How to manufacture a version of something that already exists?
November 14, 2013 6:06 PM Subscribe
I would like to manufacture a table with these legs, but with a wood desk top. Where would I go to do such a thing? Most "prototype" manufacturers are for metal products, etc.
And if you want to build a version of that entirely in wood, anyone with a basic wood shop can do all the necessary cuts.
A cabinet shop will be the expensive way to go about it, your neighbor with a rusty old Shopsmith in the corner of their garage will be the cheaper way. But someone near you can build a folding table fairly easily, and for, I'd guess, about an order of magnitude more than that table.
posted by straw at 7:50 PM on November 14, 2013
A cabinet shop will be the expensive way to go about it, your neighbor with a rusty old Shopsmith in the corner of their garage will be the cheaper way. But someone near you can build a folding table fairly easily, and for, I'd guess, about an order of magnitude more than that table.
posted by straw at 7:50 PM on November 14, 2013
Built from scratch is going to require a lot a lot of money. [I said a lot twice on purpose]. A welder, you might get away with a sawzall, a drill with bits and probably a rivet gun just to build the lower structure. That's just tools, not supplies, if you want to go that way. Even if you take it to a shop it will be a lot more expensive than DIY.
If all you want is to create a table with those legs and a stable wood top that's easy and fairly cheap.
Buy the table, buy a cutting board in the size you want your desk top to be. Invert [we're working upside down now] the table and remove the screws to release the synthetic top. Place the cutting board on the floor and place the table frame [still inverted] atop the cutting board. Using wood screws attach the metal frame to your new wooden desk top using the holes where the frame used to attach to the synthetic top.
A screwdriver should be the only tool you need to do this.
tl;dr keep the frame, replace the top.
posted by vapidave at 8:55 PM on November 14, 2013
If all you want is to create a table with those legs and a stable wood top that's easy and fairly cheap.
Buy the table, buy a cutting board in the size you want your desk top to be. Invert [we're working upside down now] the table and remove the screws to release the synthetic top. Place the cutting board on the floor and place the table frame [still inverted] atop the cutting board. Using wood screws attach the metal frame to your new wooden desk top using the holes where the frame used to attach to the synthetic top.
A screwdriver should be the only tool you need to do this.
tl;dr keep the frame, replace the top.
posted by vapidave at 8:55 PM on November 14, 2013
Best answer: People seem to be assuming that when you said "manufacture" (as in mass produce) you really meant "fabricate" (as in build one or several.) Did you?
I don't have personal experience with having things manufactured, but I recently talked to a guy who was a regular small business owner who had gone through the process of having a (non-furniture) product manufactured in China. According to him the process was basically:
1. Get a sample of the product you want to knock off. In his case he just wanted a copy of a fairly standard-issue item that already existed but with his own company's name on it, but you could use the methods suggested by others upthread to make your own prototype table.
2. Send the sample (or in your case maybe just pictures of it) to a manufacturer in China for a quote. You might be able to find a likely candidate by trawling Alibaba and contacting sellers of similar-looking items.
3. Pay for a production run of the product (measured in shipping containers full, in his case the minimum order was one container to start.)
He said it was surprisingly cheap to have it done, but that he found once he was on the hook with that manufacturer they kept upping the minimum order and that the quality of subsequent shipments declined. This might not matter to you, depending on the scale of manufacturing you have in mind.
posted by contraption at 9:29 PM on November 14, 2013
I don't have personal experience with having things manufactured, but I recently talked to a guy who was a regular small business owner who had gone through the process of having a (non-furniture) product manufactured in China. According to him the process was basically:
1. Get a sample of the product you want to knock off. In his case he just wanted a copy of a fairly standard-issue item that already existed but with his own company's name on it, but you could use the methods suggested by others upthread to make your own prototype table.
2. Send the sample (or in your case maybe just pictures of it) to a manufacturer in China for a quote. You might be able to find a likely candidate by trawling Alibaba and contacting sellers of similar-looking items.
3. Pay for a production run of the product (measured in shipping containers full, in his case the minimum order was one container to start.)
He said it was surprisingly cheap to have it done, but that he found once he was on the hook with that manufacturer they kept upping the minimum order and that the quality of subsequent shipments declined. This might not matter to you, depending on the scale of manufacturing you have in mind.
posted by contraption at 9:29 PM on November 14, 2013
If you want to make just one and do it yourself, then maybe what you need to do is find a shared workshop where you live, like TechShop.
"Each of our facilities includes laser cutters, plastics and electronics labs, a machine shop, a wood shop, a metal working shop, a textiles department, welding stations and a waterjet cutter. Members have open access to design software, featuring the entire Autodesk Design Suite. Huge project areas with large work tables are available for completing projects and collaborating with others."
posted by Dansaman at 10:32 PM on November 14, 2013
"Each of our facilities includes laser cutters, plastics and electronics labs, a machine shop, a wood shop, a metal working shop, a textiles department, welding stations and a waterjet cutter. Members have open access to design software, featuring the entire Autodesk Design Suite. Huge project areas with large work tables are available for completing projects and collaborating with others."
posted by Dansaman at 10:32 PM on November 14, 2013
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I buy products for parts in many of my projects. Why not just buy that ironing board, and dismantle it for parts. There are the legs you want. I mean, how many tables are you making? If you are seriously mass producing tens of thousands, then you should be making formal blue prints and talking to engineers, right?
But if you are making 100 tables or so, to refine the concept, and sell locally - then your best bet is going to be to purchase that exact ironing board, and dismantle it for parts.
posted by Flood at 6:25 PM on November 14, 2013 [1 favorite]