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What 300 key fobs looks like and other assorted info

category: offtopic [glöplog]
New stuff. Yay. Whee.

I was able to go to the hackerspace I visit again this past weekend, as their smaller laser was up and operational. Apparently the tube saga continues as the company they got the second replacement from sent them an old tube. I couldn't really notice anything odd about it, so went about my stuff anyway.


Titan fobs:
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I gave up on the engraved backside as it just never really looked right to me, and it seemed the etching was nicer. Others liked it better too. This allowed me to put back in the third concentric circle as originally intended. The etching was done at a much lower power than previously so that where the shapes overlapped they wouldn't get really dark. I think they look really good.

I somehow managed not to keep any of the prototypes done on the small laser, so I have nothing to show for that. They were similar to those done on the large laser which I posted last time but slightly more defined.

I also gave up on doing the extra "red bars" from the original design as they didn't come out very well in any case. I tried etching them after engraving letters, engraving them after engraving the letters, and making them so that the the laser didn't engrave the bar areas. The last of which resulted in the last letter looking more like an 'R'.

Dimensions:
1.5" x ~11/16th" x 3/16th" (width x height x thickness)
3.8cm x 1.8cm x 5mm

They're not very large.

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The middle set of concentric circles is done in a separate etching pass after the others. There's no real reason for it, but I was convinced by the laser operator that it looked better. I can't really tell which were done the previous way (all one pass). Those above were interrupted before that last concentric circle set could be finished. After some are cut out the board makes a nice template (if not moved) for flipping them over and doing the backside, etc. so these were put back in the holes of another run and the last set of circles ran. They weren't quite positioned well enough. I think they're decent, but if you know what to look for they're not as good as the rest.

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The top one produced a "what is that? and how did the laser do it?" response from me, but someone else had a better explanation: I just uncovered the joint between two pieces of the original plywood. It has the standard back side.

The bottom one is a result of many tests in various locations that happened to overlap with a piece that may not have been removed at the time. I don't recall the reasons why it wasn't taken out of the board, but it looked interesting in its own way so I decided to keep it. It has no back side.


Cubernicus fobs:
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Only one picture here. I had a few Cubernicus key fobs made. They only have a text logo with a cube I could find so I used the same font from the text logo to do their long name on the back. There's no particular order to the names on the back side as I originally went for alphabetical but then ended up shifting them to allow for two columns.

Since there wasn't much else I felt I could work with, the front side is an homage to that film because most of the group seems to be composed of musicians. The design isn't rotated so the top points toward the ring hole like my usual square-based designs because I didn't have room to fit everything if I did so.

On some of the fobs the little pieces of wood in the letters with contained circles have fallen out. (like 'o') Oh well.

Dimensions:
~1.44" x ~1.44" x 3/16th" (width x height x thickness)
3.75cm x 3.75cm x 5mm


End bits:
That's all I have this update I feel I can post. There's two other things I did that weekend, one of which is already mentioned in this thread and will pop up in due time. I just need to take a better photo of it for the recipient. Whether or not anyone sees the other any time soon is up to those it is for as I contacted them first.

I did these for fun and just because, but I realize at this point I really can't keep doing this sort of random stuff. It's fun but mainly it hits my finances hard. For someone who gives away a lot of stuff to relatively arbitrary people this is a good thing for me so I can ensure I don't eventually gift myself broke or get in a spot where there's the potential to do so.

As a result, if you'd like to see stuff like this for your group or demo party, or whatever else, please contact me through my "group"'s website and we can hopefully work out a deal at an okay cost.

This also means there may not be any photos here for a while of completely new stuff.

I do have something in the works (planning stage right now) to make this sort of stuff easier for me to do any time I like and for potentially better costs, but it won't happen until later this year.

Thanks for reading, or at least looking at the pictures before moving on.
Oh beautiful! =D You could have asked Alien for the graphics for sure =)

How many of the Titan fobs did you produce? We (Titan) are quite interested in some of them =)
added on the 2014-03-13 10:08:05 by neoman neoman
Someone noticed! I was going to ping the Titan website e-mail address soon ... These are certainly not for general sale, and the intention was always for them to end up in the hands of Titan.

Quote:
Oh beautiful! =D You could have asked Alien for the graphics for sure =)

How many of the Titan fobs did you produce? We (Titan) are quite interested in some of them =)
I have to count to be sure but I believe I have 45 good ones in total, which covers all but one of the current active list on Demozoo. (I used the older list from the old Titan site for counts.) There are also quite a few not up to par, like the seven pictured in the middle above and a few with only one side lasered, that I would be quite willing to pass along as some are pretty close to good or still usable.

Depending on what works for others, it would be easier for me to send them all to one team member who then gets them to others somehow. Though all that really does is shift any postage costs around. However seeing as largely the active membership is in or near Europe, the costs should be lower. (One of these things even with a small padded envelope should be less than 1oz, iirc from sending the Nectarine key fobs by mail.)
just bring them to revision and we will take care of the spreading them to the members who are not there.
i hope you are prepared for free beers.
added on the 2014-03-13 18:12:03 by wysiwtf wysiwtf
ooooh that's wonderful! dude, 45 free beers for sure ;)
added on the 2014-03-13 18:30:47 by neoman neoman
Quote:
by wysiwtf:
just bring them to revision and we will take care of the spreading them to the members who are not there.
i hope you are prepared for free beers.
Sounds like a plan. My luggage will be one large game of funky tetris this year.

Funny thing, last year nobody really knew who I was. This year more people feel they owe me beers than I can drink. :)

I am so far planning to sit myself at the end of a table in the main hall (for ease of access) and will hang a small cloth banner indicating the key fobs, so it will hopefully be easy to locate me and send an obvious group representative.
"main hall" -> as opposed to a table in the entry area, I mean.
That's really awesome, AMcBain! Thanks =D
added on the 2014-03-13 20:33:37 by fizzer fizzer
awesome AMcBain <3
added on the 2014-03-13 23:55:40 by alien^PDX alien^PDX
No real reason for this post, just because. Also a reminder for some (though making a post in the forums that they might never read is hardly the best way to let them know; I get that).

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(Some day I'll make the paths to my in-post images proper, but not today.)

Box dimensions:
11.5" x 4.25" x 8.5" (w, h, l)
29cm x 11cm x 22cm (approx)

The sign is a fabric quarter I got from a local store I've done up with spray-paint. :) The remaining materials will be reusable for other things and I didn't want to buy something fancy for what would be a one-off. Plus it'll fold quite nicely to fit in my luggage. I only realized when taking this photo I didn't give myself enough room at the top. Oh well, it'll work out anyway. I have a plan!

The box is packed relatively tightly with all the (Nectarine, Revision, and SceneSat) key fobs I have to sell, the titan fobs shown above, other misc bits, and all the gift-able one-sided test pieces or others not quite up to par but still usable.

I'll tape the box shut just before I pack it in my luggage just to be absolutely sure I've got every thing I want in it. I used the nearest heavy thing to hold it shut for the photo. My dining room (which is hardly ever used for such an activity) is messy from assembling some awards and other project bits.

Reminders:
Gargaj and havok has some stuff in there to come pick up at the party. Also it would be useful if one person from Titan came and got all their key fobs so they can take on the trouble of distribution to members, but that may end up being "We're just going to wing it."

I'll try and contact them another way closer to the event, of course, but if they see this and write themselves a note, all the better. :)

If you think you see stuff in there that's surprising or a was a secret, note that some stuff has been up on my "demogroup"'s website for some time. ;)

Other notables:
I will have some 24mm metal split (key) rings this year if you want one! I will not charge extra for them. I think there's 84, which is not enough to do one per key fob, so they'll be given out only when someone asks for one until they're all gone.
Oh and there's some other stuff that may surface, but it's no longer up to me. Congrats to the recipients. :D
AMcBain: we saw your words. 18 titans will be at the partyplaces, we'll surely meet :)
Thank you!
added on the 2014-03-31 15:46:24 by iks iks
singular partyplace.
added on the 2014-03-31 15:47:05 by iks iks
°_°...

Wow... looks really impressive...
added on the 2014-03-31 22:24:00 by sim sim
Okay, time for some more shameless self-promotion. (Well, it is getting to be a little shameful at this point, most people have probably already heard it a lot of times and maybe the rare person who wishes I'd just shut it.)

So I came home with many of the key fobs from Revision. I think even that is an understatement. The smart thing to have done would be to time travel, assess the number of actual buyers, and manufacture appropriately. However the laws of time and physics seem to have something to say about that to the effect of it being very unlikely.

According to my quick estimates, I still have about
  • 164 Nectarine,
  • 53 SceneSat square, and
  • 55 SceneSat rectangular
key fobs. If for some reason I'm hit with a real glut of orders before the store launches with a real count, I'll do one and post it here.

As usual, the Revision ones are not available outside of the party.

I am intending to set back up a store to sell the remaining in a more automated fashion soon, and by that I mean I hope to be close by the end of the month but don't get your hopes up. I may tweak prices when the store launches.

In the mean time, if you would like one you can contact me through my site and we can hash something out, likely through PayPal until my store can be relaunched. Tentative pricing for these is €9.44 or $12.09 for one, which is the party price with shipping and handling added. (Rounding is okay but please don't go below €9 or $12.* I will refund as much as possible anyone who sends me less and not send anything.** So please don't do this.)

If you want more than one, the cost is €4 each + €5.28 shipping (or $5.55 each + $6.55 shipping). I can put about three in one package before shipping costs go up.

* Yes, I know that €9 != $12 but until the store launches, which will only accept USD (sorry; though this would be handled automatically when you pay by card anyway), I get charged a different amount when the payment is not in USD.

** I did send out some things during my first run of key fobs for free or whatever people were willing to pay. Largely this worked out, but in the end I was still under on cost recovery. I now have more of a clue about the market and proper pricing, so I am not doing the "pay what you want" research anymore.

Lastly, I also have some freebies which are items I consider not up to par because they've either got a cosmetic defect or a design defect (machine screwed up or it was a test piece). If you'd like such an extra in your package, let me know in your order and I'll throw one in. Please specify SceneSat or Nectarine. There only a few of these few SceneSat extras. I promise not to send junk.

.

Also, a reminder that I do have a shapeways shop which offers one-sided nylon plastic versions of the Nectarine key fobs. You can get them in various colors, though due to their process non-polished white is the cheapest. Orders are handled by shapeways automatically, so you don't have to wait up for me.

I am also considering a model of the Revision key fob like the Nectarine one. I have ordered some test pieces, and if it looks good then I may set it for sale to the public.† Prices will be slightly cheaper than the Nectarine one, strangely, and it will be available in a few more materials. I see $10 as the break-point for these small things, the point above which even I wouldn't buy one, and so I don't enable materials whose base cost is above $10. This rules out the metals shapeways offers, however, I may trial stainless steel as the raw cost is just under $20 (double my standard limit). Time will tell. Anyway, if enough people are interested in this model, let me know as to whether I should make it buyable.

† I am not sure what those who acquired a wooden one think of this, it could be interpreted as taking away from the exclusiveness but someone else could have done it already anyway, and I still have control over the wooden ones. Those are the originals and everyone knows there's only one way to get those: Go to Revision!

Alright, I think that's enough for now and probably one too many asides/footnotes. If I could visit more parties, I would, and I'd likely bring my stuff along to sell there too, but I can't so such is life.

Have a good day, and thanks for reading.
On another note, if you received a key fob or the like from me, I wouldn't mind pictures of this stuff in action (or wherever they end up). I do try to save pictures people send me of my stuff, even if I never publish it anywhere. I think it's cool.
Yup yup, more stuff!

shapeways mini Revision key fob.

Why mini? I screwed up. I usually pay quite the attention to detail, so I don't know what went on here. I'll be making another attempt with the proper size, but I don't think I'll take this one down. Unfortunately at the proper size all the metal options will cost more than $20, so I won't be offering it there.

The stainless steel is pretty dope. Certainly not as smooth as something done by a mass-production process, but quite nice. Gives it a nice look. No large loss of detail over the plastic ones and certainly as good as the wooden ones. As to the two nylon plastic ones, I don't have a need for them. If you'd like one or both of the plastic ones and you were at Revision 2014, contact me. Send me your name, handle, and where to post them to. Shipping is free. I will be keeping the metal one, however.

As above, this isn't for sale for reasons mentioned there. If people would like it to be, let me know and I'll figure out whether I'll set the buyable flag.

For those too lazy to click the link, here's the photos from the same:
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Yes, another wonderful post in here from me. Whee.</sarc>

No idea if anyone cares, but I do know there are those out in the Scene with their own 3D printers and such. I've not made very many sales at all, and my intent wasn't really to hide anything, so I've set the models on the two buyable items to allow downloads. I don't know how useful the shapeways models created by their 2D to 3D uploader are, but they're now free. I don't guarantee as good an outcome on your home fusion deposition printer, but maybe someone will have other ideas.

Also, on the record, if anyone would like the SVG files to anything I've done other than the Revision designs I would be happy to provide them, just shoot me an e-mail. Group specific designs I'll provide only for group members for the moment. The SVG files can be easily converted for use on shapeways via their 2D to 3D uploader: shapes describing material from top to bottom should be filled black, engraved (partial fill) areas should be a shade of gray (#808080 is 50% of the height of the material), and holes should be white. Just save a screenshot or export the result to an image and remember to check the "grayscale" box on the uploader screen. The uploader lets you set the thickness and size, but double check your measurements on the new model page after they've finished converting it.
More stuff in this thread! Except it's not key fobs for once. It's only 3 pages after all, at time of writing. Sorry for the larger than usual thread photos, I just grabbed ones I'd already taken instead of the usual process of one for a thread preview linked to the original.

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The top "whitespace" design isn't mine, and I used a font already on my system for the text, but I did the rest of it. They're a bit long, which was intentional for these but I'll be shortening future ones. And yes, totally coder colors! but that wasn't intentional. The "silver" one is a clear acrylic with a manufacturer-applied mirrored backing applied to it. Due to the mirroring you have to laser it from the backside requiring designs be flipped so they come out the right direction viewed from the front.

Also, I realized on the way over to the hackerspace to have them made that I should have made the text say "badass badge" instead, but if I ever wear these around at work the existing text is probably better. Future ones may use that text, though. :)

Another thought I had today was party badges! Something like these could have some kind of group, handle, or other logo design on them ... They take about 4.5 minutes and cost $12 each, including materials, but the the time and price drops with smaller designs using less lines overall. (Even as fast as the laser cutter is, a grid of squares is not the most efficient thing to be asking for.) So if I had gotten rid of the grid and just etched the logo and text on, I'd expect it to be $5 or better (but no lower than just above $2.40, which is the cost of material for one).
My Nectarine keyfob is no longer capable of fobbing keys :(
added on the 2014-06-17 21:49:17 by Gargaj Gargaj
Quote:
by Gargaj:
My Nectarine keyfob is no longer capable of fobbing keys :(
Oh, no, that's bad. Well we can work something out by e-mail for a wooden one or you can get one from shapeways out of their nylon plastic material* which is thinner, one-sided, and will last a lot longer. They handle everything, so you don't have to wait for me on anything.

* Anything else cost more than $10/piece so I disabled it. I'll look again tonight to see if any of the metals are under $20 and renable those, but I doubt it.
You know, they can 3D print in concrete now. I bet that would be really durable if it were small enough : D

I bet between you and your 3D printer and Havoc and his waterslides, you guys could make some pretty cool stuff.
As in even cooler than the cool stuff you are already making.
Your stuff looks great, man...
added on the 2014-06-18 23:01:43 by HaasiD64 HaasiD64
As someone clued me in, shapeways added some more colors: "pink", yellow (gold), green, and orange. I've enabled them on the only things I sell right now. So if you were waiting for an orange plastic Nectarine key fob, now is the time.

If you live in the US, shipping just got cheaper: shapeways now offers options using the USPS so you can shave off a few dollars.

(Why didn't I know? I didn't get the e-mail. So it goes. Likely not subscribed to all the right things.)

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