3D printing is a relatively new way to mass-produce parts, and that comes with a slight learning curve on the part of both industry (how to make the machines reliable) and you, the buyer. The issue comes down to this: I have heard that a single strand of dental floss will probably not work well pulling a car up a hill. Now, I know what you’re going to say: “crappy dental floss!”, or even “get a smaller car!” But in reality, the floss wasn’t designed to pull a car, any more than the 4CELNK-YR clips are intended to handle all …
Category: 4CELNK-YR flatBack Series
4CELNK-YR flatBack cable clips let you put easy-change, no-waste clips on most flat, finished surfaces.
flatBack Sticky Stuff!
Anyone remember that Devo song “Freedom From Choice”? Where the song lyrics go something along the lines of “Freedom of choice / Is what we got / Freedom from choice / Is what we want.” That is somewhat the situation we find ourselves in at the moment. Just what should be put between our flatBacks and the places we wish them to stay? “Something sticky!” is the rallying cry from the crowd. Ah, were it so simple. Turns out, we all have a whole bunch of different surfaces. LOTS of surfaces. Hard ones, rubberized one, flat ones, textured ones, painted …
Stock Becomes Inventory!
Well, the day finally arrived, and I started putting together parts stock into packaged units, ready for shipping. Cool! Cheers! Rando
First one sneaks through!
And the winner of “first one to get Paypal to put something in a cart properly” (from the new site) is….”Barry Shellgren”, of Somewhere in Warshington! (Thanks, Barry 😉 ) Well Barry, sure hope you ordered this one! That final verification of buttons to SKU and pricing hasn’t been done quite yet, so I’m not making any guarantees. Hopefully the probability of my mistake is less than that of the doctors I’ve been working with lately, but that’s a different story…. For me, the nice part is that packaging in this form, with the parts and folded instruction sheet inside …
First printed package inserts, ready to make “stuff”
Closer yet…Four stacks of 1pc each product-inserts for each of the SKUs. Four lines, 20 SKUs in total. Next up is packaging (at least) one of each of those and getting photos of those for the product pages. Then there’s a few more types of photos left in the process, but then it’s on to posting and creating PayPal buttons for my private site, and then on to eBay. Woohoo! Another short post ;-). Cheers, everyone! Rando
Let the Data Entry begin
Woohoo…I now have a “product line”…branded even! Getting closer every step of the way. That’s all for now :D. Rando
flatBack Luvin’ on a Monday Mornin’
Almost forgot to say anything 😉. These are two flatBack versions that can be double-sided taped to surfaces, and will come in a pack of three large and six small, so three SKUs per bed here. This is 3 x $29.99 ($89.97 totalat MSRP), and comes off the printer every 2h20m. It consumes 3 x 48g of plastic, and only has 0.017 grams of waste. I can live with that. Regards, Rando
July 10th: The Big Idea Emerges
Well, the big idea for a ways down the road. Thing is, if you think Thom’s going to stop with making pre-defined, if parameterizable parts, you’re cray-cray! No, my ultimate idea is someone uses an app to configure a strip and package of wiring-retention “modules” that can then be 3d printed and shipped. Mass customization of wiring-panel harness-holding. Not just innovative shapes and ways of mounting, but a whole new way of buying them in the first place. Gettin’ kinda scary cool, right? Cheers! Rando
Wait…They charge HOW much?
Check this out: https://www.dxengineering.com/…/nte-adjustable-ladder-style… I post this to show how even with mainstream, crappy wire-retention devices like sold by this reputable vendor, they STILL have markup far more than you’d expect, and well within my ability to print a better solution. Who knew this entire “specialty wire management device” industry was operating on such fat markups in low quantities?
How much can 4CELNK-YR flatBack Clips Hold?
The cable area for the small 4CELNK-YR flatBack clips is designed to hold about 4-5 typical “SVT” power cords (UL-Type SVT, 3C/18AWG 300V, ~6mm in diameter), but as you can see, when you get them in there, it will hold 8-ish. Are you SERIOUS? The cable area for the large flatBack clips is, well, BIG. It was partially designed for those cases where there’s just a mass of cables, and you’d rather get them restrained now, and deal with the organization later. If you do plan to put that many in, be sure you don’t overload whatEVER adhesive you’ve got …