Quote:
Originally Posted by Nubcake
I love the tags :P "Acrylic wonderland" Looks good CD. Where would you be cutting corners to make it $150 besides the 1/4" plex?
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An excellent question. I would need to see a high demand and then I would need to have the parts made enmasse at the laser cutter to eliminate labor on my part. I would then be cutting drilling and tapping aluminum angle, packaging hardware and packing units to ship. At that point since I could factor maybe an hour per unit of my time I could effectively sell them for cost plus a percentage.
An honest tradesman can always afford to be transparent: here is a total cost breakdown for the 1/2" and 1/4" units.
The LL Mobo tray cost me about $38. I would love to find them cheaper but after shipping that is what they cost me. PPC has them sometimes. When I orderd my 4 only Silver PC had them. Feel free to check cost after shipping.
2- 14" x 14" panels
2- 9" x 13" panels
1- 4" x 13" panel
Misc smaller parts
This tears through most of a 48" x 24" piece of material. So.....
24" x 48" of 1/2" Plexi
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/var...ant%5Fid=44386
Cost me about $100 after shipping
24" x 48" of 1/4" Plexi
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/var...ant%5Fid=44363
Cost me about $45 after shipping or I can get it at Lowes for $40 after tax. I prefer the one from US Plastics because it cuts better.
Then there is a 13" piece of 1" Acrylic rod: $2 I have to buy 6' at a time.
Aluminum Angle
4 x 9" = 3'
2 x 4" = 8"
Miscellaneous small pieces for brackets
This eats through 4' of angle. 8' costs me about $30 at Lowes or $20 plus shipping so $15 in angle
Hardware and consumables...I estimate $5-10 in hardware. I use Torx head 8-32, plastic washers, regular washers and hex head 1/4" and a pair of thumbscrews. Factor in sandpaper and bits and blades $10 is about right.
Then there is the Silverstone HDD caddy which is a pull from a TJ07. To get something similar would be about $20
The materials cost at this point is $180.
Factor in 20 hours of my labor. You can see right off that
I am paying myself $5 an hour to do this. Would you do this for $5/hour?
If so you might have a new job
And there you have it. I can shave off $50 cost by dropping to 1/4"
I can shave off some time by replicating the units from a master pattern.
But it had better be a lot of time if I want to hit the $175 price point. I don't want to do this for free....
There has to be a HDD caddy...and the only ones I have seen that are quick release are Lian Li parts and this Silverstone. They all cost. Making one would be too labor intensive.
Hope that helps you understand what you are paying for.
