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Comment by FigBug | Hacker News Reader

I liked this article and would like to see more like it. With the maker movement, Kickstarter, 3D printing, etc there now seems to be a lot more interest in making physical products. But the isn't a lot of public information about the costs and processes involved, compared to say the number of tutorials on how to build web app or a mobile app.

I noticed that the actual cost of the 'product' is less than 40% of the total project costs. And labour isn't even factored in.

I was just involved in making a small injection molded part. I was surprised how easy and inexpensive it was. For all the hype 3D printing is getting, I think there could be lots more businesses in making injection molding more accessible.

View on HN

Wrote a few articles a couple years ago for HN on physical products here's one of them: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1840896

elaborated a bit more here: http://curtgeen.com/post/7575880635/expanded-part1-design

I've been out of it for a few years but if you have any questions I should be able to point you in the right direction.

they do a great job at explaining injection molding:

http://www.protomold.com/Resources.aspx

> But the isn't a lot of public information about the costs and processes involved, compared to say the number of tutorials on how to build web app or a mobile app.

This is because your are in the field. Say you were a person, who has never programmed anything in their life, but has a great idea for an app. Where would you even start? It would seem to me that finding good programmers is as difficult as finding good factories.

> I noticed that the actual cost of the 'product' is less than 40% of the total project costs.

This is why Apple is the largest company in the world, not Foxconn.

Do you mind if I ask what was the quantity for your injection molded part, and what company you ended up going with.

Last time I tried to price injection molding it was way too much.

My dad runs a small plastic injection molding company. He's got a single bread and butter product they make, but he's always looking for new ideas.

Is there a way for people to easily connect with manufacturers in the USA? My dads shop is really small and hungry vs some shop you could find in a google search with lots of machines (and expensive)

Getting listed at Thomasnet.com[1] would be a good start.

[1] http://www.thomasnet.com/products/injection-molding-custom-9...

A solution to this problem is EXACTLY what my co-founder and I are working on right now. We're working to be Match.com for custom-made parts, and highly specialized shops like your dad's are the ideal use case for our product. Would you be willing to talk directly or put me in touch with your dad? We'd love to help out any way we can.

I'm looking for a match to a die casting or cnc milling shop. Your contact info is not in your profile. Care to shoot me an email?

Hi grannyg00se! I don't see an email in your profile, so:

1. Rob 2. SupplyBetter.com

1 @ 2 is my email. Let's talk.

Have a landing page or someplace to signup for more info later?

Yes, indeed! supplybetter.com is our landing page. We're always looking for feedback on our service and site, so feel free to hit us up!

HN auto-links URLs in your post (eg. http://supplybetter.com), but you need to include the http://.

(I find auto-linking lowers click friction for me, personally.)

mfg.com is a place that I use to find new suppliers on a regular basis.

I'll have to check at work tomorrow, but fairly low, maybe 1000 - 2000. It was a plastic case with one bottom and two tops. The company we used has these jigs that can make molds out of a combination of custom parts and generic parts to keep machining to a minimum. The molds only work in their machines, so you don't end up owning the tooling, but I still think it's worth it.

Also did a plastic clip with a live hinge, and I think a steel tool was under $7,000 and parts under a $1.

Compared to 3D printing, we hit the break even point at around 100 cases.

I was just surprised since the last time I was involved in manufacturing was the 90s and was paying $100,000 for tooling for office telephones.

I'm also interested in the company that you used for the injection mold. Looking forward to your answer.

Star Prototype http://www.star-prototype.com/services/rapid-plastic-injecti...

Thanks a bunch.

He says in the article: "5,000 dice + shipping: $1,808 ($0.36 per dice, enough dice for 333 sets)"

Learc83 is talking to Figbug, who is not the article author.

The best I've found so far for low (<10,000) unit injection mold runs is Protomold.

Another vote for Protomold here. Their prototyping prices are good, and they will help you adjust your design to mold well. The only main drawbacks are that you don't own the mold (forget about moving it to a different manufacturer), and they aren't keen on machining very small features.

I was at a presentation about the logistical aspects of production during PAX and 3D printing is almost illogical. The current machines aren't fast enough, and the quality isn't there compared to what you can get for an injection mould.

From what the panelists were saying, the closest thing to 3D printing could be useful for would be to use a high resolution printer to create a few masters from which you could create your moulds instead.

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