New 80 series Cup holder design:

[alltel05]

^^^^^ While I see what you are saying and mind you I have no dog in this fight I respect the guy for building something that isn't being represented AND did his research to see what the current ecology was like and doesn't feel the need to ruin it. He clearly stated that every other product was good and didn't need to go there. I still stand behind what I said earlier. Plenty of room at the table no reason to cut any competitors throats to make room. This is not a comment on innovative products or designs.

 

[bhicks]

What I am looking into (for selfish reasons) is a kid focussed rear cupholder. I have a 2 and 4 year old with one on the way and they have some funky shaped sippy cups that normal cupholders can't touch. I really want to design something that has storage for toys, and can allow for a wide range of sippy cups. It would also work as a cupholder but the focus would be on meeting the demands of a young family. The standard rear double cup holder has been done by another member so I don't feel the need to duplicate that. This would give members another option with a different focus. My hope is that we would be selling to different markets and not hurt each others business. That project is currently on hold. 100% of my energy is going to pumping out cupholders and keeping my machine in tip top shape. Those two task are keeping me VERY busy.

 

[alltel05]

Well mine are all grown up but I will be paying the piper soon as your stocked up for the cup holders my whip so desperately needs. Wish I didn't have a 3fe because the emblems look pretty boss.

 

[bhicks]

Well mine are all grown up but I will be paying the piper soon as your stocked up for the cup holders my whip so desperately needs. Wish I didn't have a 3fe because the emblems look pretty boss.

I do have a TEQ badge for the 91-94 grille. You might want to take a look.

 

[alltel05]

My grill has the actual word Toyota.

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

What I am looking into (for selfish reasons) is a kid focussed rear cupholder. I have a 2 and 4 year old with one on the way and they have some funky shaped sippy cups that normal cupholders can't touch. I really want to design something that has storage for toys, and can allow for a wide range of sippy cups. It would also work as a cupholder but the focus would be on meeting the demands of a young family. The standard rear double cup holder has been done by another member so I don't feel the need to duplicate that. This would give members another option with a different focus. My hope is that we would be selling to different markets and not hurt each others business. That project is currently on hold. 100% of my energy is going to pumping out cupholders and keeping my machine in tip top shape. Those two task are keeping me VERY busy.

DUDE... YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!!!!!

 

[bhicks]

My grill has the actual word Toyota.

Like this:

 

[alltel05]

Okay that's freaking cool.

 

[jeffro109]

so with a cell phone model on its way to the house......I'm very curious about this kiddo storage rear cup holder and yeah, I need that too

Thanks again Brad!!

 

[bhicks]

so with a cell phone model on its way to the house......I'm very curious about this kiddo storage rear cup holder and yeah, I need that too

Thanks again Brad!!

Your gonna have to give me a few weeks on that one. I have already bit off more then I can chew with all the projects I have going on right now. I'm still working on the 80 series TEQ badges, the "TOYOTA" grille badges, the cupholders, and now I'm working on TEQ badges for the FJ60 and FJ40 guys. they kept bugging me so I finally decided to pay attention to them. No more projects until I wrap up all the ones I have started.

 

[mdandashly]

Crazy idea but since you mentioned you don't have the demand to outsource a manufacturer, maybe find some people with a 3d printer who can print for you also and take a small commission on each one they print. There's gotta be a website. If not its a good business idea. Kind of like connecting people with printers to people who need printing.

 

[bhicks]

Crazy idea but since you mentioned you don't have the demand to outsource a manufacturer, maybe find some people with a 3d printer who can print for you also and take a small commission on each one they print. There's gotta be a website. If not its a good business idea. Kind of like connecting people with printers to people who need printing.

There are LOT's of people out there with 3-D printers to hire. I am a member of numerous riprap forums. You send them your stl file and they will print it for a fee and ship you the part. That is usually about 4 times the cost of the plastic PLUS shipping. I'm trying to break even and keep the prices down. If I use a 3D printing service then the low cost idea goes right out the window. What I will do is sell the stl to the forum members who have 3D printers. I plan to do that once the orders slow down. My hope is to get my printer paid off this year and then immediately buy another with the long term goal of having 4 printers. 4 printers running around the clock is about all I can handle alone. Two would be going full time on my personal projects, and 2 printers would be for hire and that would be combined with my skills in 3-D computer modeling for people who also needed me to make the CAD and STL files. Those goals may be a little ambitious, but that is where I would like to be in 24 months. That is when I will shift gears are focus on making a profit. The mud guys unfortunately are my guinea pigs with making products and running a business. My profit will be all I will learn in this endeavor. I plan to use that to become profitable in the future.

 

[mdandashly]

There are LOT's of people out there with 3-D printers to hire. I am a member of numerous riprap forums. You send them your stl file and they will print it for a fee and ship you the part. That is usually about 4 times the cost of the plastic PLUS shipping. I'm trying to break even and keep the prices down. If I use a 3D printing service then the low cost idea goes right out the window. What I will do is sell the stl to the forum members who have 3D printers. I plan to do that once the orders slow down. My hope is to get my printer paid off this year and then immediately buy another with the long term goal of having 4 printers. 4 printers running around the clock is about all I can handle alone. Two would be going full time on my personal projects, and 2 printers would be for hire and that would be combined with my skills in 3-D computer modeling for people who also needed me to make the CAD and STL files. Those goals may be a little ambitious, but that is where I would like to be in 24 months. That is when I will shift gears are focus on making a profit. The mud guys unfortunately are my guinea pigs with making products and running a business. My profit will be all I will learn in this endeavor. I plan to use that to become profitable in the future.

Good luck. That's the dream brother. To build something and work for yourself

 

[jeffro109]

Personally I'd pay more $$ so you were not just "breaking even", education is one thing, but still.

 

[bhicks]

Personally I'd pay more $$ so you were not just "breaking even", education is one thing, but still.

I look at it this way; lot's of people pay a LOT of money for a good education. I'm trying to get a good eduaction for free. Right now I have a LONG ways to go before I get close to breaking even, but I'm in no rush.

 

[bhicks]

I have good news and bad news. I got my first successful double cup holder print finished this morning. It turned out great. The bad news is that it once again killed my printer in the process. It took 26.5 hours to print. I had to increase the bed temp to max the entire print to keep the print from cracking and warping. My hope was that with all the upgrades it would be able to handle those high temps for LONG hours. The electronics, motors, belts, etc. all did great. What I found was the next weak link. My build platform (glass plate) cracked. When I tried to remove the double cup holder from the platform it shattered which destroyed the platform heater in the process. I now need a new platform heater and glass plate. I already ordered the heater and will be upgrading to a thicker plate. Hopefully no more weak links. This thing is like a Jeep; you just keep upgrading only to find the next weak link in the line. My hope to have a batch ready by next week just got pushed back a week or two. I might just sell the handful of cupholders I do have on ETSY in the next day or two and then do a much larger batch in a few weeks. I will keep you guys update. Right now I need to get all the broken pieces of glass out of my machine and pull all the wiring for the heater.

 

[bhicks]

Time for some pics. After I got machine all cleaned up and ready for the new parts I decided to take some pics of the double cupholder. It turned out really nice and fits perfect. It does sit up about 1/8" where there is that ridge on the center console. You have to lean way over and squat down to see it. The reason it is there is from the 1/8" thick faux wood. On the 80 without the faux wood insert it would sit flush. Either way it looks good and looks like it belongs in that spot. I also found a gray that is VERY close to the Gray that came on the Toyotas. I will be using that for the gray. So I should be able to offer all cupholder designs in the factory colors. The double cup holder can be purchased with one single black insert that has a spot for two cups OR two separate inserts. So you can carry a Nalgene bottle in one and a fast food cup in the other. The reason I am keeping the single black insert is for the guys with tablets. Since the middle section is open between both cupholders it allows for a large object to sit in there that spans the width. If you don't plan to lay a tablet in there then the separate black inserts is probably the better option. It's more functional. Look closely at the pics because I have both shown.

 

[bhicks]

Here's some pics of it in use. I put the largest fast food cup I could find next to a Nalgene bottle. It can handle both at the same time. I also included the Xlarge fastfood cup with a Large 32 ounce cup. 2 44 ounce cups is a little tight. It will work but they bump into eachother and are pushed outward a couple degrees. 2 32 ounce cups fit with no touching. Overall it's as functional as I could possibly make it. I had no room to go in any other direction.

 

[ERG80]

I got one of these for my truck because my other cup holders are always full of other stuff. It is really nice!

 

[Mandito22]

I sooo want one in gray , regardless if is the single or double insert , first one u have available please send it to me