Feeler: 500 Series L Brackets

[Ricardus]

I'm going to have some made at a local machine shop where a friend works. Just wondering if there's enough of a market for me to grab more than 10 of these and sell them. I'm going to be putting up an E-Commerce site selling some odds and ends, so I thought I'd check.

No idea what the cost will be yet. But everything is expensive, and since I'm not buying 1000 they probably won't be cheap.

These will be completely unpunched. Just bare metal, and you're on your own with the rest of the fab.

 

[nielsk]

I may be interested, depending on price.
Do you have correct dimensions?
Often the closest metal shop is not the least expensive...
They really should not cost much to have made, probably $1 in materials and (at most) 5 minutes time to cut and bend. Purchase a full sheet of 16 gauge aluminum and have as many as can be cut from it made, you will probably need to have a run of at least 100 to be cost effective and absorb set up expense. It may take a while but I'm sure they will all go...
Order some of the free padded flat rate priority mail envelopes from USPS, you can ship at least a dozen domestically in that for $10

 

[Ricardus]

I'm sure the closest might not be the cheapest, but a fellow makerspace member is a CAD guy there and I have an inside track (maybe not on pricing, but on manufacturing) and I'll use them for convenience. No freight costs. My guy will just drop them off after work.

 

[Ricardus]

I may be interested, depending on price.
Do you have correct dimensions?
Often the closest metal shop is not the least expensive...
They really should not cost much to have made, probably $1 in materials and (at most) 5 minutes time to cut and bend. Purchase a full sheet of 16 gauge aluminum and have as many as can be cut from it made, you will probably need to have a run of at least 100 to be cost effective and absorb set up expense. It may take a while but I'm sure they will all go...
Order some of the free padded flat rate priority mail envelopes from USPS, you can ship at least a dozen domestically in that for $10

You think shipping something with a right angle can be done in an envelope? Or rather, SHOULD be?

 

[elskardio]

CAPI already sell a nice one for 10$. It might suit your needs.

Classic Audio Products, Inc.

 

[Ricardus]

CAPI already sell a nice one for 10$. It might suit your needs.

Classic Audio Products, Inc.

Yeah, but the point is not to have to buy everything for my API clone builds from Jeff.

He already gets a ton of my money!

 

[jsteiger]

Yeah, but the point is not to have to buy everything for my API clone builds from Jeff.

He already gets a ton of my money!

Ouch! A ton is never enough LOL

 

[Ricardus]

Ouch! A ton is never enough LOL

I hear ya brother!

 

[MidnightArrakis]

I'm going to have some made at a local machine shop where a friend works. Just wondering if there's enough of a market for me to grab more than 10 of these and sell them. I'm going to be putting up an E-Commerce site selling some odds and ends, so I thought I'd check.

No idea what the cost will be yet. But everything is expensive, and since I'm not buying 1000 they probably won't be cheap.

These will be completely unpunched. Just bare metal, and you're on your own with the rest of the fab.

Ricardus: I certainly do not wish to step on any toes here in this thread (i.e., my experiences have been that so many members of this forum are exceedingly and overly-sensitive about most everything, therefore, they are offended by even the most banal and simplistic of things said), but send me everything that you have concerning your brackets and I will check with my sources that specialize in prototype and low-volume sheet-metal projects. This would include any CAD-files, mechanical detail drawings, any sketches on napkins or lunch sacks, etc.

In addition, I have noticed that there are a wide variety of 500-Series brackets or "sleds" that are used. While some has a type of "short-leg" that goes across the entire width of the front-panel, there are others where the "short-leg" side is only about 0.25" or so wide and contains two (2) holes for a very short #6 machine-screw to fit through and screws into the rear of the front-panel via a drilled and tapped blind-hole.

In an indirect answer to your current issue, I myself have been somewhat researching information about the 500-Series bracket (or, "sled") from a variety of sources in order that I may finally come up with a "STANDARDIZED" set of mechanical dimensions, PCB mounting hole locations and other mechanically specific details required by this piece of simple sheet-metal. Does anyone else out there care to chime in on this??? Give me your thoughts, OK???

/

 

[nielsk]

Also worth consulting the VPR alliance spec.
Among other aspects, it is important that the sled is slightly narrower than the front panel width.
It would be convient if there were stand-off holes to fit that various edge connectors and 500 proto boards that other members have created!
The great thing about the padded flat rate envelope is it it large enough to fit a decent size box in, so you can send a significantly larger object (s) for the same cost as the small flat rate box, with basically no weight restriction.