ShelledPants - Why buy what you can build?

[lurkingknight]

someone want to make a threaded killflash for my scope? lol

[ShelledPants]

Originally Posted by daishi

Start making some vsr-10 internal upgrade kits ;D

EDGi sells his for like 400usd, and then assrapes further with only shipping through a courier that will charge 60 more dollars + 50% in taxes and "charges".

I've had an internal debate about this.

The reason my parts are "not so hot looking" though functional, is because I'm doing them in between other jobs at work, and often I don't set up a machine to do them in batch, which would mean I could get the finish perfect and reduce machining time... but I'd have to make 100+ to justify the time.

Then there's the issue of ... these are not my machines... my work is kind enough to let me use them and their tools so long as I don't fuck em up. It would be a little back stabby to go and do a full production run of my own product without their permission.

ON THE OTHER HAND:

My company is pretty chill. If I paid them for the machine time, I could totally do just that. Machine time? $100 per hour per machine.

Then there's the issue of... Which VSR? TM? Clone? Which Clone?

It's a nightmare for a tight tolerance setup to have to drop parts into another factory made thing. One offs are easy, I simply adjust on the fly. I have huge respect for people like EDGi and PDI for their kits that really don't require much if any fitting on the guns they are designed to be used on.

Lastly is my time: At a bare minimum wage of $20 an hour, each part could take an hour or two to setup, and machine, and check, and finish, and ship... Then there's materials, good material is costly and only comes down in bulk, say 1-2" Dia at 12' vs 1' lengths as needed. And those costs only come down as I make more, but more requires demand... So... If I made 100 kits to sell, do I undervalue myself initially and potentially end up with 70 kits sitting in my apartment ... waiting to be sold... eventually... maybe... who knows?

I think EDGi and PDI's prices are pretty bang on for the quality of the parts they produce, and considering the relatively low volume of airsoft demand world wide. This is an issue that companies like FCC ran into when it came to trying to edge out the Systema market by undercutting them for ... similar... performance. Their QA dropped and their name got tarnished... even though I've seen first hand their custom rifles made by the CEO etc... They will run the tits off a stock Systema. BUT. Joe Blow putting it together at the factory and shipping it off to bumfuck somewhere in the US or Canada? Nah.

[ShelledPants]

Oh and I made this:

Integrated suppressor baffling for use with foam. Also integrated into it is a barrel stabilizer which is .1mm larger than the OD of my barrel, so it all sits pretty snug.



I obviously didn't want to press fit this together, and the only internal threading tool in the whole company (so it seems...) is being used on another job. So I just used a 10-24 button screw on the bottom to keep it in place. Looks fine.

Is a little front heavy now. Not sad.

[cetane]

I've got a few of this kind I use for internal threads. They work really well actually I find, but I am no machinist. Just a mechanic who pretends to be when making/fixing stuff that don't have spare parts as they are 20+ years obsolete lol

[Zeroroaster]

I love making non existent prototype odds and sods nobody's come up with yet. Even if I never make a second one, it tried, failed a few times, and then finally succeeded...mission accomplished!

The business of making anything on a mass production scale is often plagued by the cost effectiveness of it all. I've been in heavy industry for over 30 years now and it's always been the same old song and dance. Great idea minus cost effectiveness = file 13. hahahaha That's an engineering formula we used to use one time at the big 'U'.

All said and done, nothing beats custom when it's working right. Helluva nice job, man!

[ShelledPants]

Thanks man.

Eventually I want to start tinkering with custom gas systems or modifying Wolverine SMPs. I have a pretty gnarly idea for a semi auto shotgun in the works.

Originally Posted by Zeroroaster

I love making non existent prototype odds and sods nobody's come up with yet. Even if I never make a second one, it tried, failed a few times, and then finally succeeded...mission accomplished!

The business of making anything on a mass production scale is often plagued by the cost effectiveness of it all. I've been in heavy industry for over 30 years now and it's always been the same old song and dance. Great idea minus cost effectiveness = file 13. hahahaha That's an engineering formula we used to use one time at the big 'U'.

All said and done, nothing beats custom when it's working right. Helluva nice job, man!