I'm looking for ideas.

Something with high profit margin that would sell well.

I have access to welding stuff, bending, and laser cutting/etching.

What ideas do you have?

 

Custom register covers for high end house. I'm serious. I put a stairs in a house this summer where they spent 6k on cnc plasma cut register covers and there where maybe 75 of them. There is more money in big houses then there is in car stuff.

On the automotive side I'm assuming lasercut flanges would be pretty cheap to make but that market is pretty full right now.

 

What kind of designs were in them? Got pics of them?

Were they just a flat piece, or what?



Modified by Engloid at 4:18 PM 9/25/2005

 

They kind of looked like that but they were a custom design. They were made out of a flat piece of stock and had a lip just tacked onto the back with a tig (crappy tacks too lol) the Parade of Homes is going on right now so I might be able to find some time to take some pics of my stairs and the covers as well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by I4sillypwr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

They kind of looked like that but they were a custom design. They were made out of a flat piece of stock and had a lip just tacked onto the back with a tig (crappy tacks too lol) the Parade of Homes is going on right now so I might be able to find some time to take some pics of my stairs and the covers as well. </TD></TR></TABLE>

That wouldn't be too hard to do....except for the slight bend on the edges. I guess it could be cut from thicker material and ground to a bevel though.

 

Nope they just did it out of flat stock no bevel.it went in a house worth 1.6 million too.

 

Why would somebody want to pay for these to be custom? How would I get in contact with people that wanted them?

I have a friend that does really high end carpentry and finish work. Maybe he could help out on it.

 

a radiator block off plate =

1 type for the half rad users another for the flat part above the radiator support

http://www.metromotorsports.co...D=185

Keychains

Radio block off plates

Pedals...I can probably think of more later. I would be interested in what you come up with.

It might be more cost effective to use a waterjet for the bigger items. CO2 or IR?

"Laserjock" get it?

 

it probably wouldn't sell but would be cool as ****:
custom computer case... take some wierd designs adn cut into the metal for the case and all the internal structure where the drives mount..

that would be cool; make it all out of stainless; tig it all..

crap that would be expensive and take forever to build... but it'd look cool as hell

 

I don't have access to a waterjet. Well, I know a company that does it, but the cost would probably be more than laser. Waterjet is more than just water. It also uses an abrasive that's not cheap at all.

 

You're right Engloid. I weld waterjet machines together for a living. The waterjet machine we use to cut averages about $150/hr. to run if someone wants something custom cut, then $60 and hour for the engineering part of the program if they dont already have a program made out. we actually have built a few lasercuters for customers too.

 

sex toys..

lotsa money in custom sex toys.

 

Just curious, I'm trying to find access to a pipe bender, where would I go to look?

 

Just a few things i thought of: bumper diffuser, custom gauge pod for dash or glove box, cup holders that actually hold drinks , antenna block off plate, and of course, stencils... kids love stencils. lol

 

They needed to be custom sizes and the design was customized to match some of the other hardware in the house.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shortyz21 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sex toys..

lotsa money in custom sex toys. </TD></TR></TABLE>

haha

 

how about full blown cnc? 40"x20" travel

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jorsher &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just curious, I'm trying to find access to a pipe bender, where would I go to look?</TD></TR></TABLE>


^wtf?

 

I4 is right, home stuff is where the money is going to be. The car stuff is too saturated and the market is too immature, you'll be competing on price forever and there isn't much money to be made.

We work with waterjets and make car parts, but in a year, we'll probably be out of the car market entirely and will be making custom parts for homes and furniture. There is so much more money to be made there, we don't have to compete on price, you don't get as many idiots, and most people are willing to pay for quality work.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Engloid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm looking for ideas.

Something with high profit margin that would sell well.

I have access to welding stuff, bending, and laser cutting/etching.

What ideas do you have?</TD></TR></TABLE>