Looking for interest in custom molded cartridges

[Caleb H]

Where I work does injection molding. I got a rough quote on the price of a die for a custom case for the TI-99/4A FlashROM99. So I'd like to ask if there's any interest in helping to pay for the development? It's estimated to be about $1500; if there were enough interest I could pay about $500 of that, but not really more. And about how many could we manage to sell?
Thanks,
Caleb Hansberry

 

[Osgeld]

Have you asked on atariage, there is a ton of ti99 people there that might be helpful for your numbers

 

[MicrocomputerSolutions]

For small quantities wouldn't it be easier and less expensive to develop the prints to have cartridge cases formed by 3D printing?

Going with a molding and having the cases cast/injection molded, you would have to look for a company to manufacture the cases using the molds/dies that you have made.

 

[KC9UDX]

$1500 is dirt cheap for an injection mold. But think how many you have to sell to recoup that (and the rest of the costs).

I've apparently been away from my TI99 for too long, I can't recall the form factor of that cartridge. But what I'm thinking is that if you can design a cartridge case that will cover other machines, you have a bigger market. I know there were a few such designs, Intellivision and C64 cartridges are the same, I think Colecovision and some others are very similar.

Have you thought about doing a crowd funding campaign? It may be worthwhile. I would sure like to buy a dozen cartridge cases, and I'd probably pay just under $50. But as much as I'd like to, I just can't afford $500 to help buy a mold.

If I had time, which I just don't, I could probably make you a mold for a less.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Could the cartridges be vacuum-formed? That's usually quite a bit cheaper than injection molding as it doesn't require the tooling.

 

[KC9UDX]

Unless there's some new process I'm not aware of, you still need to make a mold for vacuum forming.

 

[Unknown_K]

Big difference in machining a water cooled mold for injection molding and a simple mold for vacuum forming. Its been ages since I toured an injection molding facility, but from what I recall the molds were for more then one part at a time and the machining work on the mold was super expensive. I guess you could make a smaller mold for one off production on a smaller press.

 

[Chuck(G)]

The mold for vacuum forming can be made of ordinary stuff, like plaster of Paris, a block of balsa wood, an old Coke bottle or your shoes; neither the temperatures nor pressures are of the magnitude of injection molding. Do a web search under "DIY vacuum forming"--it's one of the simplest and easiest ways to form plastic parts. I suspect that a cartridge housing would be the perfect candidate for such a technique.

Another low-temperature/cheap mold technique is to use high-density polyurethane foam--many 80's low-quantity cases were done using it. You can tell because they're all painted--the "naked" material is sort of a cafe au lait color, but a bit yellower. One of the demonstrations that used to be done was to fill a paper cup with the stuff and allow it to expand--looks just like a root beer float. Tooling can be made from RTV, or polypropylene or other plastics.

 

[Caleb H]

Oh wow so many replies. I really don't know anything about molding in general or other methods, just the process used at work, used to make very high quality products. A 3D printed case already exists, the reason I want something else is almost exclusively due to the look.

Recouping the money I paid wouldn't be important, I'm not doing this as a business, just want to put a little extra effort out (or a lot lol) to have another quality product available to the modder and vintage computer community.

"If I had time, which I just don't, I could probably make you a mold for a less." Yes, I'm aware of that, the cost is the cost of paying someone at the company for their time in making the metal die. But noone is offering to make the die.

Thanks for the tip about atariage, here is the topic I made there: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/257410-looking-for-interest-in-custom-molded-flashrom99-case/

 

[Caleb H]

Well, I guess the response was less than enthusiastic. I'll have to wait til I have extra money to do it. From the response I'm getting I feel like there's something that actually might be in higher demand that I could get some serious backer for, but I don't know what it is.

 

[Al Kossow]

Well, I guess the response was less than enthusiastic. I'll have to wait til I have extra money to do it. From the response I'm getting I feel like there's something that actually might be in higher demand that I could get some serious backer for, but I don't know what it is.

The DEC collectors would be interested in reproduction lever switch handles. There is probably some reasonable money to be made there.

 

[Druid6900]

Well, I guess the response was less than enthusiastic. I'll have to wait til I have extra money to do it. From the response I'm getting I feel like there's something that actually might be in higher demand that I could get some serious backer for, but I don't know what it is.

Don't be discouraged.

Back when I was selling on FeeBay, I had reverse engineered the TRS-80 Model I active interface buffer for the A board expansion interface, redesigning the board to get around any copyright hassles, sourcing a case for it and specing out the parts cost and was selling futures for the product.

Although there was a lot of interest and people willing to put down deposits, there just wasn't enough people to make a run of the boards practical.

I still have all the files for it and I might re-activate the project now that there are places that will do a limited run for a reasonable price.

I think you'll find that you will have a bigger market for a finished product than a potential product.