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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?

#71

Post by TameAntelope »

Panther34543 wrote: post #63

I've given this advice elsewhere, and I'll give it here. Go look at the small business initiatives by each branch of the U.S. military; many are now posting lists of open contracts that you can bid on for an incredible array of things. Browse through those lists and find something you can build. I really believe the U.S. military is in the midst of a large scale transfer of military spending from traditional large de…

You're not the first person I've heard this from; when you say "many are now posting lists of open contracts you can bid on" where are they posting these things? https://sam.gov/content/home is what my cursory Googling found, is this what you mean, or is there some other, more relevant site involved?

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

#72

Post by blinkingled »

Panther34543 wrote: post #63

I've given this advice elsewhere, and I'll give it here. Go look at the small business initiatives by each branch of the U.S. military; many are now posting lists of open contracts that you can bid on for an incredible array of things. Browse through those lists and find something you can build. I really believe the U.S. military is in the midst of a large scale transfer of military spending from traditional large de…

Hi, if it's not too much to ask, could you please post some direct links for the open contracts for small businesses? I am merely curious but others might find those more useful.

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

#73

Post by aetherspawn »

You need the correct property zoning to operate a business from your basement.

Your house is very likely in a residential zone, which limits it to residential use only (some exceptions apply, allowing home office scenarios for people who live there, but limits employees from travelling to your house for work).

Why do these rules exist? Well, to regulate industrial expansion, limit noise, traffic and road congestion (parking) in residential areas.

YMMV

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

#74

Post by caramelcustard »

Outside of small scale Etsy-tier tech/non-tech stuff? Nothing. What a garage is good for though is prototyping and prototyping related R&D. Given that you have a 20k-50k USD budget, perhaps you should look for cheap commercial property for rent.

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

#75

Post by seszett »

I convert old photo negative enlargers to UV enlargers for printing with alternative processes (cyanotype in particular).

It doesn't take much space and I do it out of my small European town house basement. Which also serves as my photo lab for demonstrations.

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

#76

Post by bleuarff »

mepian wrote: post #56

Sam 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.

That was my first thought upon reading the title, but you have ton ponder it, though. Does it fit the "reallistically" criteria? I mean, sure it's been done already so it is possible, but this is advanced work and probably not really accessible to the average hacker.

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

#78

Post by kansface »

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 just ordered 40 SS J Bolts from them for my home project after spending a couple of weeks fruitlessly trying to get them from a local company. I placed an order on the website and they showed up in 2 days.

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

#79

Post by ghaff »

marpstar wrote: post #20
duped wrote: post #13

The legality should interest you. I saw someone have their small business shut down by police because they were running it out of their basement. It wasn't the noise or pollution (which realistically are the nuisances you're going to be inflicting on neighbors) but the excess cars parked and delivery trucks coming and going down the street. One neighbor ratted them out. The problem with the space isn't really the cap…

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.

I actually got something along these lines into my deed--which was for a software business before that was pretty normal and not the sort of thing even worth mentioning.

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

#80

Post by jfim »

derekp7 wrote: post #41
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 optio…

The material costs for 3D printing are really small. A 1kg spool of PLA is in the order of 20-30 USD, and most 3D prints have only a small amount of infill, so they're surprisingly light for their volume.

For example, I designed a set of sprockets to drive my blinds, and the total weight of the sprockets to drive 3 sets of blinds is less than 15 grams of plastic. This goose-shaped figurine is about 35g of plastic: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3906053

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