geekhack
geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: vebrack on Mon, 28 October 2019, 18:57:11
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Hello everyone,
I'm here asking for any help or advice that ya'll can give me in terms of machinery (how I could make my own cases, keycaps ect..) your tips and advice are greatly appreciated and I hope to hear back from some of yall
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I hate to be that guy.
There is no money to be made on keyboards unless you have some radical/mind blowing/unique ideas, then the chinese will copy you and most likely run you out of business.
But here it is, I assume you dont know how to do any of these things, forgive my ignorance.
Research how much a decent software engineer is paid or learn to use open source software.
Research how much a decent mechanical engineer is paid or "borrow" 3d models from other people, modify and create your own contraption.
Research how much a decent machinist is paid or get a 3d printer and "manufacture" few pieces yourself first then scale up if you`re successful
Research how much an electrical engineer is paid or "borrow" other people boards and design around them
Research how much marketing/advertising will cost.
Now do the math, most of these need to get paid at least 8 months before you can see any money coming back.
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I guess you could find a niche, something that may not be worth copying, and something that has not flooded the market yet.
If you plan to build TKL with gateron blue/brown and basic RGB you may be competing with a ton of others but then you might even be able to innovate.
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There is no money to be made on keyboards unless you have some radical/mind blowing/unique ideas, then the chinese will copy you and most likely run you out of business.
Actually there is, but only if you have the knowledge and/or access to everything and do this on the side, doing it as an outsider and not just flushing money down a toilet? Almost impossible.
By the way,
Coming here and asking how to manufacture a keyboard is like asking fellow Starbucks coffee drinkers how best to grow your own coffee beans. Just because they drink it doesn't mean they know the best farms for sale in Colombia or the best fertilizer to use.
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Many new businesses fail because they want to do too many things too quickly, no matter how much capital they have.
There are many small businesses catering to the mechanical keyboard hobby, and the owners do it on the side of a regular job. Many shops have a niche in the products they do, or are specialised in importing things and selling them in their region. Some have existed for some time and have branched into keyboard/parts because they already had the expertise.
Do find your niche: something you want to do, that which nobody else can do better, and do that. Outsource the rest. If you are good at design, do design and let others do the manufacture. Or if you are a good artisan and craftsman, and want to make e.g wrist rests out of wood or leather (for example), then by all means by an artisan.
Pretty much every electronics brand, from the (smallest to the largest) outsource machining, PCB-manufacture and moulding, and may do only the assembly themselves. Moulds and other special tooling for your product can still be very expensive.
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Do find your niche: something you want to do, that which nobody else can do better, and do that.
This,
and in a saturated and mature market, you probably need an important new (and realistically affordable) idea that sets you completely apart from the rest of the field.