Son wants to design and make toys for sale

Hi my son asked me to help him with his indiegogo campaign to purchase a 3d pritner , 3d scanner , software and materials.

the only thing I could think of was to post here in the RepRap community

check it out at [www.indiegogo.com]

Just wondering where the 10k figuire came from?

Its doable on a budget of 1k if you buy a kit then help him construct it (nice father/son project). There are a few 3d scanner designs on thingiverse which only cost a few a small amount.

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My Reprap blog

jds-reprap.blogspot.com

well the thingiverse is a good page however my son wants to design his OWN toys not just print some trinkets someone esle created.

He is constantly thinking of ways to improve the toys availble already.

the 3d scanner is not cheap the software is not either.

Plus mold making to plastic inject his toys (for sale) is not cheap either , thats where all the 10k is comming from

Sorry i meant there are plans on how to build your own 3d scanner on thingiverse.

There is some info on the reprap wiki
[reprap.org]
Free scanner software + designs for a cheap scanner.

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My Reprap blog

jds-reprap.blogspot.com

Wow, what initiative your son has! You should be really proud. That said, he could use a bit of help on the persuasion side; non-specific rewards such as "maybe i can print something for you" aren't likely to garner many donations. But a 9 year-old with an indiegogo, campaign; wow. Just wow.

Also, you could build your son a 3D printer now for about $500 to help him get started. I don't think the scanner is as important; with the printer, you and/or your son could learn some basic 3D packages like SketchUp. The output will be better than a 3D scan anyway; most of the homebrew ones have pretty coarse resolution. Then you can start making a name for yourselves by posting your toy designs to thingiverse and then start a web store. Especially for a kid, starting small and going step-by-step is probably a better bet than trying to amass a bunch of money and then figuring out how to spend it.

Figuring out how to spend it not the problem , the issue is streamlining everything to ask for little money as possible , this just wont be a few toys for my son to play with , he has firm Ideas for different toys that he wants to produce for sell , the 3D printer would actually be for prototyping and we would still need to have the injection dies made.

I have revamped the rewards it may need more tweaking

It has to be said but "are you serious?"

If your son wants to make toys then help him by buying a makerbot or similar. Or better yet get some wood working tools?

I would believe you more if your son was holding a car he had made.

Why not add the cost of a full factory while you are at it, along with the cost of a couple of vans.

When did you need a 3d scanner to make toys? Why doesn't your "son" start by teaching himself free software like blender? Then use a service like ponoko to have them printed?

Thank you for you objective views however , I do have my son playing with google sketchup 8
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My son saw the 3d printer on Jay Leno's garage , and the 3D scanner from next engine as well, and asked me to help him with his goal.

There is more than 1 reason the 3D scanner is needed, 1. you can scan items scuplted out of clay and reproduce them into a 3d rendering and then print the prototype
2. scan an existing item and manipulate it in the software program to change it .

3. the most important detail........I only have my son every other weekend and it will make his goal come much quicker , his mother does not allow him on the computer when he is with her except to do his homework.
She leaves him in daycare until 5-5:30 and then he does homework then eats bathes and straight to bed.

He is not happy there and his imagination runs wild with different ideas for toys that he wants to create and sell.

i understand you have a hard time believing that what i am requesting in my son's behalf is required but when was the last time you could make tooling on the cheap?

My son is not a trouble maker , he is kind generous and respectful., I just want to help him realise his dream.

He has already decided when the court system will listen to his choice he will live with me.

My ex-wifes brother bought him a laptop but his mother took it away and it sits in her closet, he doesnt have an easy life with her, i wont get into other things she does here but, i will say I want to help him by believing in him an showing I support him in anyway I can.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2012 11:56AM by Samberr.

for the scanner you should look into this http://www.david-laserscanner.com/ i have seen videos of it working and it seems good, the better the camera you have for it the better your results too. the ted.com video of the guy using it said he scaled it all the way up to scan a boat. i would go that rout for the scanner, much much cheaper

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[mike-mack.blogspot.com]

Thanks for the idea i will check into that

I am also a young person looking to create a business using a reprap as a prototyping platform, so I can relate to what you are asking for.

But taking a dream and making it into reality especially in our competative world is extremely difficult. Asking for 10,000 dolars of people's hard earned money without having a more detailed outline of what your going to do with that money would be a start. If you're going to write a grant application, you have to fill out pages and pages of information about exactly what you plan to do and how you plan on going about it. This also applies to croud funding platforms, you need to give people information so they can trust you to be true to your word.

I commend your son for taking such a big initiative, but sadly I think you will have a hard time getting funded. I think that investing in your sons education might be a little more rewarding in the long run. Buy him some quality books about design principles, business principles, manufacturing ect, give him the knowledge to make his dreams into a reality and he will become an amazing toy manufacturer in the near future.

Just my two cents.

Nigel

Thank you for the background to his life. It seems that instead of making him wait, given his hard life, why not buy him a 3d printer for when he visits. You can get one for 600$. I am sure he is worth it. And you can make a scanner with a webcam and laser pointer. No 7500$ needed.

For a get started at little cost option you could use a standard digital camera, take a cirlce of photos then feed it through this 123D Catch to produce a 3D stl model. Would get you going while you are waiting to get your own 3D Scanner.

I recently took my Prusa to our local Christmas Faire, and it was the kids who were most enthusiastic, seeing all sorts of possibilities. One said 'Dad instead of buying a robot kit, can we get one of these and we can make as many robats as we want'. He was 7.

Keep encouraging him.

Geoff

I appreciate everyone's comments and ideas , but as I am only working part time at the moment and have child support as well as other bills to pay , simply buying him the 3d printer and making my own scanner are still out of the reach of my finances, If i had the money I would gladly purchase him anything he requires to upbuild his creativity.

Like i said beforehe is trying to learn the google sketch up program , and we will still look for other.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2012 11:50AM by Samberr.

TMI

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Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

yes but it was getting there , sorry its not your problem to deal with its mine, i just wanted to help my son but kept getting pushed more and more,

did anyone see the kickstarter page for the camera "skates" ? would this help with the DIY scanner project? [www.kickstarter.com] that is wild he only created the wheels with a cup on it , the others stuff was already created

im just wondering if you watch the video if this would work to ake a 3d scanner, it seems steady enough

If I might suggest joining a local Makerspace/Hackerspace? They tend to be very understanding towards people of limited income as long as they play fair. It might be possible to salvage the majority of parts for a 3D printer, and beg/borrow the others. You may not end up with the latest or best gear, but once you have a 3D printer you can make a better 3D printer.

Samberr, if you need some filament to build that 3D printer with, get hold of Diamond Age Solutions (my bunch), mention this conversation, and you'll get a free roll of odd-coloured filament with your order to do so.

Thanks olliver iappreciate your help and understanding , thanks for not making a federal case out of it

I'd say concentrate on spending your own time/effort with locals to get your own 3d printer running. Once you've got experience on that, you can develop a credible plan for expansion. Offhand, you do know that Spacexula in particular and probably others are in the NC area? It would probably be a great boon to you to talk to the experienced 3d printers that are local to you to get more experience and information about what 3d printing entails and is capable of.
Just in case, Spacexula is a 3d printing guru. He is one of the better people to ask about the basics of 3d printing and Reprap. He is also one of the people that can do prints of amazing quality.