general pricing for prototype machining

[yanafred]

The above mentioned information is really very helpful.
Thanks for sharing.

________________________
Sell Gold

[timmydabull]

geof, i agree that having your own product is better than just contract work but unfortunately the product line that i have hobby related,is not good enough seller at the moment to pay the bills,just looking for something to fill the gaps until times get better.

sorry for the confusion



thanks for all that has replied the info has surely been helpful.

[chris_mc_nair]

Great thread!

I am looking for a company that can cut out a all foam prototype 1m wing span aircraft, the complexity of the shape does not allow me to cut it on my Axis wire cutter.

It can be cut with a 3 axis CNC mill but would require some splitting of the file to make it happen.

If anybody can direct me toward a company that does Rapid prototyping with 1-2lb EPS it would be greatly appreciated. I have been looking for a while now with no luck. Needed it yesterday........

Thanks,

Chris

[lerman]

Originally Posted by harryn <snipped> Offer to take the payment in cash at one price, and part cash, part ownership of his company (in the form of stock) at a higher price. (the stock value can be difficult to measure). If the customer is a REAL business, it will have stock shares. If it is a guy just playing, then go for the cash. Once you are a part owner, you can start to have influence, and capture any fraction of the business you want.

A part owner has absolutely no influence. Ask me how much influence my shares of Ford stock got me. Owning a small part of a privately held company is worth even less.

Ken

[dpryor]

Chris,
Are you looking for a CNC machining source for your foam part? We do not do rapid prototyping but rather machining, casting, and fabrication of parts. We make many styrene and urethane foam models cut by CNC. Size is usually not a problem since one of our machines can handle up to 10 feet in length.

We would be very interested in looking at your project. Please feel free to contact us.

Thanks,

[ImanCarrot]

I get prototype stuff all the time. From back of a napkin drawing I ACAD it, program and machine it.

I make sure my company is copyrighted on MY drawings.

I also detail costs to the customer for this design, setup and tooling as "Non-Recurring"- this lets him know that future orders will be cheaper.

It's a tossup between getting the job off the ground and making a living, but let's face it- we're in this game to make money, if they could design and make it themselves they wouldn't ask you to do it and pay you.

If you have the skill and knowledge to give them what they want they should be expected to pay for it.

"Loss Leader" are sweary words in my shop... seen too many idiots who want me to make stuff for nothing cos they reckon they'll sell a billion "next year".

Make sure you keep the design rights on anything you design unless the customer wants to pay for the prints.

[timmydabull]

Imancarrot,
that is very useful advice,never thought about copyright protection,how do i go about that?

thank you.


thats funny i have heard enough guys talk about the situation and it happened to me the other day.

guy walks in with gadget,how much to do this?

i reply $1 dollar each per 1000 parts,how many would you like done?

empties out bag of parts.......32 pieces

that will be $2.53 each.

puzzled look on face,looks dissapointed in price.

replies well right now this is all i need if you will help me out i will be machining 100,000 of these widgets soon and i will give you all the business.

i was thinking yeah right.

out the door he goes.