One of my friends does 3D printed and resin casted cosplay armor/props out of his garage. Low volume, high margins.
Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?
51–60 of 428 posts
Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
In reviewing neighborhood covenants whilst searching for a new home, I was surprised to see some of them make explicit the fact that running a business in your home is allowed, provided that it doesn't generate significant traffic/parking.
Gotta have a carve-out for the folks participating in an MLM scheme out of their house. They're quite popular. Of course it also benefits remote tech workers who have an LLC or whatever. And handymen, et c.
This is almost always exactly what it's for, and those with ears to hear can use it to their advantage.
The key is to fly under the radar and not cause problems.
Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?
#53I started making jet ski tread mats out of astro turf in my garage last year. Dead simple to cut, margin is super high ($60 for a standard set of three on ~$8 worth of material), and time spent per unit from roll to package is something like 15-20 minutes. It was fun and made about $30k over the summer months but I stopped when I moved back to the west coast.
I could have handled the whole operation in a spare bedroom if I didn't have a garage, and there are plenty of areas where I could have dropped the time required or the cost. I never bought the turf in bulk and I used household scissors to cut from a template so buying a roll and cutting with something more effective may have netted me more. Niche leisure products in spend-y verticals typically do well.
Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?
#54Seeds, saplings, etc. Small houseplants and barely sprouted houseplants sell for a lot on Etsy and other sites and require very moderate amounts space and money. The difficulty is skill. Plants can be hard to grow and it’s easy to make a mistake that ruins lots of your crop!
Plus 1 on this! I use my back yard in this way, but plan to set up some indoor areas also. So far I have not been trying to sell things, just playing and seeing what works best. There are some plants that are very easy to propogate that people enjoy such as rosemary.
Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?
#55Here'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?
#56Sam Zeloof alone managed to manufacture chips with the early 1970s technology in his garage using old fab equipment bought cheap (sadly don't remember the exact budget): http://sam.zeloof.xyz/
Maybe with more people and more capital this could be scaled to something that can be sold, like replicas of classic CPUs.
Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?
#57That size and capital outlay could be the basis for a very nice custom furniture/woodworking shop; but the skills necessary would require some work to gain.
Someone is basically doing that for keyboards, though they mainly rebox/ship from China.
Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?
#58Small mechanical and 3D-printed parts. Lockpicking kits, custom engraved objects.
Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
In reviewing neighborhood covenants whilst searching for a new home, I was surprised to see some of them make explicit the fact that running a business in your home is allowed, provided that it doesn't generate significant traffic/parking.
Gotta have a carve-out for the folks participating in an MLM scheme out of their house. They're quite popular. Of course it also benefits remote tech workers who have an LLC or whatever. And handymen, et c.
And piano teachers
Re: Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?
#60Have 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.
One of my favorite ideas was told to me by my uncle who works in the die cast industry. He met a guy who made lug nuts for Semi tractor tires in his garage. One item, and he made a living off of it. I have always thought that this idea was the perfect example of how to get started in an industry. If you were ambitious you could start adding more spare parts one at a time.