Can We Talk Tools for the "Maker Market"?

[evlttwin]

Here's a baby groot printing from a printer in my garage (using wood filament):

 

[Lex DeVille]

A new industry has emerged called the "Maker Market." It's an industry of people who make cool shit from home. Along with the industry, there's a lot of companies selling shovels in the form of scaled down industrial equipment designed for garage-sized spaces.

I was hoping we might have some "Makers" among us who could share their thoughts on the different nifty tools and machines. For instance, I'm about to buy a laser engraver, my mom has a cool little paper cutter called a Cricut, and I just came across this thing called the Carvey that carves up all kinds of neat stuff.

What else is out there? What are some cool maker machines that were formerly only available to manufacturers? What machines cost just a few hundred or thousand that used to cost 5 or 6 figures? What opportunities are there for tools or machines that haven't been scaled down yet?

Glowforge - Laser Engraver
Cricut - Cutting Machine
Carvey - Carving Machine

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Raitis]

Many of the nicer looking machines like the Cricut range, Glowforge some other displayed here are at a toy level even for makers. They are mainly meant to inspire you, get that gleam in the eyes and the dreams of making all the things. The reality is that they often lack in key areas like software and formats you can use, customizing the machine for your use, handling a wide range of materials.

The machines that really enabled maker scene to rise come from China in the form of lasers, printers, routers and other stuff that is 5X cheaper while still having the same or better specs as their western counterparts. Yes, the reliability is not exactly up there, but as makers we can sort that part out for the price.

And then, when those became cheap we started making other machines with the help of cheap 3D printed parts and alike. This was mostly enabled by open source projects out there.

I've been in the maker scene for a while, first as a hobby, then worked for a year in a commercial makerspace where I learned a load of useful skills and became the part of a wider maker community. Been building Coke peddling robots, been a part of a hardware campaign on Kickstarter and now I'm manufacturing hardware prototypes and customized products. If you need some help with stuff related to physical products and the machines used to make them - feel free to PM me or reply in thread if relevant. Will be glad to help.

As for the machines, here are some of those that are good enough to run small manufacturing runs while being cheap enough to buy and maintain:

• Lasers and CNC routers from China - look into G Weike - gwklaser.com
• Great CNC Routers in kit form from the US - cncrouterparts.com
• For larger sheet routing at a funny price point (at the cost of precision) - check out Maslow CNC
• A good first printer choice for those who want a machine that will work, but don't want to go well into 4 digits on it: Prusa MK3 from prusa3d.com. Chinese clones are likely cheaper, but they had to skimp on something.
• If you only want to laser engrave, look into LED lasers and you will cut the mess with laser tubes, mirrors and to an extent coolers.
• If you want to 3D print at home without any smell - try PETG plastic as PLA still smells. Bonus - PETG is easy to print and has phenomenal strength.
• Bonus: do yourself a favor and get some extra sharp blades for your breakaway knife. I prefer Olfa's ASBB (the black ones): 9mm Precision Ultra-Sharp Black Snap-off Blades, 10 pack (ABB-10B) | OLFA - Professional

Software:
CAD, CAM - Fusion360
Vector graphics: Inkscape (free), Adobe Illustrator (paid)
Print preparation: Slic3r (free), Simplify3D (paid)
PCB design: KiCad (free)

As for the box making machine and all that - getting custom cut boxes isn't that expensive where I live, but if you need just a few boxes - a laser cutter can do the job. I think there were layout generators software wise as that is the main time sink.

I could go on and on about all of this, but doubt anyone will read it. Hopefully this provided some value.

P. S. Not sure if applies for the pumpkin pie, but laser engraved cookies taste awful since the laser burns sugar. Laser engraved apples were okay though! Might make for a nice special touch for someone in the event business.

 

[rollerskates]

I make stuff, so I'm fascinated by stuff that makes stuff.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Roli]

What else is out there? What are some cool maker machines that were formerly only available to manufacturers? What machines cost just a few hundred or thousand that used to cost 5 or 6 figures? What opportunities are there for tools or machines that haven't been scaled down yet?

Glowforge - Laser Engraver
Cricut - Cutting Machine
Carvey - Carving Machine

My friend showed me this little beauty Kniterate: The Digital Knitting Machine

It's a fully programmable desktop knitting machine, you could start a nice little biz with one of these things, and scale up as things go. Or even use it to create samples, saving you having to meet a factory's minimum order quantity requirements.

It raised over $600,000 on Kickstarter and costs around $5000

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[G-Man]

All this stuff brings out the 12 year old version of myself that built a backyard trebuchet.

I think we’re all makers until “education” drills it out of us.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[jpanarra]

Do you think the 3D print market will be the next saturated market when everybody starts to own one and uses it to make products to sell?

No,

3d printing is still a skill, it has a massive learning curve. Tons of things go wrong with your printer as you're working with it. Fillament gets jammed, the head goes out of alignment, etc.. Its comparable to a CNC machine where you need a skilled machinist to run a machine that can reach production levels.

That being said... ONE OF THE COOLEST things out there in the makerspace that can legit make a production plant is the MPCNC... CHECK THIS OUT

Specifications | V1 Engineering

you get a 3d printer, make another large scale 3d printer for the same price.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeVeyUas5vU

 

[evlttwin]

I got a million ideas, starting with this...

I will personally come to your house and draw that on your pie if you just give me the 4 grand instead.

 

[evlttwin]

3D Printers.

I'm printing something I designed on Fusion360 as we speak.

It will be done printing in a few hours. I'll test out the prototype and if there are no issues then i have to figure out my next step.

Manufacturing is the real hurdle isn't it?

China (cheap but a headache) or US (almost prohibitively expensive).

 

[evlttwin]

What kind of stuff can you make with Fusion360? Does it just print plastic?

Mine prints plastic. There are other hybrids like wood filament (plastic/wood). I printed a wooden baby Groot, which was awesome.

Here is the printer I have (Creality CR-10s):

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[evlttwin]

Fusion 360 is a FREE, yes FREE CAD Program by Autodesk. You can make anything that you can think of on it.

Fusion 360 | Free Download For Hobbyist, Startups & Makers | Autodesk

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Awesome thread, looking forward to seeing what's out there. Fascinating as heck! Should be an easy GOLD/NOTABLE thread in no time.

Any vacuum packing machines for canning food?

 

[Lex DeVille]

OPPORTUNITY

Anyone know of an affordable machine for making corrugated boxes?

Would love to control my packaging instead of paying crazy prices for U.S. or playing guessing games with China. I like this idea because it's a service most crafters and makers need.

All I've found so far were industrial size machines that need a full-size warehouse or manufacturing facility and a team of people to operate. On the sourcing websites they go for $20,000 up to $500,000 or more.

Plus it seems like you need several different machines to complete the process. This could make a good Kickstarter project if someone could figure it out. Here's what a smaller machine looks like. Not exactly small-space friendly. Definitely not wallet friendly.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Makezine is the top of the rabbit hole. Makers have been around for quite some time. There are even "maker spaces" where people gather resources to have different machines in a social community.

I was going to buy this before reading TMF - I still might later, but for personal use.
- Glowforge - the 3D laser printer

I just bought one. If you do it let me know and I'll send a discount code. They give me a bonus in materials if I share and depending the model you get it's at least $100 off.

 

[Lex DeVille]

What do you plan to make on that?

I got a million ideas, starting with this...

 

[Lex DeVille]

Vaquform
Professional-grade thermoforming made compact, affordable and easy-to-use. Claims you can start manufacturing from home instead of just prototyping. It's in pre-order stage now.

Hot Foil Stamping Machine
This one comes thanks to a link @RazorCut sent me. I'm not sure on the quality, so I'd probably look for a better model. If anyone has a link to something more reliable even if it's a higher price, I'd like to see it.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Lex DeVille]

Is there a freelance platform for makers?

The closest thing I found was Etsy, but you can't post a job and let makers come to you (as far as I can tell). Seems like a potential "next big thing" in freelancing. Where can I go to just post what I want and have someone pitch me on their services?

"I need a leather worker to create 50 custom leather shark laser key chains. If that's you, please send past samples and your price."

Is this a thing yet or is this an opportunity?

 

[Raoul Duke]

https://makezine.com/

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[GSF]

Is there a freelance platform for makers?

The closest thing I found was Etsy, but you can't post a job and let makers come to you (as far as I can tell). Seems like a potential "next big thing" in freelancing. Where can I go to just post what I want and have someone pitch me on their services?

"I need a leather worker to create 50 custom leather shark laser key chains. If that's you, please send past samples and your price."

Is this a thing yet or is this an opportunity?

etsy used to have something similar called 'etsy manufacturing' which was a marketplace for matching small batch manufacturers with sellers sounds like what your describing, they closed it down earlier this year. A bit different but theres also makers row.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

3D printer.

I actually have a small investment in a 3D printing company (FU pot).

Would love to control my packaging instead of paying crazy prices for U.S. or playing guessing games with China. I like this idea because it's a service most crafters and makers need.

Is there a freelance platform for makers?

Not only is the thread super exciting (the creative side in me is grinning!) it seems there are a ton of opportunities in the space. The old "sell shovels" concept.

Love the idea of custom boxes. I haven't been able to find good sized ones that perfectly match my needs.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[evlttwin]

How much was this?

CR10S are about 480ish bucks from China

Creality 3D® CR-10S DIY 3D Printer Kit 300*300*400mm Printing Size With Z-axis Dual T Screw Rod Motor Filament Detector 1.75mm 0.4mm Nozzle

And yes that is wood filament from hatchbox:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01092XXD4/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

Copper Filament:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0761PMW3X/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20




and much much more cool stuff can be done with 3D printing these days.

 

[Legend]

https://makezine.com/

Makezine is the top of the rabbit hole. Makers have been around for quite some time. There are even "maker spaces" where people gather resources to have different machines in a social community.

I was going to buy this before reading TMF - I still might later, but for personal use.
- Glowforge - the 3D laser printer

 

[MJ DeMarco]

It would obviously be well documented so there's no way for anyone to steal the idea.

That won't stop people from stealing the idea. If the idea is sitting in the public domain, people will steal it. And if things escalate, only then the lawyers/judges decide.

We have a section on the inside called Ideas Needing Execution (INEs) and we do something similar. But once the idea is posted, anyone can use it. Purchasing the idea only makes the idea disappear so no one else can review it.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Lex DeVille]

Looks like Amazon has tabletop kilns for casting precious metals for about $500. Not sure what all you can use something like this for, but I'm pretty sure you could make some really cool stuff (or at least melt some cool stuff).

 

[Roli]

Here's a baby groot printing from a printer in my garage (using wood filament):

View attachment 22740

Consider my mind blown!

Let me just make sure I'm understanding what is going on in that picture...

Am I right in thinking that you are printing wood?!?!

Fricking awesome dude.

 

[Ravens_Shadow]

I've got the 3d printer that was mentioned in this thread. To add on about fusion360. Fusion 360 does let you 3d print things, but it also works for CNC machines where you can cut wood/metal/ any material you want.

 

[Ravens_Shadow]

Also in the maker department, xacto knives, glues, electronics such as arduino and servo motors when dealing with robotics which is a hobby of mine, though I'm shit at making robots. So the things that not only make the parts for makers, but the things that help them make the parts better or hold them together. Just another shovel standpoint.

 

[Nackog]

This is a great thread!

Does anyone have any experience with 3d scanners? The idea that you can scan something, then model it and either 3d print it or cut it out of a block with a CNC mill unlocks all sorts of possibilities. I've done some searching and it seems like they can be purchased for less than $1000 for more basic desktop models (for small parts) and around $5k-$6k for ones that can scan large areas.

 

[evlttwin]

To get a jump start on learning the program take a look at this guys channel:

Lars Christensen

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[NewManRising]

3D printer.
I was just watching some videos on it and it's got lots of potential.