geekhack
geekhack Marketplace => Interest Checks => Topic started by: jonlorusso on Fri, 31 July 2015, 10:01:55
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It was suggested to me that I post here, in addition to my reddit post (https://www.reddit.com/r/mechmarket/comments/3fa7fs/ic_60_plate_with_a_trackpoint_hole/).
I'm trying to source a 60% Plate with a hole cut for a trackpoint stem. While I could just drill the hole myself, the additional cut shouldn't add much (if anything) to the cost of the plate, and there is less risk of error. BigBlueSaw seems to be the most appropriate source. There pricing for T-304 Stainless is as follows:
| Quantity | Price |
| 1-4 | $92.10 |
| 5-9 | $40.70 |
| 10-49 | $36.78 |
| 50-99 | $33.64 |
| 100-999 | ? |
| 1000+ | ? |
Note: I have never organized a group buy.
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I would totally dig this if you could also get the parts to build a track point to be packaged with it.
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Local shops, if you have any, will usually be able to beat BBS' prices. Don't get me wrong, for a single piece of metal, they're great. But if you have a decent chance at ordering 25 units, or better yet fifty, a local shop will usually give you a better price.
Of course you have to talk to manufacturing geeks. They want certain things, and don't always translate from what you're trying to talk about. But if you can, in your own head, nail it down to particular pieces of metal, separate from the overall project, you should do fine.
Do you have a .dxf written up? I've run similar GBs in the past -- there's a pretty okay shop not far from me, although I'm too busy this summer to take on a GB myself I think. Maybe in the fall I can get back to such things.
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I would totally dig this if you could also get the parts to build a track point to be packaged with it.
Thus far I've been harvesting my trackpoints from thinkpad replacement keyboards I get on ebay. The only other sources for trackpoint modules I've seen are a somewhat pricey ($28.55) sprintek module (http://sprintek.com/products/sk8702.aspx) and group buy on massdrop (https://www1.massdrop.com/buy/tex-trackpoint-module).