What replacement parts should I keep on hand?

[roykirk]

I seem to have been lucky enough to have discovered a market outlet for several items I produce on my FF, to the point where I'm starting to get really nervous about having a sudden equipment failure (and subsequently a bunch of unhappy customers if there is a delay awaiting replacement parts). My FF is almost a year old and over the past month or so has been running 12-15 hours a day. My extrude/travel speeds are always kept at 45/70 and I use PLA exclusively. So I'm hoping to get some advice on what sort of parts I should keep around as they're most likely going to be the ones that break first? I already keep an extra y, x, and z belt around as by appearance I assume they'll be the first to go. Nozzles, thermo couples, and heating cartridges were just replaced one month ago. Any other advice would be appreciated!

[curious aardvark]

so question 1) what are you selling ?

And if things are going that well - why not just buy another flashforge ?
I've seen them as low as £420 on ebay.

Not only does that double your manufacturing capacity. It gives you manufacturing redundancy and should both die at the same time - you should be able to get one working printer from the two dead ones.
And for that kind of money - it's probably cheaper than just buying in all the parts.

[roykirk]

Let's just say it's a "widget." As I was explaining in another part of the forum, until I started selling these things there was only one other manufacturer in the world (as best I could tell) who sold them. Since they had no competition they'd been selling these things for $150 when they probably cost them $2.00 to make. I came up with my own design that did the same thing and started selling them for less than half. They've been flying off the shelves since.

I've actually considered buying another FF. Not only would I have time to build an inventory, but I could be using the second one for more development and testing. I guess I've just been hesitant to sink that much more in to manufacturing at this point. Right now I'm making some good money but it's only been for the last month or so. What if it's just a flash in the pan and the sales suddenly fall off? I guess for right now I'll rely on my backup set of belts to get me by in a pinch.

[Geoff]

Let's just say it's a "widget." As I was explaining in another part of the forum, until I started selling these things there was only one other manufacturer in the world (as best I could tell) who sold them. Since they had no competition they'd been selling these things for $150 when they probably cost them $2.00 to make. I came up with my own design that did the same thing and started selling them for less than half. They've been flying off the shelves since.

I've actually considered buying another FF. Not only would I have time to build an inventory, but I could be using the second one for more development and testing. I guess I've just been hesitant to sink that much more in to manufacturing at this point. Right now I'm making some good money but it's only been for the last month or so. What if it's just a flash in the pan and the sales suddenly fall off? I guess for right now I'll rely on my backup set of belts to get me by in a pinch.

If business is that good, and they are flying off the shelves at half of $150, so let's say you sell 10 of these 'widget's you can afford 2 entire backup machines.

Buy a "parts' only one off ebay, they usually work anyway, and are just returns from amazon from people who couldn't figure out how to use them.

[curious aardvark]

What if it's just a flash in the pan and the sales suddenly fall off?

the just start selling a different widget :-)
That's the beauty of a 3d printer. Infinite versality.
You don't have the sheer output of a factory based production line - but then they don't have the ability to turn out a totally different product with each print.

[Geoff]

the just start selling a different widget :-)
That's the beauty of a 3d printer. Infinite versality.
You don't have the sheer output of a factory based production line - but then they don't have the ability to turn out a totally different product with each print.

I agree completely.

Just always think to yourself that you are the innovator, and your competitor is the replicator. Come up with a new design every day, they will soon tire of trying to keep up.

While they are calibrating thier big machines for a production run, you are there creating a new production and having it out the same day. They will always win on volume, the trick is not to let them win on creativity.

[curious aardvark]

lol although tweaking designs can get addictive.

I'm currently on mk6 of my pop bottle birdfeeder design - basically it improves on every other design currently out there and includes customisable bottle hangers and a loading funnel as well as a bottom filling design so you don't have to remove bottle to refill and no glueing and it prints happily at 0.3 :-)
At some point I'll decide it's finished and publish it on thingiverse.
But first I need to get my signature text or logo printed on it somewhere - that'll be the mk 7 :-)
I don't mind sharing some designs - but I'll be damned if I'm going to let people claim it's theirs. And no way am i sharing all the original scad files.

The only problem is that even the mk 1 is fully functional, so I've got a lot of birdfeeders lying around ;-)

That said the handle on my gtech electric sweeper broke (again) this morning. So my next project is a much stronger handle for that, and it's needed - so no time to linger !
The original handle design is definitely deliberately made to break. So they can keep selling them to you.
So I need to eliminate that weak point.
The trickiest bit is going to be putting the rounded edged tringular(ish) hole in the handle for the main shaft.
Thinking three small cylinders and a hull command (I use openscad).

But yeah - 3d printers are just bloody amazing. It really is science fiction stuff made real.

Go back 15 years and tell someone that for £500 you can buy a small box that essentially replicates an entire plastics factory and can go from simple design to useable part in a matter of hours (or less) and it'll cost you just a few pence in materials. They wouldn't believe you.

The quickest thing I've done was an insert for friends birdfeeder (it's a popular pastime in england) took 3 minutes to design the part (installed openscad on his computer and showed him the whole process) and 30 mins to make it. Looks like a pointy witches hat with a small piece cutout of the brim. Jump on it and you'll get a hole in your foot :-)
Oh and it glows in the dark ;-)

Yes I could have made the same part on my wood lathe. But it would have taken a lot longer and cost a lot more, and probably not been as strong.

[Geoff]

lol although tweaking designs can get addictive.

I'm currently on mk6 of my pop bottle birdfeeder design - basically it improves on every other design currently out there.
At some point I'll decide it's finished and publish it on thingiverse.
But first I need to get my signature text or logo printed on it somewhere - that'll be the mk 7 :-)

The only problem is that even the mk 1 is fully functional, so I've got a lot of birdfeeders lying around ;-)

That said the handle on my gtech electric sweeper broke (again) this morning. So my next project is a much stronger handle for that, and it's needed - so no time to linger !

I was selling about 15 different items and it got hard to keep up with supply so i cut it down. I found a good niche in hobby supplies for quadcopters, but no so much the parts, all custom colours, or at least 12 or so choices. I don't put enough into it to make serious money, it was more to make the printer pay for itself and get my wife off my case. Now that's done, I just went and bought 2 more printers lol...

let's say im probably on the couch for a few days

[Mjolinor]

Go back 15 years and tell someone that for £500 you can buy a small box that essentially replicates an entire plastics factory and can go from simple design to useable part in a matter of hours (or less) and it'll cost you just a few pence in materials. They wouldn't believe you.

They probably would if you told them how many hours the open source community had toiled to make it work. It is a constant source of amazement to me that this software, be it firmware for the printer or front end for the PC, is so functional and easy to get and use.

If ever there was an indication that non-opensource is a dying thing then this is it.

[34Ford]

Hey Geoff, you make any parts for the Cinetank?