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geekhack Marketplace => Interest Checks => Topic started by: toms on Sun, 16 October 2016, 13:26:54
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Hi everyone! I have some equipment to anodize aluminum, and I'm considering selling custom fade cases in a groupbuy format, because not all of the equipment stores well (ie I have to run in batches).
Overview:
The basic idea is that you can choose 2 colors (or 3 idk) and I will create a case with a fade anodized layer, or splotchy or camo or some other pattern that you can choose. Think CS:GO knives. Images are farther down. They should have a matte luster to them. You can make them match your favorite keysets or just pick lime green I don't care.
I will choose a set of standard anodize dyes based on this survey, and any other colors will be available at an added price because I will have to buy it just for you.
Cost breakdown:
The cases are from 1-up keyboards. I'm working with him to find out if I can buy them without the clear/single color anodization for a discount, but if not the base price for the case will be $73 plus shipping. If you already have any aluminum case ship it to me and I'll remove the existing anodization for free.
The cost of anodizing each board isn't too huge, probably $10-15 of the various powders per board assuming it's in bulk, but I have to pay back over $500 worth of equipment so I will probably charge at least $50 for the anodizing process. If I have to strip an existing anodized layer the price will probably go up slightly. Let me know what your opinions are of that price point in the survey.
Survey link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeMj66WHhGhb8F-U2GTUuI0TXyLnA4KYB3bdS2l7EtCm31JFQ/viewform (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeMj66WHhGhb8F-U2GTUuI0TXyLnA4KYB3bdS2l7EtCm31JFQ/viewform)
Example Images: (not mine)
(http://images58.fotki.com/v824/photos/1/141020/4265159/IMG_0994-vi.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/RWKh3CO.png)
I will be selling under the brand "Raptor Studios" or something similar, idk yet. What do you think?
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looks pretty interesting!
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On your form, the question "Colors you are interested in: " only allows you to choose one option.
It's interesting and I look forward to seeing what people get, but I doubt I will be in for the first round (maybe a later round though).
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On your form, the question "Colors you are interested in: " only allows you to choose one option.
It's interesting and I look forward to seeing what people get, but I doubt I will be in for the first round (maybe a later round though).
whoops! fixed. Thanks!
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E3Eves from reddit! As mentioned there. Very interested! I'll fill out the form ASAP.
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This seems like a really neat idea! I don't need another 60% case right now, but I'm really excited to see what comes out of this.
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I don't currently have a 60% case or the money for one, but this is a super cool idea and I hope you get enough responses for multiple groupbuys to be worth your while.
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Very interesting. You should give more details about your limiting factors for some of those questions though. Does it significantly increase your cost to have more colors, more pattern options?
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Very interesting. You should give more details about your limiting factors for some of those questions though. Does it significantly increase your cost to have more colors, more pattern options?
Right now the main limiting factor is just the price of buying the whole array of chemicals needed to do this in bulk. It's around $500 to get the stripper, de-smut, de-grease, de-mist, sealant, and other random chemicals to make the highest quality parts I can. The nice thing is it isn't a super recurring cost as I can re-use a lot of the baths I make.
Also, each keyboard takes around a couple hours to anodize, plus another hour of prep, dyeing, sealing, and finally laser etching a nice small logo or custom message, and that time keeps the group-buys small. I want to be able to at least break even on the first group-buy, but I don't want to take on more orders than I can handle so I'll have to work out the price from what I think I can handle.
Adding extra colors isn't a huge deal, and for 2 gallons it's like $10-$20 for a dye. The downside is that I can easily use the same dye for 10 keyboards without needing to replenish, but if everyone wants their own color I will have to charge extra for non-standard colors that will need to be special ordered. More pattern options is just a matter of myself learning how to do new patterns. A splotchy/fade pattern isn't too difficult to produce, but more complex things require much more creativity. To get a hard edge requires masking, which in my opinion looks pretty tacky, so I probably won't do stuff like that. I'm really curious to see if a laser can fully remove an anodize layer that can be re-grown, which would enable me to do a base, laser etch away areas in complex patterns, then create a second layer that way. I'll just have to mess around.
Another issue is that I'm going to be incredibly busy until november, then busy again in december, so finding time to do the groupbuy will be difficult. Worst case is I push it back to January, but I'd like to do a run in November first.
Thanks for the interest everyone. I didn't think this would be as popular as it is, and I've already got 43 responses saying "yes"!
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I would say choose 5 color combinations or post like 10 and setup a poll for which ones people want. You cant cover everyones needs. Great work though, really excited for this! :D
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
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I know you want to do this service in GB format but would you be willing to anodize our aluminum cases? Like if i send you an octagon case can you anodize it? I know theres a lot of people on here interested in a service like that.
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I know you want to do this service in GB format but would you be willing to anodize our aluminum cases? Like if i send you an octagon case can you anodize it? I know theres a lot of people on here interested in a service like that.
Yeah, re-anodizing cases is definitely part of the plan. However the cases will need to be small enough to fit in the bath (like TKL max without me making custom setup). Also, there seem to be quite a few people interested, and for the first go I might limit it to just one group buy of a single case type, then go from there. I don't want to ruin anyone's case by accident...
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Here's a recurring business idea: Custom anodizations
Doesn't even have to be multi-color, I'm sure a lot of people would want to get a case in a custom color, they would send in their aluminium parts, get it re-anodised etc.
Don't know whether it's possible, but it would be a nice niche artisan business