elpulpo
- Hmmm. To be honest, It seems unlikely in the medium term. In volume, an injection moulded case will be cheaper, thinner and you'll probably be able to make quantities faster too. You'll also have access to a wider range of materials.
From your campaign, it looks like you've already gotten some kind of mould. Or is that a mock-up?
I guess it all comes down to your ramp rate - how quickly you're planning to get into volume production. There's no doubt that tooling cost can be a major factor. Let's say that your case is printable on a typical FDM machine at say 200uM. I'm sure that Nathan can organise for a load of us to each print a number of cases for you. For some small quantity, it'll be cheaper for you to use these cases but there'll be some volume, above which it'll be more economic for you to use Injection Moulding. Guess you need to figure out that number. My guess. Somewhere between 2000 and 5000. I'd expect that your product would have a reasonable expectation of volume in the 100,000 to 200,000 p.a. region. Could be a whole lot more than that but you'd need the resources of a really big company to market it quickly before the "me too" brigade jump on the bandwagon.
By the way. I have a pair of Skullcandy Aviators and they don't have a jack socket on the phones themselves. They're the 2012 model so maybe the new ones do.
9 years, 3 months ago
0
bmmal
- Since all of your images on your kickstarter show what looks to be injection molded quality I would think that is what your backers are expecting. I couldn't recommend FDM 3D printed cases both for aesthetic reasons and durability. You might get away with high resolution SLA cases but these are typically more expensive than FDM prints on makexyz. I've come across a few industrial quality SLA services on makexyz. You will want to ask for some samples before going ahead especially if the resins are acrylate based. Some of them are better than others. The bad ones are very brittle and shatter like glass when stressed.
Finding someone (there are many service bureaus) to make high quality finished parts using RTV tooling may be a good middle ground between 3D printing and injection molding.
9 years, 3 months ago
0
elpulpo
- I doubt these 3D printed mould tools would be robust enough for full-scale production but worth looking into this anyway...
bmmal
- Tools printed on Objets are good for about 30ish shots.
9 years, 3 months ago
0
vinnie90
- someone would really have to have like 50 printers to make it worth it. Printing is slow compared to injection and you have layers to worry about. If you are selling a product you are going to want it smooth as possible.
9 years, 3 months ago
0
sd3dprinting
- We specialize in low volume production 3D printing and can typically beat injection molding pricing up to 2000 units. Our FDM production parts utilize a process including completely soluble support material with vapor and/or sand blast finishing available to achieve an aesthetic level comparable to injection molding or SLA.
Feel free to message me for more details or go to the bulk orders section and mention SD3D's Printer Farm program to get a quote.
9 years, 3 months ago
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From your campaign, it looks like you've already gotten some kind of mould. Or is that a mock-up?
I guess it all comes down to your ramp rate - how quickly you're planning to get into volume production. There's no doubt that tooling cost can be a major factor. Let's say that your case is printable on a typical FDM machine at say 200uM. I'm sure that Nathan can organise for a load of us to each print a number of cases for you. For some small quantity, it'll be cheaper for you to use these cases but there'll be some volume, above which it'll be more economic for you to use Injection Moulding. Guess you need to figure out that number. My guess. Somewhere between 2000 and 5000. I'd expect that your product would have a reasonable expectation of volume in the 100,000 to 200,000 p.a. region. Could be a whole lot more than that but you'd need the resources of a really big company to market it quickly before the "me too" brigade jump on the bandwagon.
By the way. I have a pair of Skullcandy Aviators and they don't have a jack socket on the phones themselves. They're the 2012 model so maybe the new ones do.
Finding someone (there are many service bureaus) to make high quality finished parts using RTV tooling may be a good middle ground between 3D printing and injection molding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7K57cnF7Cg
Feel free to message me for more details or go to the bulk orders section and mention SD3D's Printer Farm program to get a quote.