low cost comanies making CNC pieces ??

[skanskan]

Hello

I'd like to build a physical prototype of a new kind of lock (with a key).
I don't have a CNC machine and I've thought that I could pay some online company to build it for me.

I've found these:
mcmaster, bigbluesaw, teamwhyachi, firstcut, emachineshop

Do you have any experience with them?. Can you recommend any other?



I'll do it in steel, or aluminium if steel is too expensive.
Maybe I get some parts from one company and some other from other to avoid that they could copy my ideas.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Locks were made for thousands of years without CNC.
Don't focus on the process.

Make some decent drawings and put them up for bid on mfg.com.
Be honest about the quantity.

Or work with a semi-retired machinist with a workshop in his basement or garage.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[mcgyvr]

Firstcut is excellent.. I've used them before. They are a professional shop and you won't go wrong with them. They are like a sister company/splitoff of protomold.

mcmaster just sells material/hardware,etc.. they are not a machine shop. teamwhy is for robot parts.. bigbluesaw/emachine shop look very similar..never used either though..

 

[vpl]

You might want to mention where you are located. This forum attracts people from all over the world. For example, there's a local metal working shop down the street that I could use if I needed a prototype made. Down the street for me (outside Chicago USA), might not be down the street for you.

Patricia Lougheed

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[TVP]

Firstcut is very good.

 

[ajack1]

In the UK some collages and universities will do this kind of thing for very low rates in order to give practical experience to students.

If you consider this a good thing or that they are taking work away from companies that operate with normal overheads is a different matter.

 

[Cockroach]

Hold it! You need to get to a lawyer and file an application on a patent. If the invention is not patentable, then seek a copyright on industrial method. Engineers are way too trusting in this subject, I know of several who have gotten screwed over.

Take the time to get legal representation, you can have a patent application filed in a few months and then proceed with a prototype development. Claim ownership of the idea of benefit to those skilled in the art. Believe me, you will not be sorry!

And good luck with it! I would sign the shop of your choice to a confidentiality agreement and be sure this is stated on your print somewhere. Don't use "patent pending",that attracts the gutter snipes.

Regards,
Cockroach

 

[skanskan]

Hello Cockroach

I don't have money to create an international patent (*).
That's why I've thought of making a prototype and show that is very difficult to open.

I've contacted some famous lockpickers that appear at youtube showing how they open high security locks and they are willing to publicly test my lock.

I'll try to attract the interest of big lock makers with all this, always hidding the internals of my devices.

regards



(*) I don't know if anybody will be interested on it. Thus I prefer to spend a few hundred dollars in a prototype instead of thousands in a patent.
I could patent a prototype and later somebody can make a slightly modified version.

 

[KENAT]

I'm not patent/IP expert but I'd look into at least having an NDS set up with anyone you disclose the design too - including both machine shops and lock pickers.

From an applied point of view, for IP you could send different components to different machine shops. Of course if you don't do a good job of dimensioning & tolerancing the prints etc. this will cause its own problems.

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[skanskan]

I've forgotten to say that some friend in the USA will be present when the lockpicker try to open it.

 

[Cockroach]

SkanSkan....don't kid yourself, there will be plenty of suitors once they see a commercial potential. Without any type of legal potential, your idea will get patented another interest and you'll be stripped of claim to ownership as well as financial rewards. Going public on UTube is absolutely a dumb idea, you're entering the public arena and therefore risk any patent claim.

It is unfortunate you are not willing to invest the time and money into legal council. Good luck with it, hope it works out for you. You're travelling down a well trotted path of heartache and dispair. Engineers are not known much for their commercial smarts, believe me, it's tough watching everyone around you get rich and you remain in the poor house churning out ideas. Lots and lots of sharks out there, just waiting for that lucky someone to walk by....

Regards,
Cockroach

 

[KENAT]

Sorry, NDA not NDS.

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[skanskan]

Cockroach, I'm not going to make my diagrams public on youtube, but only show the final device already build, without any internal detail.
Though I know that the lockpicker may guess how it works to some extent.

regards


Options:

1. My lock doesn't work
2. My lock works but it's easy to pick
3. My lock work, is difficult to pick but nobody is interested.

1. I need to build it.
2. I need that somebody test it or see the diagrams
3. I'm investing time in modyfing my original (and best) model in order to get a simplified version cheaper to be made. Later I'll need marketing and luck.