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On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 01:07:40PM +0100, Alan B. Pearce wrote:
> >I think your biggest cost will be if you go custom with injection molding.
> >Can't say how many times a client has backed off from a project due to
> >the costs involved...essentially they had no clue that tooling can be
> >thousands of dollars.
> >There are dozens of vendors making blank keyfob type cases...some can do
> >a little customization on them for not alot of cost but if it was me, I
> >would get samples of several and see if your device can be designed to
> >fit inside it. If you can, your costs have just come down dramatically.
> >If not, you really need to think about the packaging.
> >Short of doing a steel tool, you can do rubber but then your limited to
> >maybe 10 shots, but the cost is less.
> >Aluminum molds are cheaper than steel, but again your shots are limited.
> >Doing a steel mold really commits you.
> 
> If you cannot find a suitable key fob then vacuum moulding something around 
> a wood block may serve fro getting a volume manufacturer interested. There 
> is plenty of info out on the web on how to do this e.g. 
> http://www.alstevens.com/ventriloquism/vacuum.html , or maybe try someone 
> like this  http://www.rtptrading.com.au/

More generally, find a local art college that offers design courses. At
least at my old school, OCAD in Toronto, there were tonnes of design
students that had lots of experiece mocking up prototypes. You could
probably hire one for a reasonable amount of money.

- -- 
http://petertodd.org 'peter'[:-1]@petertodd.org 
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