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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?

#391

Post by the_only_law »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #257
12ian34 wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps my reply was a bit too defensive - I’ll use the excuse that it’s uncharacteristically hot where I am and I can’t sleep. I do feel like you were being derogatory in your labelling of this as a Hippie ideology which I still think isn’t quite fair since you go on to generalise this negatively. I’m definitely aware that there have been many sacrifices made by older generations for the younger generations to live…

FWIW, I am the child of a WW2 vet and also a former military wife. People who know me well have described me as a pro military hippie tree hugger. It is my understanding that Shaolin priests believe "A man of peace must be strong" and both willing and able to defend his views in a fight to the death. I hope you get some sleep. Stay hydrated.

"man of peace" is a hell of a way to describe a government that completely destroys and destabilizes nations on the other side of the world.

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

#392

Post by sizzle »

csteubs wrote: post #53

I 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 bedroo…

Should have patented in and went on shark tank or something then sell it off and retire

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

#393

Post by phlipski »

a2tech wrote: post #215
smm11 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Found" a ton of heavy duty, industrial conveyor belts. On my way to the rust belt with a hackszall right now.

Might as well steal some copper while you're at it

It's not stealing if it "fell off the back of the truck"...

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

#395

Post by jjk166 »

CallMeJim wrote: post #324
sliceform wrote: post #152

I used to be the education director at a makerspace and now run a 3D printing company selling small plastic parts and teaching entrepreneurs how to start small manufacturing businesses at home. Few thoughts: - Focus on your hobbies and other industries you know well. What problems exist? Where can you make things better? Are there problems people mention over and over again? - CAD modeling is often THE fundamental sk…

CNC machines for under $5k? Where might we find some of these?

For something that isn't a desktop toy, under $5k might be a bit of a stretch but it shouldn't be too hard to find a used CNC mill for well under 10k if you're willing to wait around for a deal. Of course when you factor in shipping and tools that's probably going to add a few thousand as well. Further if you don't know what you're looking at, you run the risk of buying something with a bent frame or some damage that'll cost more to repair than it's worth. I'd recommend anyone starting out without much prior experience to suck it up and go for an entry level model from a company like Tormach, it'll further add to your cost, probably pushing you beyond 30 when all's said and done, but with financing that might still be easier on the wallet than 10-15k upfront, and you'll know it works.

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

#396

Post by 93po »

1-6 wrote: post #110
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…

What type of issues are involved when you don’t deliver to the government on time?

It seems like I'm constantly hearing about large companies bidding at price x and then winning the bid, only to have the budget run over 10 times the original bid. So it seems in some cases the issue is becoming filthy rich as you rake in billions in profit from deliberately going over time and over budget.

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

#397

Post by gamblor956 »

refulgentis wrote: post #313
gamblor956 wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your reply in no way addresses my question...

Yes it does, at length

No, it doesn't.

I asked what the benefit would be of funding private enterprises that private enterprises are already willing to fund. And he provided a nonsensical spiel about WW2-era policies without explaining why those policies were necessary today, given that private enterprises are already willing to spend the money to fund those activities.

His suggestion would result in massive amounts of fraud and wealthy techbros getting free toys they don't need from the U.S. government courtesy of their fellow taxpayers.

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

#398

Post by kelnos »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #219
12ian34 wrote: post #138

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

This is a hippie ideology that seems to only be held by people who live in secure circumstances that they take for granted and are oblivious to what it costs other people to create. Hippies were the children of WW2 vets and were an entire generation who seemingly failed to understand that the world they lived in was forged at great personal cost by the previous generation and the anvil upon which it was forged was Th…

It's a shame you feel so dismissive toward people who prefer peace. The world would be a much better place if people didn't feel like it was ok to take what they want from others by force, or if people didn't follow ideologies that make them want to attack other people.

I'm not the person you're replying to, but I feel like you've put many words into their mouth that may not have been there. It's perfectly reasonable to acknowledge that the current world order was built on the back of centuries (millennia, really) of aggression and violence, while still wishing it did not have to be that way -- or at least hoping the future could hold something better. I don't think that's naive, as long as we continue to make choices that recognize the actual state of the world, while still holding our hopes dear.

I, too, would not feel ok starting a company whose sole or primary purpose was to build for the military. Fortunately we live in a world where many, many people can choose not to fuel the military industrial complex without damaging our countries' preparedness for the wars they might need to fight, as there will always be others who ok with this line of work.

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

#399

Post by kelnos »

daenz wrote: post #176
12ian34 wrote: post #138

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...

Even if the current posture for whatever nation is predominately that of defense, you have no idea what is going to happen in the next few years geopolitically, or even just when your country has new leadership. The defensive capabilities you help build today could easily be used for offense tomorrow.

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

#400

Post by kelnos »

mschuster91 wrote: post #373
12ian34 wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah agreed. It's a shame though isn't it. Imagine a world where hundreds of billions of US defense spending could go into public services like free healthcare.

The problem isn't defense spending, the problem is resource misallocation, fraud and waste. The US is at the top of the healthcare expenditure per capita comparison by far [1] - there is enough money "in the system", it just ends up at the completely wrong places. The US spends almost double as much money per citizen as countries as Germany, and yet, the quality of healthcare and accessibility are so much better here…

Sure, but just consider how many billions (trillions when we consider global spending?) of dollars are spent on either ways to kill other humans, or ways to defend from other people killing humans. What an amazing civilization we might be able to be, hundreds of years beyond our current level, if we could put that money toward literally anything else.

Yes, the grandparent mentioned health care, but there's a lot more that's possible. And hell, even if no one fixed the health care system in the US such that spending could go down to reasonable levels, I'd still imagine we could have free -- if expensive -- health care for all if we didn't have to allocate so much money to the military.

But that's not the world we live in; military preparedness is an absolute necessity.

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