2 ms·

If you send any sort of marketable product to China, expect that it can and will be duplicated and sold in competition with you. China sells tons of products t

If you send any sort of marketable product to China, expect that it can and will be duplicated and sold in competition with you. China sells tons of products they cloned from something pre-existing. I know because I own some of it and I've seen lots of western companies making use of it too. Here are a couple of examples of products from Amazon that existed long before China started producing clones. https://www.amazon.com/BIG-RED-TAM82012-Hydraulic-Carrying/dp/B0BGVHZJ9G/ref=sr_1_6 https://www.amazon.com/BIG-RED-TAM82012-Hydraulic-Carrying/d... https://www.amazon.com/BILT-HARD-Vertical-4-Stroke-Compliant/dp/B09SYK7LMT/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=3GQV29RA8GDLC&keywords=Lawn+mower+engine&qid=1704637573&sprefix=lawn+mower+engine%2Caps%2C1256&sr=8-2-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/BILT-HARD-Vertical-4-Stroke-Compliant... All that being said, my best advice is to refine your design locally first, before farming out mass prooduction. Lots of local machine shops can fabricate simple custom metal parts --- they exist just for this purpose.

huhtenberg 3y ago
Thanks for the reply and I hear you, but I am not trying to make a commercial product, just something for my own use. It'd be also fairly hard to understand what the thing is for without the context, so I am not worried about it being cloned or the idea stolen. I do care about prototyping it as cheaply as possible. I can also wait. The cost angle rules out local machine shops as they are (really) expensive. Hence the quest for the online services.
- jqpabc123 3y ago
  Prototype and cheap are usually mutually exclusive. In other words, cheap typically means automated mass production. https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/waterjet-big-blue-saw https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/waterjet-big-blue-saw
- trevyn 3y ago
  If it's just something for your own use, you should tell us in detail what exactly you're trying to do, with pictures, and we'll tell you how to do it cheaply and effectively. Otherwise you're literally just fucking around with your design software for your own personal fun, with (clearly) zero idea of how physical objects are actually made.
  - huhtenberg 3y ago
    Love you too.

huhtenberg 3y ago

Thanks for the reply and I hear you, but I am not trying to make a commercial product, just something for my own use. It'd be also fairly hard to understand what the thing is for without the context, so I am not worried about it being cloned or the idea stolen. I do care about prototyping it as cheaply as possible. I can also wait. The cost angle rules out local machine shops as they are (really) expensive. Hence the quest for the online services.

jqpabc123 3y ago
Prototype and cheap are usually mutually exclusive. In other words, cheap typically means automated mass production. https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/waterjet-big-blue-saw https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/waterjet-big-blue-saw
trevyn 3y ago
If it's just something for your own use, you should tell us in detail what exactly you're trying to do, with pictures, and we'll tell you how to do it cheaply and effectively. Otherwise you're literally just fucking around with your design software for your own personal fun, with (clearly) zero idea of how physical objects are actually made.
- huhtenberg 3y ago
  Love you too.