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Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?

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Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?

#41

Post by derekp7 »

h4waii wrote: post #5

I currently manufacturer a fairly niche product with nothing but a 7 year old $250 3d printer, some off the shelf parts, and a bit of custom electronics. Very high profit margin, as I am the only producer of this item (!). I'd love to move to a more "robust" process, but options for materials and widespread access to 3d printing provides a lot of versatility for a single-person business where I want to control the en…

How does making your own product on a home 3D printer compare to the cost per unit of having something like Shapeways or similar do it? Out of curiosity, I took my design for a Dremel gig that is about 4 - 5 hours of total printing time (biggest part is 3 hours, and several 1/2 hour pieces), and a single unit cost from an online quote was roughly $35. Plus there is a good selection of materials, including metal options (much more expensive though), but biggest advantage would be consistency of builds (I still find 3D printing at home to be finicky at best).

Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?

#42

Post by SpikedCola »

plegresl wrote: post #38
SpikedCola wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

McMaster-Carr won’t sell to small companies, my friends and I have tried several times, only to have orders cancelled for the above-mentioned reason. It’s a shame because their website has a wealth of information (CAD drawings, measurements, etc.), one of the best I’ve seen.

The website and all the part details are amazing. I've made many purchases from McMaster for personal / hobby use so I'm surprised to hear about difficulties purchasing from them.

We are in Ontario, Canada, if it matters. I know Quinn from blondiehacks orders from them without difficulty, so I’m not sure what it is about us that they don’t like. They tend to be very curt/nearing unfriendly in their responses.

Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?

#43

Post by maicro »

SpikedCola wrote: post #28
Cieplak wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

McMaster-Carr supplies thin-wall chromoly tube [0] suitable for fabricating bicycle frames. [0] tube is measured by the outer diameter; pipe is measured by the inner diameter

McMaster-Carr won’t sell to small companies, my friends and I have tried several times, only to have orders cancelled for the above-mentioned reason. It’s a shame because their website has a wealth of information (CAD drawings, measurements, etc.), one of the best I’ve seen.

What exactly have you tried to order? I've been ordering from McMaster both to a fairly small business and my personal home address with absolutely no issues for over 8 years.

Are you in the US? If you're trying to buy those tubes, are you trying to order very long lengths? UPS apparently has a limit of 108" total length, and a sum of 165" for length + "girth".

As for McMaster overall - I agree with some other sentiments here that they're great, though I do admit the "McMaster tax" (paying 10~200% what you could find the identical part somewhere else for) can be annoying at times, but is worth it when you want a reliable supplier with almost universally good quality products.

edit: Based on your reply to a sibling comment, I looked around, and found this thread that seems to reinforce your experience that McMaster shipping to Canada is...unreliable: https://www.chiefdelphi.com/t/mcmaster-carr-supplying-to-int...

I would try the recommendation there of ensuring you have a business name on the order, or, contact their support - I've had to contact them a couple times and they were generally quite helpful.

Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?

#44

Post by JohnBooty »

1nd1ansumm3r wrote: post #34

Have you ever seen a MagLite flashlight? (Or a clone)? The batteries are kept in place by a threaded cap which is spring loaded. My neighbor manufactures the caps, alone, in his garage. Cuts the threads and installs the spring. As far as noise I do hear his air compressor occasionally. You can buy quiet air compressors but they are orders more expensive than a standard unit.

How would a person with the ability/equipment to do this work at home get matched up with a company that wants to buy such things?

This seems like the sort of work that was spun off from some kind of existing business relationship.

Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?

#46

Post by katmannthree »

SpikedCola wrote: post #28
Cieplak wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

McMaster-Carr supplies thin-wall chromoly tube [0] suitable for fabricating bicycle frames. [0] tube is measured by the outer diameter; pipe is measured by the inner diameter

McMaster-Carr won’t sell to small companies, my friends and I have tried several times, only to have orders cancelled for the above-mentioned reason. It’s a shame because their website has a wealth of information (CAD drawings, measurements, etc.), one of the best I’ve seen.

Did they explicitly tell you that's why the order was cancelled? I've placed many personal orders with them and never had issues.

Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?

#47

Post by JohnBooty »

Here's a tour of the late Grant Imahara's workshop. He worked on robotics and, I believe, props in there?

He's got a pretty significant amount of capability -- "CNC mills, laser cutters, lathes, paints, electronics, work tables, and, of course, multiple 3D printers" -- built into a space that looks closer to a 1-car garage than a 2-car garage.

edit: here's the actual link https://youtu.be/hsCSTO8SaQU

Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?

#48

Post by ntietz »

SpikedCola wrote: post #28
Cieplak wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

McMaster-Carr supplies thin-wall chromoly tube [0] suitable for fabricating bicycle frames. [0] tube is measured by the outer diameter; pipe is measured by the inner diameter

McMaster-Carr won’t sell to small companies, my friends and I have tried several times, only to have orders cancelled for the above-mentioned reason. It’s a shame because their website has a wealth of information (CAD drawings, measurements, etc.), one of the best I’ve seen.

I have successfully ordered and received parts from McMaster-Carr as an individual.

I'm not sure if this is a super variable experience or if it has changed over time (I first ordered from them in 2020).

Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?

#49

Post by onceiwasthere »

JohnBooty wrote: post #44
1nd1ansumm3r wrote: post #34

Have you ever seen a MagLite flashlight? (Or a clone)? The batteries are kept in place by a threaded cap which is spring loaded. My neighbor manufactures the caps, alone, in his garage. Cuts the threads and installs the spring. As far as noise I do hear his air compressor occasionally. You can buy quiet air compressors but they are orders more expensive than a standard unit.

How would a person with the ability/equipment to do this work at home get matched up with a company that wants to buy such things? This seems like the sort of work that was spun off from some kind of existing business relationship.

Yeah this seems so strange a thing to do. Maybe they're personalized/ruggedized in some nice way?

Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?

#50

Post by baremetal »

SpikedCola wrote: post #25
h4waii wrote: post #5

I currently manufacturer a fairly niche product with nothing but a 7 year old $250 3d printer, some off the shelf parts, and a bit of custom electronics. Very high profit margin, as I am the only producer of this item (!). I'd love to move to a more "robust" process, but options for materials and widespread access to 3d printing provides a lot of versatility for a single-person business where I want to control the en…

I would like to hear any advice you/others have about finding a product in your niche to manufacture!

usually you find a market by scratching your own itch.

helps if you have breadth of knowledge and experience in a variety of fields also. interdisciplinary solutions still have plenty of untapped market potential

other than that there is no magic formula that i know of. its kind of one of those "if you have to ask..." type things.

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