Note: This post is a rehashing of a post that was going to be posted a couple of years ago that got put on hold due to some issues with the financial backer at the time.
I figured I would answer some questions asked of me the past couple of years.
"What is your ultimate goal and you current goal?"
My ultimate goal is to learn, and earn, enough to set up a makerspace or similar to provide education on Manufacturing and Fabricating to those who might not have the opportunity to access the equipment and knowledge needed to properly learn. To do this I have broken it down into smaller goals.
Currently I am focusing on my own education. The main focus is towards Mechatronics as it is the thing I have the hardest time teaching myself. And it allows me to make what I need for the 'fun' goals I have. Namely making Plastic Injection Molded (PIM) Miniatures here in America at a cost that doesn't break the bank.
“Why do you want to do this?”
The machine manufacture side is just to provide the equipment. It is really just there to support the other two ideas.
The miniatures and gaming company are partially to prove it can be done. But also I just want to make the miniatures that I always wanted a reality. Miniature games were something that helped me through a tough time. A teacher at my high school start an afterschool club where we played them, mostly focused on historical games and he even started making basic ones of his own, and it was a major influence and helped me get through high school and graduate normally. Otherwise I likely would have dropped out and went the GED route.
And the makerspace is to provide a place for people to learn what I wished I could have learned when I was still in High School. My High School didn't have a shop class in the normal sense. So I unfortunately only discovered how much I loved manufacturing later in life. If this makerspace could help someone discover and learn of their own love and want to manufacture stuff or even just teach someone how to make stuff that makes their life easier I would be happy.
"So what comes next?"
Honestly, given the misinformation, and misunderstanding, of PIM and what it entails... It is a uphill battle.
The current subgoals are:
Setting up a proper office to comfortably design in.
Go to school for Mechatronics and/or Machining.
Build a DIY CNC that can cut Aluminum reliably to an acceptable tolerance.
Build a DIY Hobby PIM machine that can make smaller miniature kits. Roughly in-line with hero models or as an alternative to the typical metal/resin models.
This will allow me to build up a small catelog to prove that it can be done to Nay-Sayers and possibly attract some financial backing. As while not as expensive as some claim... This is still an expensive investment to start for my current situation and in my area funding is hard to get as a startup.
"About how much does this stuff cost?"
This is one of those questions that has an infinite number of answers. It really depends on the exact equipment and scale one is aiming for.
You can get a fairly good Vertical Machining Center (VMC) from a Chinese company currently for around $15,000 US. While it won't hit 0.0001 inch tolerances that some industries demand everytime they have gotten good enough to repeatedly hit 0.01mm(0.0003-0.0004 inch) tolerances when the program is dialed in. And is more than acceptable for basic mold making.
You can get a similar sized machine for around $30,000 to $50,000 from a western company. These machines will be able to more easily hit that 0.01mm range and when dialed in can hit the 0.0001 inch range repeatedly.
PIM machine are somewhat similar. A large Hydraulic based machine that can do nearly any miniature you want can be got from China for around $25,000 dollars. Though they tend to suffer from more maintenance hassle. A full electric or pneumatic machine can be as low of $5,000 for some of the smaller machines to around $30,000 for one the size of the large Hydraulic machine.
From a Western or Japanese company... Well depending on the company it actually isn't that much more.
The biggest cost would be a workshop. Either renting or building. These machines require a good foundation and space.
Then add in getting a machine the weight, and sometimes the size, of a car delivered and installed inside a building. Typical recommendation is allocating 5% to 25% the cost of the machine to delivery, installation, plumbing, electrical, and rigging (setting and hooking up). With more identical or similar machines at once being a bit less expense per machine.
So for around $100,000 you can reliably get a startup
However! That is only for larger machines that are intended for mass production of 5 figures or more units. You can start with hobbyist level equipment and work around its limitations and use that to generate funds for upgrades. They will be slower, more hands-on, and tend to use older technology. But they can more easily be set up in a garage. For a good quality CNC Router to cut small Aluminum molds you are looking at $5,000 to $10,000 and for a Hobbyist PIM machine that is semi-automatic they can be found from $1,000 and up. For a reasonable set up you are looking at around $25,000.
Now that cost is for New Machines.
Used machines will usually be cheaper but tend to come with a lot more caveats.
Hilariously the buildings tend to be the most expensive and hardest to find element. Strong foundations and good floor space are mandatory. You have to allocate enough space to walk around and maintain these machines. Typically this is double the physical size machine in floor space. So a machine that takes up 5 square feet should be allocated 10 square feet. Though technically that can be shared. So you can have 2 machines that share some of their 'walk around gap'. It just tends to mean only one can be properly maintained at a time from that area.
"What are you planning to start with making exactly?"
Too start with I am aiming to make single model runners, what is commonly mistaken for the 'sprue', akin to a hero or metal miniature blister pack.
Currently planning a line of Fantasy, Modern, Sci-Fi, and Mecha miniatures. I also want to make rulesets and such for them as well. Even have discussed making rules for some bigger games that allow one to make 3rd Party content for their games. Such as adventure packs and such.
Conclusion
So in short I plan to go back to school for Mechatronics to make and maintain my own machines while working on my own miniature designs.
Unfortunately the financial backing I had secured ended up being lost due to changes in grant programs and such so now have to bootstrap everything.
But oh well. It isn't going to stop me.
And if you like the idea behind this and want to help out all I ask is that you buy me a coffee. Given recent weather and other events in my area I could use the warmth and caffiene.