convenience go away when you have this big plastic squeezer thing at the end of it?
        onemoresoop 7y ago
        What's wrong with just folding the end of the tube and rolling it in (like a squeezing spiral)? I grew up in Easter Europe, we were always squeezing the toothpaste to the last drop.
        onemoresoop 7y ago
        It seems like I was spite down-voted for mentioning a hack that removes need to create an ever more plasticky device that is useless IMO and pollutes the environment and kills animals. Until we find a way to recycle plastic properly we should think twice about the lifetime of every plastic item we create or bring into this environment. Thanks for reading this.

catherd 7y ago

Not sure who you were talking to or how big your widget is, but if it's a single piece that fits in a 15cm cube and doesn't use expensive tolerances or shapes you're probably looking at somewhere between $4-$15k for a Chinese injection mold. My company makes a few of these each month.

doodah 7y ago
It would fit into that size cube and the part doesn't have crazy tolerances. The shape complicates the mold significantly. Even after redesigning for moldability, there would be pretty complicated parting lines and shut offs. Your situation was pretty different... Your company buys them, I was buying as an individual. You likely have a proven source, I didn't. It just wasn't a risk I was willing to take at that point in my life.
- catherd 7y ago
  Actually, we're a contract manufacturer based in Shenzhen and that's what we sell them for. You probably made the right call, though, even if you had found a perfect supplier. Hardware projects funded by individuals almost always end in heartache if they try to go big.
  - doodah 7y ago
    Cool! I'll keep you and your company in mind in the future. At the time, I think I made the right call. Now with this machine being available I'm reconsidering. The mold bases are pretty inexpensive too. I could make the same investment I was going to make several years ago, but have a machine if it doesn't work out rather than a hunk of precisely machined, rather useless, steel on the other side of the world.
  - d-sc 7y ago
    Send an email to the address in your profile.
- HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago
  Not to mention that you could be looking at multiple iterations of the mold. If you're selling a low-volume product, 4 molds @ 15k each could be your entire expected lifetime revenue.