[Got an awesome price quote! See post 230] Aluminum poker cases

[mkawa]

re: weight, our only options are to a) have the retainer plate made in a polymer then epoxied to the aluminum, or b) thinner case. i don't like b because the outer case looks damn good, and it makes more work for this fellow helping us.

oneproduct: how much does the mounting plate weigh?

re: mounting, every other option i can think of will almost certainly be more expensive. morg may just be right. if someone does strip out the mounting hole, they will probably just have to drill out the holes and epoxy tapped nuts in themselves. (this is the other option, but creates more manufacturing steps for something that probably isn't necessary)

[oneproduct]

Oh, I thought you were referring to the weight as a good thing, and I have a feeling that most people would. I don't really intend to try to make it weight any less but if you want to cut your own polymer to replace the insert I would have to not glue the metal insert to the metal base for your case.

how much does the mounting plate weigh?

Sorry, didn't measure the two separately, but it should contribute to somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 the weight since it's essentially the same as the case minus the walls.

[mkawa]

are they going to be glued or welded? imo we should distributed them separated, and let people pick up their own tube of JB weld if they want them together

or, you can have that fellow drill some fastening holes in them and the case bottom that will take screws (which would imo be the absolute best option)

[morgofborg]

Yeah, I think the case and mounting plate should ship separate as well. 1) because a tube of JB weld is cheap to pick up and 2) if people are interested in getting a finish put on, they will need to be separated anyway.

Heh, and worse case scenario about the screws stripping, a tap and die set is only like $15 bucks if you really end up needing it.

I think the weight is a good thing, but then again, I wanted the 3 1/4 lbs steel one haha.

[oneproduct]

Was going to glue them. My only worry about shipping things out separated is that I know there will be some people who do not want to have to take care of things like this on their own, and the same goes for finding a material to lie between the PCB and the metal insert which is why I intend to include the simple material pictured in the video which more daring people can choose to replace. What would be better would be that I would glue all of them except if I am specifically asked not to, so I'll set up some options where you can specify that when it comes time to confirm your order and pay.

Fastening the metal insert to the bottom of the case would be even better. I'll ask him about it but I have a feeling he might say that he can't tap holes into the 3/16" base without going straight through it. The equipment they have is pretty big, you could fit a car in a lot of the machines they have but I guess for tapping it's probably something smaller.

[morgofborg]

In the demo one are you just using corrugated cardboard as the material between the PCB and the metal insert? Just wondering.

[mkawa]

hmm. i bet i can have a couple of holes drilled and tapped locally for US-bound units. i have access to a drill press and taps if it comes to it and i don't have to do that many.

alternatively, we can do things like gluing/final fastener machining/etc at the distribution points per request.

le sigh. once the plate design is final, one can always send the file off to a plastic place here and see how much it would cost to have it laser cut too.

[oneproduct]

In the demo one are you just using corrugated cardboard as the material between the PCB and the metal insert? Just wondering.

This is what I'm using:
http://www.amazon.com/Grip-Shelf-Drawer-Liner-Black/dp/B000KFSOFI
http://www.organizeit.com/grip-it-shelf-and-drawer-liner-taupe.asp

It's made of PVC. From Wikipedia: "It can be made softer and more flexible by the addition of plasticizers, the most widely used being phthalates. In this form, it is used in clothing and upholstery, electrical cable insulation, inflatable products and many applications in which it replaces rubber."

If there's something else you would suggest that is easily available and cheap I'm open to suggestions, but I'm more in favor of letting people switch it out for their own stuff once they get it if they prefer something else.

[morgofborg]

Oh, nice. I have a huge roll of that stuff in my basement. We line the inside of our kitchen cabinets with the stuff.

I was asking because as long as the holes for the screws are predrilled, I have no problem JB welding the metal insert in and cutting some of that stuff to size. If more then that would be necessarily, then yea, I would think it would be best to ship the whole thing put together.

I just think shipping it all assembled will make it more difficult to get any colors or finish put on is all.

[mkawa]

a-ha, now i remember why welding aluminum is a pita. it's because you can't anodize the welded joint.

POWDERCOAT AHOY

oneproduct: could you get an estimate for the casing with corners unwelded too? i'm increasingly convinced that it doesn't need to be done.

[oneproduct]

Yea, shouldn't be that hard, but I don't know if everyone would be comfy JB welding it together on their own. I've never done that before myself but I've done pretty much the exact same thing with crazy glue on non-metal surfaces. Again, I'll provide it as an option as to whether or not you want it glued if that's how it's going to end up (if the fastening idea falls through).

a-ha, now i remember why welding aluminum is a pita. it's because you can't anodize the welded joint.

Ah, bummer. Can you still powder coat?

[lightsout714]

Sorry I know its been brought up. How is the pcb not going to short on the bottom plate?

[oneproduct]

A layer of PVC placed between the PCB and the metal insert that it is mounted to, it's basically like rubber. You should be able to see it in the more recent pictures and video.

[lightsout714]

A layer of PVC placed between the PCB and the metal insert that it is mounted to, it's basically like rubber. You should be able to see it in the more recent pictures and video.

Sounds good sorry I missed it. I got some money sitting in my paypal that I am not spending as I wait for this. Looking forward to it.

[mkawa]

by "corners unwelded", i meant no welds to join the flaps on the bottom plate.

[jonnybastard]

a-ha, now i remember why welding aluminum is a pita. it's because you can't anodize the welded joint.

Yes you can, it will just be a slightly different colour where the welds are, which may or may not be very noticeable depending on the colour that's chosen and the size of the welds.

And yes you can still powder coat them no worries at all.

[mkawa]

i'm not going to pretend to understand why this is or is not possible. but i'm not crazy about discolored joints. powdercoating or no welding it is.

[oneproduct]

could you get an estimate for the casing with corners unwelded too? i'm increasingly convinced that it doesn't need to be done.

Although it certainly doesn't need to be done for structural reasons, you'd be able so see the line where the sides meet which breaks the nice one piece construction look. Looking at the pre glass beading shots, there don't seem to be any weld marks on the outside though except for tiny ones at the corners on the top rim.

[turbocharged]

by "corners unwelded", i meant no welds to join the flaps on the bottom plate.

This is what I was suggesting as well.

[laikaislost]

If orders are still open, I would be interested if the price came to below $80.  If it saves money, I would not need the glass beading done either.

[seferphier]

does the weight include the metal plating?

quite a nice weight.

[oneproduct]

That's with the metal insert, yup.

[GeorgeStorm]

Any idea on the kinda timescale you're talking about before they will become available?

[oneproduct]

Will hopefully have the estimate by Friday afternoon and then if it's something affordable (~$100 or less) I'll put up a group buy and figure out exactly how many we'll be ordering. Not sure how long it will take them to make them all but I don't imagine it would be more than a week or two for the quantities I'm expecting (~50).

[seferphier]

Will hopefully have the estimate by Friday afternoon and then if it's something affordable (~$100 or less) I'll put up a group buy and figure out exactly how many we'll be ordering. Not sure how long it will take them to make them all but I don't imagine it would be more than a week or two for the quantities I'm expecting (~50).

that is really fast. nice work.

[KyesaRRi]

Sweet, could not be happier. Any idea on the time frame for the group buy? Spending ~$500 on a PC upgrade next week, buying a poker at the end of the month and moving in a couple more weeks so cash is going to be thin for a while.

[oneproduct]

Was planning to make the group buy phase as short as possible, like a week or less since I already had two other threads where people who were interested chimed in.

[KyesaRRi]

Alright then looks like I wont be eating next week. Count me in for one!

[oneproduct]

I think you guys will be very happy with the price. In keeping with full disclosure and with what I promised about not trying to profit, the actual price for one case that was quoted to me is...

$64*

*That's the price before taxes and before the extra cost for me to buy screws, glue and insulating material. With those included it will probably come out to around $80 (the tax rate here is 14.5%). Shipping will of course be highly dependent on where you live since this thing is so heavy. For those in the US I will likely be sending them all off to one person to handle distribution there since it will be a lot cheaper (probably mkawa). For Canada I will send them individually on my own. For other places (Europe, Australia, etc) it may be in your interest to try to figure out if there are some of you that would like to have your order shipped together.

They didn't make a second prototype because it would be too expensive but they let me take home the first (and only) prototype now, so I took some more pictures and video so you guys can see, I'm uploading them now.

I will put up a group buy once I'm a little more certain what things will cost. Since I'm not doing this for profit I have to be careful what final figure I put up since I don't want to actually end up negative. I will probably add a dollar or two to the price so that I can at least get a case for myself for free.

I will put up a group buy thread hopefully later today or tomorrow and at that point I will only be charging the cost of the case. When it comes time to ship, you will be charged at cost for the price of shipping. I encourage YOU to look up what it costs for me to ship this thing to you so that you have an estimate of what you'll have to pay (since it might be something like $15 or more depending on where you are, my postal information is Pointe-Claire, Quebec, H9R 5L9, Canada). I will be using Canada Post unless the rates are so unreasonable that I have to consider something else. The weight will probably be around 2.5 pounds and the size will be that of a poker, plus maybe 3 inches in each dimension to account for the box and padding it will be in.

[kaiserreich]

Wonderful price point. Good Job!

Anyway, I tried the Canadian post website and I got quoted roughly $40-45 for a surface parcel to Europe/Asia/Australasia, no quotes for air parcel.

[mkawa]

this is excellent news! what kind of volume is that price for? ie, how far down can we get it if we can generate more volume?

[oneproduct]

That was a quote for 50 cases, but when I asked if the price would change if we had more orders he said no. I think that once you hit at least a minimum amount to spread out the initial costs that the rest has basically no impact, maybe the price would go down by a dollar per case but they don't go into that much detail, they aren't as concerned about bulk orders as places like SP are.

If we reach in excess of 100 I'll ask again, but otherwise I'm going to leave it at that to avoid pestering them too much. One thing to remember is that there are hand made, not made by machine, so it's no easier to make 100 than it is to make 50. Hitting minimums is basically to make sure that it's worth their time to bother with this, but afterwards it should be pretty linear.

[mkawa]

ok cool.

i'm unfortunately really busy this weekend dealing with funeral arrangements for my friend; can we deal with details next week?

i'll contact the metal place asap and see if i can get a paint quote from them

[seferphier]

wow the price is awesome! mega props to oneproduct!!

i got quoted at 46CAD to deliver to asia. (small packet)

[bavman]

I'd take one for $64

[sth]

Tempting at the new pricepoint.

[oneproduct]

I'd take one for $64

Just to make it clear, it will probably be about $80 in the end. $64 is the price I was quoted before taxes and before having to buy the little extra things I need to assemble it. Maybe I should rename the thread...

[boost]

sweet deal... cant wait for this group buy to happen.

thanks again !

[lightsout714]

Price sounds great.

ok cool.

i'm unfortunately really busy this weekend dealing with funeral arrangements for my friend; can we deal with details next week?

i'll contact the metal place asap and see if i can get a paint quote from them

So are you thinking about offering paint on them prior to shipping?

[mkawa]

Price sounds great.

So are you thinking about offering paint on them prior to shipping?

yep. there's an aluminum place nearby that the mechanical engineering department recommends. i'll contact them early next week for a quote.

oneproduct: i think you should just give the price range as something like 90-110$. after shipping, misc parts, etc. i think that's what it it will end up coming to. hopefully that range will also cover paint, but i may be way off base for that.

[lightsout714]

I would change the thread title. Looks like shipping to canada can be done for around 15 bucks. But if your sending them all to the us (US orders) thats great.

yep. there's an aluminum place nearby that the mechanical engineering department recommends. i'll contact them early next week for a quote.

oneproduct: i think you should just give the price range as something like 90-110$. after shipping, misc parts, etc. i think that's what it it will end up coming to. hopefully that range will also cover paint, but i may be way off base for that.

Sounds good, hopefully there is the option to not get it painted.

[mkawa]

yah, sure. i'd like to paint as many as possible to keep the price low (and because custom powdercoat is effin beautiful), but i'm not going to paint yours if you don't want it

[oneproduct]

Yea there we go, took out the price from the thread title and they can just read about it themselves in the post. Typing on the poker right now and wow does it feel solid. It's very noticeably different than when it was in the plastic case.

[mkawa]

btw, how much would another prototype with the changes we've discussed be?

[morgofborg]

yah, sure. i'd like to paint as many as possible to keep the price low (and because custom powdercoat is effin beautiful), but i'm not going to paint yours if you don't want it

Yeah, maybe just start a new thread or something when you have them all from oneproduct.

I want mine painted I originally said I was down for case as long as it came to around $150 and it looks like that is the case, so I can certainly put the rest of that cash towards some type of finish. Can't wait til you get a quote next week.

[oneproduct]

btw, how much would another prototype with the changes we've discussed be?

You're referring mostly to getting holes tapped into the metal insert and the metal case as a way to fasten them together? I don't think that they can do that because their machinery is too big to tap into something 3/16" thick without going straight through it. And then I think your other big point was about not welding the corners together but I would prefer to keep them welded.

[lightsout714]

yah, sure. i'd like to paint as many as possible to keep the price low (and because custom powdercoat is effin beautiful), but i'm not going to paint yours if you don't want it

Oh its powder coating huh. That sounds nice I'll have to hear the price first though.

Yea there we go, took out the price from the thread title and they can just read about it themselves in the post. Typing on the poker right now and wow does it feel solid. It's very noticeably different than when it was in the plastic case.

Thats great to hear that you definitely notice a difference.

[oneproduct]

Also mkawa, if you want it to be super minimalist, you could pretty much just use the metal insert itself and just ignore the case lol. All the case does is offer side protection, but if you're not worried about that then the metal insert makes a fine base.

[morgofborg]

Also mkawa, if you want it to be super minimalist, you could pretty much just use the metal insert itself and just ignore the case lol. All the case does is offer side protection, but if you're not worried about that then the metal insert makes a fine base.

That would be pretty sweet. Run your pc caseless and the keyboard. Then de-bezel your monitors. Just need a caseless mouse lol. Just a bare sensor and buttons in your hand.

[snoopy]

Aaahhh really nice price... Definetly want one. Hope there are some other germans that want one :-)