Trunk Monkey
Moderator
Mine's been great, no complaints. Maybe if you broadened the market to other vehicles you'd be able to offset the cost.
3D Printed Key Fob - Bye Bye Cracked OEM Shells (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter suprarx7nut
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I love this idea and the HIH6 ones look awesome. Just my $0.02: I would like one that is similar to the original design in that it has the key and fob together in a single unit. Not sure if you've thought about doing that (or if it's even possible with your production methods), but that is what my preferences favor. I have many different keys on my ring and having a separate key & fob for the same vehicle takes up more room than I would like.
Cannon88
In the duck blind...
I use one of these for multiple keys/fobs/etc. I don't like anything hitting the dash either. Quick release and work great. Used them when I had my motorcycle as well, didn't want extra keys scratching up the bike while riding. I put a smaller ring on the key side than what's pictured.
I don't know where you got your info on needing to spend that much on a printer but its way off. You can get awesome prints on printers that cost hundreds of dollars after getting them calibrated well. The only reason I can think that you'd need to spend 5k is if you were printing them with SLA but I thought you said earlier that you weren't.
Not that you'd be interested in doing this but send me your file and I'll print it on my $400 printer and ship it back to you to show you what the quality is like.
Not that you'd be interested in doing this but send me your file and I'll print it on my $400 printer and ship it back to you to show you what the quality is like.
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Bear Lake Cruiser
SILVER Star
Can they be made to clamp down on the key and the internals, like the OEM Fob...all one piece?
PabloCruise
SILVER Star
Does anyone know if there is an option for a LX470 plain key like this?
The Ilco LXP90-P looks like it might be what you're looking for. A couple places online have them for $2, so it wouldn't be much of a gamble to see if it would work.
- Thread starter
- #48
Whoa. Responses galore! Here we go:
Yup, agreed. I need to reach out to the Lexus crowd more. These apply to almost all Lexus models from the 2000's.
I plan on working on this when I have some spare development time. It is certainly doable, but would require some clever part interactions and would likely require the customer to break apart their existing key shell. It's on the road map, for sure.
I'm also shipping recent orders with a simple, cheap spring clip, free of charge. Once I nail down the right quality clip, I'll offer them for a small surcharge or something.
I'd love to experiment with that. The resolution and strength of my current SLS nylon parts far exceeds the cheap printers I've seen, but there may be cheap options out there I haven't seen. I may take you up on that!
I could certainly do that, but if I make an integrated key solution it will be one that lasts and far exceeds the strength of the OEM style. I would reinforce it with metal around the key bit. Doing so, and keeping the cost down for small production volumes is the tricky part. I think there's a lot of demand for a great solution under $100, but not so much over.
Yup, agreed. I need to reach out to the Lexus crowd more. These apply to almost all Lexus models from the 2000's.
I plan on working on this when I have some spare development time. It is certainly doable, but would require some clever part interactions and would likely require the customer to break apart their existing key shell. It's on the road map, for sure.
I'm also shipping recent orders with a simple, cheap spring clip, free of charge. Once I nail down the right quality clip, I'll offer them for a small surcharge or something.
I'd love to experiment with that. The resolution and strength of my current SLS nylon parts far exceeds the cheap printers I've seen, but there may be cheap options out there I haven't seen. I may take you up on that!
I could certainly do that, but if I make an integrated key solution it will be one that lasts and far exceeds the strength of the OEM style. I would reinforce it with metal around the key bit. Doing so, and keeping the cost down for small production volumes is the tricky part. I think there's a lot of demand for a great solution under $100, but not so much over.
- Thread starter
- #49
As a separate note, this thread seems to have renewed some interest and as of this afternoon I'm sold out of red and black, but I'm running some dye-ing trials this weekend. If that goes well I have white parts that I could turn into whatever color is ordered. I'm also going to play around with some FLat Dark Earth, Gray and other colors.
If I'm sold out of a color you order it'll just take a couple weeks to get the part in and shipped out to you.
If I'm sold out of a color you order it'll just take a couple weeks to get the part in and shipped out to you.
Oh no, I just ordered a Red/Black one. I don't mind getting a different color if there will be a delay.
- Thread starter
- #51
PM incoming.
Thanks!
- Thread starter
- #54
Fresh batch of 100series/Lexus fobs arrived!
I finally solved a problem I've been chasing with the printer AND solved my mismatching color issue by printing parts all at once in linked groups. Good news all around!
The nut cavities are coming in perfect and the parts are consistently smooth.
Anyone with outstanding orders should be receiving tracking info via email tomorrow!
I finally solved a problem I've been chasing with the printer AND solved my mismatching color issue by printing parts all at once in linked groups. Good news all around!
The nut cavities are coming in perfect and the parts are consistently smooth.
Anyone with outstanding orders should be receiving tracking info via email tomorrow!
I've got a red and black that I've been using for a few days now. These are just outstanding. Well worth $40. Nicely done!
- Thread starter
- #56
I'm going to start offering batteries and spring clips with these fobs and I'm debating including replacement screws.
Do you guys (and gals?) find that your fob remote internals are missing any screws? One of mine was (and still is) missing a screw and I'm wondering if that's a common thing. If so, I'll include screws in a "Premium" kit and I think I can charge less than retail cost if anyone were to go out and buy one set for themselves. Should be a good win/win for buyer and seller.
Aside from that, no update on my end lately. Parts have been turning out awesome. A few dimensional tweaks and orientation changes have really improved print-ability. Parts are printed and painted simultaneously at the printer which creates a better color match between front and back. I've been able to stay ahead of demand and have plenty of parts on hand. It only took a year and a pile of prototypes to get that figured out...
Do you guys (and gals?) find that your fob remote internals are missing any screws? One of mine was (and still is) missing a screw and I'm wondering if that's a common thing. If so, I'll include screws in a "Premium" kit and I think I can charge less than retail cost if anyone were to go out and buy one set for themselves. Should be a good win/win for buyer and seller.
Aside from that, no update on my end lately. Parts have been turning out awesome. A few dimensional tweaks and orientation changes have really improved print-ability. Parts are printed and painted simultaneously at the printer which creates a better color match between front and back. I've been able to stay ahead of demand and have plenty of parts on hand. It only took a year and a pile of prototypes to get that figured out...
Bandit
SILVER Star
I don't feel the need to replace it but I am missing one of the screws on the battery cover. Your shell seems to hold everything in place without issue though!
Very impressed with your "invention". I'll be ordering momentarily.
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Any update on the possibility of a Flat Dark Earth color option?? 
