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Post by Tesla Ranger on Jul 7, 2015 3:52:50 GMT
That's at least three boxes in your future it would seem. Man coming back to this after a few days away would be freaking crazy, haha. I know I'll need a little time to decide this feature v that feature. Too much awesome to decide without some serious thought behind it. I have some years of practice that help with figuring out what to keep and what to toss. Otherwise I'd probably be pretty lost. I frequently have to stack projects (work on more than one at a time) these days to keep them all rolling out the door at the right pace. If any of those projects are really complicated or prototypes though, I have a really hard time stacking anything with them. For some reason I usually explain this using computer terminology by saying I don't have "sufficient active memory" to hold more than one major project at a time. In this case I received two orders while I was working on the prototype. I'd already done all the drafting for those but they still had to wait until this week. Between Sunday and tonight I've picked up 3 more orders, two of which are done deals and the other requires some drafting. That last one's going to be a long term project though (motorcycle toolkit and seat cover, probably won't be finished until the end of the month). The rest are mostly shoulder straps of various designs, something I make so often I could probably do it in my sleep. With the exception of the motorcycle seat, I expect to have all those orders off on their way by the end of the week and then I'll be in a pretty good space for making some new toolboxes next week. ^_^ |
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Post by joatmoniac on Jul 7, 2015 20:40:33 GMT
With the exception of the motorcycle seat, I expect to have all those orders off on their way by the end of the week and then I'll be in a pretty good space for making some new toolboxes next week. ^_^ Sounds like good news to me! However, I will be out of town next week so I will likely hold off on putting an order in until I am in town, but except one from me in the next couple of weeks for sure! |
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Post by Tesla Ranger on Jul 10, 2015 16:00:01 GMT
There's been a couple of new developments this week.
The Good: About 13 months ago I purchased an M3D 3D printer. It's one of those models that's supposed to be suitable for the "consumer"; without all the fidgetery than most fabbers need to keep going. I'm finding that to be partially the case, but I've only been printing things for the past 12 hours. You can bet I'll be leveraging this to improve the toolbox though. I'm imagining printing up the partitions rather than spending all that time cutting up wood.
The Not-so-Good: I'm getting a fair amount of stretching on the straps. This would make sense if they're under some stress or pull frequently enough. Leather's an organic material and it doesn't necessarily always stay where it's put. I suspect the big locks are leveraging against everything else in the bag. The end effect of this is that the lid is no longer held tight to the base; it wobbles around a bit. Those locks are troublesome in other ways and I'm giving serious thought to retrofitting the prototype to replace them with some buckles.
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Post by joatmoniac on Jul 10, 2015 18:16:47 GMT
Happy to hear that the 3D printer is working out. I could definitely see that being an invaluable tool for your line of work. That sucks to here about the leather not working as well in conjunction with the lid and locks. I think that buckles could look even cooler especially as you open it. Granted it's a little bit more work opening and closing the lid, but if it works better then that's that, haha.
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Post by lasersniper on Aug 5, 2015 8:43:12 GMT
Wow, it sure is something to read these posts and see how this product developed over 2 weeks. I soooooo want to buy one when they are ready.
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Post by Tesla Ranger on Aug 5, 2015 17:05:26 GMT
Thanks! I'm still working out the best way to leverage the 3D printer but I'm hoping to make a second prototype (or at least retrofit the original one) when I get a chance. Unfortunately that'll probably be next month the way things are going.
So far the original prototype's held up pretty well. The lock clasps were probably a mistake (though they do look nice) and the leather straps have stretched a little but they're still within tolerance. After a month or so of use the only sign of wear is some wiggle in the lid.
I figure I'll 3D print the base and all those partitions and replace the straps with a hinge between the lid and base (which I might be able to print in place). I might keep the straps to some degree as pure decoration but using the printer this way should let me build the whole thing much faster and cheaper.
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Post by Vulash on Aug 27, 2015 14:00:17 GMT
I can't believe I just found this. Count me as interested in purchasing one as well. When I get a chance I'll go through the entire blog and read this more closely to see exactly what the design entails.
I also enjoy woodworking, but I'm fairly new at it and lacking in time to develop right now - and this seems a bit out of my league. So one day I hope to be doing this type of thing myself!
TLDR: Count me as a customer if you're still offering to make these.
I know you're still working through some design decisions.
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Post by Tesla Ranger on Aug 27, 2015 14:24:16 GMT
Shiny! My current plan is 3-D printing the compartments and gluing them down to the base. In theory it'd be a fantastic improvement (cheaper and faster too) but it's a new enough approach that I want to build a new prototype to work out any kinks before selling it. I've managed to start some 3D models but I've had too many orders for the last month to spend much time on it. I'm hoping next month will open up just a little in that regard. If not I'm just going to clear a 3-day block of time just to bang out a proof of concept if nothing else.
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Post by Vulash on Aug 27, 2015 14:26:40 GMT
Awesome! Well I'll add myself to the queue  I don't know much about 3-D printing, but will the final product look as good as the first prototype in the blog? |
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Post by Tesla Ranger on Aug 27, 2015 19:49:34 GMT
The goal is that it will look a bit better while being less expensive, quicker to build, and easier to customize. I have a hunch that the striations from 3D printing might look a bit like the edges of paper in a book if I give it a nice ink wash.
If that doesn't wind up being the case then I can go back to hand-cutting each peice from plywood and fiberboard but I have high expectations for this PLA.
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Post by Tesla Ranger on Sept 1, 2015 16:20:48 GMT
I had a small window of opportunity so I've cleared this week's schedule to work on the second prototype. The plan is to 3D-print most of the innards of the box and replace (at least functionally) the leather straps with some sort of hinge (possibly also 3D-printed but that remains to be tested). My 3D printer is pretty small (the print area is about 3.5" x 4.5") but I've been maxing it out to print compartments that I'll glue together on some fiberboard (with some craft foam or felt for lining). I'm still working on the exterior. White PLA does have the cursory resemblance to the end of a book (even without the ink wash) but I'd like to find a way of cleaning up the joints. That might be work for a dremel!   |
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Post by friartook on Oct 5, 2015 21:41:36 GMT
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Post by joatmoniac on Oct 5, 2015 22:32:17 GMT
I think that there are a decent amount of similar ideas out there, but none that seem to focus on being for the DM. That is freaking perfect for magic players, and I have seen some nice ones for players that don't have a ton of space. The one Telsa is making is bigger than most I have seen. These look great, but don't hold all that much www.dogmight.com/adventurecaseThis one is bigger, but what it holds and how much is kinda confusing until I realized it was for something called dice masters www.winningcause.org/thesecretcabal/custom-box-for-d-d-dice-masters-stained-wood-5666.htmlHave you by chance built another prototype of the box, and how is your first one holding up Tesla Ranger? |
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Post by Tesla Ranger on Oct 7, 2015 15:15:42 GMT
Thanks! I've been contemplating this thing for the past few months. I managed a retrofit of the original prototype but mostly to replace the bulky locks with velcro and install a pair of hinges. Both of those modifications are working out pretty grand. The trouble I'm running into is the time it takes to pull a box this large together and the price to charge for it. The 3D printer helps a lot for the accents and smaller bits but proved impractical for printing out any structure. Fortunately fiberboard is extremely inexpensive but it does need to be shaped, sanded, and then made to look like it isn't fiberboard. Even so, a box this size (about 9 x 12.5") should properly run ~$100 and my goal was around $50. I've been planning to draft up a smaller design that uses the same materials and general approach but could fit in the ~$50 range. It's a work in progress. In the meantime, if anyone's interested in ordering a box they can contact me here and we can work the size and specs that would fit within your budget. I've been using the prototype for awhile now and it's been very handy! |
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Post by Vulash on Oct 9, 2015 15:32:30 GMT
If $100 is what it's going to take to be a really good DM toolbox in the design you're wanting - I'd rather be interested at that price point than lose functionality to get it down to the $50 price point. I know that me being interested at the higher price alone isn't enough to make design decisions, but I'd be interested what others on the board are thinking as well.
EDIT: Not that you in any way have to cater to us! I just don't think the prices your'e talking about are unreasonable at all for the product, and would hate to see the idea get scaled down if you could still sell them with the design more along the lines you were hoping for.
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