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

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191–200 of 428 posts

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

#191
post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hmm facilitating war, even if it means defence just doesn't sit quite right with me. shame we live in a world where this is even a thing

>even if it means defence Can you elaborate on why you feel uncomfortable with the idea of defense? Related[0] 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_operations_other_than...

I wonder, of the many hundreds of billions of dollars the US spends on defense every year, how much goes to those military operations to which you linked.

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

#192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hmm facilitating war, even if it means defence just doesn't sit quite right with me. shame we live in a world where this is even a thing

War happens when one of two nations assumes that they are more capable of winning than another. If you stop spending in the US and assume that Russia and China will sit idly by without invading our allies, you are living in a land of fantasy.

> War happens when one of two nations assumes that they are more capable of winning than another.

That’s only part of the equation - said country needs to have a desire or need to go to war as well.

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

#193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

War happens when one of two nations assumes that they are more capable of winning than another. If you stop spending in the US and assume that Russia and China will sit idly by without invading our allies, you are living in a land of fantasy.

This makes no sense. Using this logic, why don’t more countries attack, say Costa Rica, which doesn’t even have a military? I think the OP probably doesn’t have a problem with actual defense projects, but if you’ve been paying any attention over the last 70 years, you will know that the US has attacked many countries under the guise of “defense”.

> Using this logic, why don’t more countries attack, say Costa Rica, which doesn’t even have a military?

You might want to read up on the "Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance". Essentially, "the rest of the Americas".

That mostly works because the set of potential aggressors is small. (Nicaragua and Panama). OK, fine, the US might want to, but they're close enough partners that they don't need to.

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

#194
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, you know, marijuana. > ...not particularly interested in the legality of this...

Selling cannbis clones and support etc could be very lucrative. And potentially legal, depending on locale.

The issue is that business teaches people how to fish. People can take their own clones from the first clone. If you sell fancy fertilizer eventually people will realize they can get away with regular cheap dry amendments once they realize what they are actually doing with fertilizing.

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

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just searched "CNC", a bunch of contract opportunities showed up: https://sam.gov/search/?index=opp&sort=-modifiedDate&page=1&...

This is what my Dad does...and he has a lathe in the garage typically producing things for helicopters and airplanes.

There should be a program that's easily accessible (not behind lawyer language) that DoD sponsors: We'll buy you a CNC machine, a laptop and a bunch of bar stock on our dime if you produce these parts as per these quality requirements by this date and of this quantity. If we're happy, you can keep the equipment for your next DoD project and you'll get a priority as an experienced vendor (that we invested in).

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

#196
post #82
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

For my application, it's much cheaper and I have the added flexibility of being able to adjust my design and rapdily prototype should the other components need to change due to unavailability -- I have already had to do this. For something that costs me $0.17 at home, Etsy people want to charge upwards of $4 plus shipping and Shapeways or the like are $20+.

I’m very intrigued, as I have a couple ideas for things I could manufacture with my 3D printer + some custom electronics too, but have never invested the time into. Could you by any chance please share what you’re making? Or just a rough idea if you want to protect your niche? Thanks

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

#197
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

There is even a movie about this https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2005151/

While an awesome movie; Wardogs (actual Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz) were mostly just arms dealers not really innovative new technology.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efraim_Diveroli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Packouz

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

#198

You're thinking of this in reverse. First find something you want to manufacture, then figure out how to build it in your garage. Don't be the solution searching for a problem!

Isn't a job a solution to the problem of needing money? You take stock of your skills, hit the job boards, ...

That's one kind of person. A different person sees what they want to do for their lifetime and figures out how to live off it. The problem is wanting to make art for a living and the solution is figuring out how to get paid for it.

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

#200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes no sense. Using this logic, why don’t more countries attack, say Costa Rica, which doesn’t even have a military? I think the OP probably doesn’t have a problem with actual defense projects, but if you’ve been paying any attention over the last 70 years, you will know that the US has attacked many countries under the guise of “defense”.

> Using this logic, why don’t more countries attack, say Costa Rica, which doesn’t even have a military? You might want to read up on the "Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance". Essentially, "the rest of the Americas". That mostly works because the set of potential aggressors is small. (Nicaragua and Panama). OK, fine, the US might want to, but they're close enough partners that they don't need to.

> they're close enough partners that they don't need to

I think that might be the crux of what GP was getting at. There's more to it than the ability to win (and in a hopeful dreamy world, I'd wish we can all get to the state where collaboration is always the obvious better choice, but that's obviously at least a few hundred years off... something to strive for, though)

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