New 80 series Cup holder design:
- Thread starter bhicks
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Thread starter
- #282
I thought I would give a little update. I am officially done printing the cup holder with cell tray. I gave it one last valiant effort this week to get it dialed in and make a perfected print, but no luck. I have 3 failed prints, 2 that made it to the end but needed LOTS of sanding and acetone wash, and only one that turned out good. I have wasted WAY too much time, money, and filament on that design. I have perfected the single and double but the tray section on the other design is just been a nightmare to print without any warping or cracking. At this point I have the one on ETSY that is perfect for sale. I also have 2 "prototypes" cup holders with cell tray that are good, but not perfect. They fit and function fine, but they are both very slightly warped at the tray section and a tad rougher then I would like. Those are both $30 (1/2 off my ETSY price). If you want a prototype one then shoot me a PM. I also got a couple more double cupholders up on ETSY today, but one alredy sold so I have one left and a few of the singles. So if anyone REALLY wanted the cup holder with cell tray option then understand that the 3 I have are it. Sorry if you wanted that design but were planning on waiting a while. I really wanted to continue that option but it has cost me way too much.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #283
I figured it would be a good idea to give you guys a visual explanation of why I have given up on the cupholder with cell tray. In the first pic is a perfect print (the one on ETSY now). I get this type of quality about 30% of the time. Even though it is on my printer I had actually already removed it and given it an acetone bath to give it a smoother finish and a glossy look. The 2nd pic is the exact same print file done the following day, that went crazy on me. This one is totally destroyed. It did print all the way to the end without failing (about 30% don't even make it to the end) but it's total garbage. I was curous to see how far I could take it so I gave it an acetone bath and heated it up in the oven unti it was nice and soft and tried to bend it into shape. Epic fail! That would be the 3rd pic. This is nothing like the "protoypes" of this model I am selling. They were MUCH closer to perfect but just slightly warped. This particular print has been such a nightmare. I can get a perfect print one day and have a HORRIBLE print the next with zero changes to the file or machine. Any profit I may have made on these cupholders got eaten up on the failed prints of this design. I just need to let it die before it kills this entire project. Sorry for the bad news, but hopefully you guys can at least now see what I'm dealing with. The double no longer has this issue and the single has printed well from the very beginning. Only about 20% of the time will the double crack and warp like this and I'm getting that number lower and lower as I improve upon the print settings. So I guess this is an official "good by" and "RIP" post for this design. For those of you that got a good one; congrats.
- Thread starter
- #284
The two prototypes I had are now gone. The perfect cupholder print sold last night. While cleaning out my garage this morning I did come across another cupholder with cell tray that is perfect. I had thought I was one short but after looking for a while I gave up and just assumed I had miscounted. Apparently I had not so the last cup holder with cell tray is now on ETSY. Please don't bug me to make any more. The amount of gray hair on my head has trippled from this stupid design. The only way I will be bringing it back is if a new type of filament comes onto the market that has no warping or cracking issues but can also accept sanding and painting.
NLXTACY
Wits' End
Time for injection molding
We did some in China and it took 30 days for the mold and $2600 for the small mold and $5400 for the larger mold. Just as a frame of reference. 50,000 molded prints per mold.
- Thread starter
- #286
Time for injection molding
We did some in China and it took 30 days for the mold and $2600 for the small mold and $5400 for the larger mold. Just as a frame of reference. 50,000 molded prints per mold.
I spent a LOT of time getting quotes and meeting with injection mold companies. The best I could do for the double cup holder mold was $13,000 and $11,000 for the cupholder with tray and another $9,000 for the single. I also had to order a minium of 10,000 pieces of each. My initial financial investment would be somewhere between 60-70k. I had a REALLY hard time putting enough money together for my 2.5k printer. There was just no way I could scrap together 60-70k. Right now I am working hard at getting another printer with hopes of getting two more down the road. Ideally I would like to have 4 printers going full time. I think I could keep up with the demand that way and move on to my other projects like the "TOYOTA" grille badges, rear cupholders, etc. My decisions ultimately come down to money; which I have none. So I am quite limited on how I go about this 3D printing endeavor.
NLXTACY
Wits' End
Sounds like a U.S. supplier. China for plastics. Its the only way to make money. I have a contact in China, with a local rep, if you are interested.
China is for sure the way to go, they do small run projects like this for a lot less $. No setup fees a lot of times. I had injection molded plastic parts done with only needing to do a run of 250. Hate to give them the business but damn, they want it bad.
NLXTACY
Wits' End
3D printing is PERFECT for prototyping. Not for production.
- Thread starter
- #290
Wow. I must say I'm impressed with your class. You sell cupholders for the 80 series and your here giving me good info. That is impressive. A true stand up guy. Your the reason why I stayed away from that middle pocket on the landcruisers. I didn't want to take away your business. I figured with my cupholders on the passenger side and yours in the middle we have covered all the needs and are giving everyone great options. If someone buys one of mine, there is no reason why they can't add another cupholder to the middle and buy one of yours. Great product. I just PM'ed NLXTACY to see if his China contact will work out. All the US contacts I made were WAY beyond my budget.
- Thread starter
- #291
It is definately not ideal for production. It has been a MUCH bigger challenge then I had originally thought. The small TEQ/80 badges are rather easy with the printer to mass produce since they are short prints that don't have enough time in the printing process to warp and crack. They are done in usually around 4 hours and it takes about 12 hours before I start dealing with the warping and cracking. If I can work out the injection molding with the cupholders I will probably still continue to make the grille badges from my printer. I appreciate your thoughts and look forward to getting in contact with your guy.
I saw your cupholder and thought it was great. That's the great thing about the creative types, we look at things differently and just go about solving the problem. Me, I'm a metal guy, if I can't bend it, brake it, or cut it with a laser then I'm onto the next project. You've done a great job. Let me know if NLXTACY contact works or not, like he said, injection molding overseas is the way to go. I tried 3D printing for about 30 minutes and created the first cupholder out of ABS. It measured about 1mm by 1mm, like a lego. So I gave up. Everybody needs a cup holder, personally having 3 of them in front would be awesome.
- Thread starter
- #293
Your dead on with 3 cupholders being awesome. My wife is always carrying around a water bottle. If we drive thru to pick up some food we now have our two drinks. Her water bottle gets kicked to the floor. Having another spot to put it would be great. I feel our two desings combined would be the perfect set up for the front seat. All areas are being utilized with no space or function lost. Its a win win. I wish I could get mine down into the $26 dollar range like yours, but that wouldn't even cover the cost of the plastic.
For those of you that have contacted me about the single cupholder with cell tray; I am officically done making that one BUT there is still one left on ETSY. First come first serve. If you are wanting to know why, look at my posts at the beginning of this page. All the orders that came in over the last 48 hours all went out this afternoon.
For those of you that have contacted me about the single cupholder with cell tray; I am officically done making that one BUT there is still one left on ETSY. First come first serve. If you are wanting to know why, look at my posts at the beginning of this page. All the orders that came in over the last 48 hours all went out this afternoon.
- Thread starter
- #294
NLTACY it was nice talking with you last night. Thanks for the good tips about negotiating. I will be contacting your guy this week. Also, to the rest of you; I do have one last cup holder with cell tray on ETSY. That design is done and I will not make any more. the one on ETSY is it.
NLXTACY
Wits' End
No worries Brad. Hope it works out. They are very good people and they do try hard to get your business.
Brad
Received and installed last cell/cup holder prototype, GREAT product.
Hope the overseas contact works out.
Mike
Received and installed last cell/cup holder prototype, GREAT product.
Hope the overseas contact works out.
Mike
- Thread starter
- #297
I'm glad you liked it Mike. The good news for the rest of you in line for a cupholder is that it looks like I'm getting another printer. The one I have been eyeballing for a few months is now coming down rapidly in price. The little bit i have been putting aside is getting really close to what they cost. I hope to get it ordered in September. That will allow me to double production and hopefully allow me to move on to all my other projects. I will leave my original printer dedicated to the TEQ badges and cupholders and the new one will focus on the "TOYOTA" badges, rear cupholders, and a few other goodies. Also, I just got another batch up on ETSY. I have the single and double in stock again. Still have the final cupholder with cell tray up on ETSY. This one is a perfected one and not a prototype. All the prototypes are gone except for the few I kept for some local 80 guys.
Hi Brad
I am based in South Africa and have been following your thread for a while now. I am interested in bringing a few of your cup holders in to sell on to our 80 series guys here. Could you please send me some picks of your cup holders and the other things you make for the 80 series. Also the other goodies you make for Toyotas. I would also like to know what the pricing is of the items and how we will work with redards to the shipping if you are intrested.
Thanks
Werner
- Thread starter
- #299
Werner, here's the link to my ETSY page. Both of my cupholders and all other designs are there and in stock. There is a few pictures of every design. Shoot me a PM if your interested in large batch of anything. I'm not sure if shipping would kill this endeavor or not. It can't hurt to look into it. Here's the link.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BH3DPrinting
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BH3DPrinting
so no go on one with cell tray? looked on the page but do not see it there
