Custom sliding strut assy....

[flraptor07]

OK, get these things into production before somebody else does. Excellent job man, I'm deffinetly in for a 1/2 dozen or so.

[kfxguy]

OK, get these things into production before somebody else does. Excellent job man, I'm deffinetly in for a 1/2 dozen or so.

im working on it! wish i could buy a cnc mill.....

[gsbuickman]

Oh wow, sorry Travis, now I feel like a jack@$$ .....

not only was I suffering from lack of caffeine last night, apparently I was so tired I didn't realize there was a 2nd & 3rd page to your thread. no wonder I didn't climb out of bed until 11:00 this morning, I can't remember the last time I did that, good Lord....

I really like what you've accomplish here,its original as well as Badass, Congrats :thumb up: . Imo, I really hope you've already applied for a patent, if you haven't I suggest you do it inmediately before somebody stole your idea for a patent on their own and you end up screwed.

[kfxguy]

Oh wow, sorry Travis, now I feel like a jack@$$ .....

not only was I suffering from lack of caffeine last night, apparently I was so tired I didn't realize there was a 2nd & 3rd page to your thread. no wonder I didn't climb out of bed until 11:00 this morning, I can't remember the last time I did that, good Lord....

I really like what you've accomplish here,its original as well as Badass, Congrats :thumb up: . Imo, I really hope you've already applied for a patent, if you haven't I suggest you do it inmediately before somebody stole your idea for a patent on their own and you end up screwed.

Thanks! I did put alot of work into this thing. The second iteration will be better and less complicated. If someone wants to steal my idea...well they have to love with the guilt of not being ingenuitive on their own. I'm not so sure this is going to be an item that Would sell or be worth trying to sell. It's alot of work. Let me ask you guys something....say I perfect this thing and it looks and works awesome.....what would be a price point they would sell at? You guys tell me what you'd pay for one and I'll go from there......

[Spartanator]

OK, get these things into production before somebody else does. Excellent job man

Exactly!

[flraptor07]

Well you figure a Speedmaster 21 strut is about $30.00, I'm thinking if you could get these CnC produced you should be able to get around $50.00-$60.00 for them.

[keithbradley]

Thanks! I did put alot of work into this thing. The second iteration will be better and less complicated. If someone wants to steal my idea...well they have to love with the guilt of not being ingenuitive on their own. I'm not so sure this is going to be an item that Would sell or be worth trying to sell. It's alot of work. Let me ask you guys something....say I perfect this thing and it looks and works awesome.....what would be a price point they would sell at? You guys tell me what you'd pay for one and I'll go from there......

Unfortunately I think what they're worth and what they would sell at are two different things.
I remember a year or two ago, a customer of mine decided that he wanted a rudder bracket that was a little different than what he could find. He brought it to a local machine shop, and they made a new base for the bracket with the bolt pattern size that he wanted. His cost? $130.
Amount that your average rc boater expects to pay for that part, with a full standoff and rudder blade? Maybe $35

[Spartanator]

Custom sliding strut assy....

Unfortunately I think what they're worth and what they would sell at are two different things.
I remember a year or two ago, a customer of mine decided that he wanted a rudder bracket that was a little different than what he could find. He brought it to a local machine shop, and they made a new base for the bracket with the bolt pattern size that he wanted. His cost? $130.
Amount that your average rc boater expects to pay for that part, with a full standoff and rudder blade? Maybe $35

I see a point there... But maybe the machine shop was selling a service at the counter. In other words your cost for the end product to the customer is more than it would it would for someone selling out of there garage. I'm just throwing whatever ^that was out there... Lol

If Travis was just starting on my RiverCat then I would ask him for it, I would expect his price to be $60ish, if he asked for $80 I would give it to him... I have two other builds (hope your listening Travis) and some custom parts may have to be introduced.

I think it is an excellent idea and I am jealous that mine doesn't have one!

EDIT: After some thought if he asked $100 I would give it, but that's the limit...

[kfxguy]

I think keith is on to it...I know you guys appreciate The work that I've done on this. I've been talking to Dave and I'm going to send this to him after testing it. We are gonna try to come up with a game plan but to be honest...I don't think these would cost less than $100 each. I could be wrong....I'm gonna find out

[keithbradley]

I see a point there... But maybe the machine shop was selling a service at the counter. In other words your cost for the end product to the customer is more than it would it would for someone selling out of there garage. I'm just throwing whatever ^that was out there... Lol

If Travis was just starting on my RiverCat then I would ask him for it, I would expect his price to be $60ish, if he asked for $80 I would give it to him... I have two other builds (hope your listening Travis) and some custom parts may have to be introduced.

I think it is an excellent idea and I am jealous that mine doesn't have one!

EDIT: After some thought if he asked $100 I would give it, but that's the limit...

I think you're pretty reasonable. MTC's strut mounts are about $50. They aren't adjustable, but they're very nice (note that I'm speaking in regards to the mount, not including the strut).

Most people have no idea just how long work like this takes, especially on a manual mill.

[keithbradley]

I think keith is on to it...I know you guys appreciate The work that I've done on this. I've been talking to Dave and I'm going to send this to him after testing it. We are gonna try to come up with a game plan but to be honest...I don't think these would cost less than $100 each. I could be wrong....I'm gonna find out

Travis do you know how much total time you have into this, and have you mentioned it if so? Of course this is only time. It doesn't include raw materials, end mills that wear out, materials that you screw up (hopefully at the beginning, not the end), etc.
Do you have 5, 6 hrs?

By the way, for those that don't know, it's typical for machine shop rate to be $100/hr. You would of course charge more if you're an actual machine shop than you would as a hobbyist, as spartanator said.

[Peter A]

The only hope for a lower priced item would be if China robbed the idea and used it as a production item. Even if done on a cnc machine the cost to produce only reduces with significant numbers, probably in the 1000's rather than 100's, it is just the way it is. If you want a custom adjustable strut assembly like Travis's, you either make it yourself, or have someone make it for you and be prepared to pay for it. As far as patents go, it isn't original and a patent costs more than you would ever make out of it. Waiting for the testing results now!

[flraptor07]

I think you're pretty reasonable. MTC's strut mounts are about $50. They aren't adjustable, but they're very nice (note that I'm speaking in regards to the mount, not including the strut).

Most people have no idea just how long work like this takes, especially on a manual mill.

You hit the nail on the head Keith, the adverage joe blow doesn't have a clue what it takes to do custom fabrication. I know this first hand, I co-own a Custom Car/Street Rod shop. TV has really mislead people for me, they see a show where two or three guys whip out a show quality custom car in two weeks and they really think that's how it works. When the truth is that on that show there are 50 guys behind the sceens working on this car 24/7 and they had all the parts in advance. In reality it takes a real 3 man shop about a year to build the same car. I'm gonna do a shameless plug, here's my shop's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/kcsclassics And here's one of my customers https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...type=2&theater

[kfxguy]

I think you're pretty reasonable. MTC's strut mounts are about $50. They aren't adjustable, but they're very nice (note that I'm speaking in regards to the mount, not including the strut).

Most people have no idea just how long work like this takes, especially on a manual mill.

Well keith I think I have at least 8 hrs in this thing. Crazy I know....and maybe a little unbelievable. ...but I know I could make another on is half that time or less. I had to teach myself along the way. I didn't have any plans or drawings of it....I winged it mostly along the way. I had my boat sitting near and was taking measurements along the way. Jotting down on a piece of paper. I had an idea of what I wanted and this is how it turned out. I'm extremely pleased with this first version. It paves the path for improvement on the next. When Dave emailed me back earlier he said the major thing is writing the program for it. I imagine that's going to take some time there. I don't know if thing will get produced, it may be too much of a pain and just not be profitable enough for him to fool with it. It would be really nice for you guys to have this available to you though. I'll be running it this weekend. I'm waiting on some parts from fightercat to finish it up. Should be here Saturday.

[Fella1340]

Nice job Travis. 8hrs isn't hard to believe at all. I'm surprised the dovetail cutter put up with being in a chuck! That slot must have been something else to. The whole thing isn't an easy machine job by any means. Congrats man, something else to proud of! You keep taking things to another level all the time, keep it up.