Lately I've been having a blast working on an original from-scratch clock design, and I'm getting near the point where I need to prototype some parts. Unfortunately, right now I dont' have any way to make the parts. My foremost options are buying a scroll saw and doing it the old fashioned way, or seeing what the folks at emachineshop com can do for me. (laser, waterjet, router, haven't really decided yet...)

Time and accuracy are obvious concerns with the first approach, although spending time on a labor of love is acceptable.... And first unit cost is a major concern with the second approach.... A real bummer for prototyping...

I've seen a lot of interest in this sort of thing in this forum, and thought that someone might be interested in helping me out, either with the prototyping or making the actual clock. Ideally, I'd like to make about 10 units, mostly for gifts, maybe one for eBay... I can assure you that this design won't be like any other clock out there.

If anyone is interested, please let me know your thoughts, and we can talk more about the project.

Rob

Hi robm, Welcome to the Zone! I see you're new here, so I'll take a second to introduce you to some of our policies. (http://www.cnczone.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=189)

Your post should probably be placed in the RFQ (request for quote) if you're actually looking for someone to make these parts for you. If you're just looking for advice, then your post is OK where it is. Thanks, and enjoy your time here.

In retrospect, you're right, this post was a bit out of bounds, and I should've split my questions in two... Once for advice, and a few weeks later, based on that, maybe something in RFQ....

For now, lets focus on the advice...

What are people's opinions of cutting gears & the like on a mill vs. laser vs. water-jet? Do people have home water-jet machines?

What do you reccomend for someone who doesn't have the money, space, or time to build his own machine? How do you keep first unit cost down for prototyping?

Thanks,

Rob