Discussion
you may estimate your mold at
http://www.custompartnet.com/estimate/injection-molding/
I found something around 27000 USD in tooling, and a total cost of USD 76000 including labor and materials for a qty of 10000 units.
It is not sure that your bench will weight 5 pounds made of wood, I believe something near 2.5 pounds is more likely, and made in plastic it may weight 1.5 o 2 pounds.
http://www.custompartnet.com/estimate/injection-molding/
I found something around 27000 USD in tooling, and a total cost of USD 76000 including labor and materials for a qty of 10000 units.
It is not sure that your bench will weight 5 pounds made of wood, I believe something near 2.5 pounds is more likely, and made in plastic it may weight 1.5 o 2 pounds.
Current versions are 5lb or heavier out of wood
Hi! Thanks for your comments!
Regarding the size of the unit, I was assuming that there would be several parts that would need to be made in order to create the desired functionality. I.e., the legs; some sort of hinge to fold them in; a rotational mechanism of some kind to create rotation on the longitudinal axis. Creating all this out of one mild I don&
;t think is possible. That said, the pieces are simple (aka, 3 of them are simple plastic rectangles), do not require much plastic, so should not be very expensive actually.
The reason for plastic moulding is for scale manufacturing, and for functionality. The traditional material is wood and they are available for manufacturing at scale, but the functionality we are looking for is not possible with wood. I would be open to Aluminum, though I have no understanding or experience of how this would work.
The key product benefits are: customizability (adjustable angle of the sitting surface); very small size when collapsed such that it can be transported easily for instance in a carry-on bag, or in a backpack; very light weight (ideally under 1 lb).
Current versions are alb or heavier out of wood.
Happy to answer any questions you may have!
Regarding the size of the unit, I was assuming that there would be several parts that would need to be made in order to create the desired functionality. I.e., the legs; some sort of hinge to fold them in; a rotational mechanism of some kind to create rotation on the longitudinal axis. Creating all this out of one mild I don&
;t think is possible. That said, the pieces are simple (aka, 3 of them are simple plastic rectangles), do not require much plastic, so should not be very expensive actually.The reason for plastic moulding is for scale manufacturing, and for functionality. The traditional material is wood and they are available for manufacturing at scale, but the functionality we are looking for is not possible with wood. I would be open to Aluminum, though I have no understanding or experience of how this would work.
The key product benefits are: customizability (adjustable angle of the sitting surface); very small size when collapsed such that it can be transported easily for instance in a carry-on bag, or in a backpack; very light weight (ideally under 1 lb).
Current versions are alb or heavier out of wood.
Happy to answer any questions you may have!
I agree with Manuel. Going with a nice hard wood could likely be light enough, strong enough, perhaps cheaper than going through any molding process and in my opinion, more aesthetically pleasing. It would be a matter designing a good folding solution and sourcing appropriate hardware. That being said, you may have good reasons for going with a mold, but I wanted to express my thoughts as well.
Dear Sir,
I would like to know why are you asking for injection molded plastic. The mold for this rather big part will be very expensive and the result could be (as i saw in many molded chairs) fragile or not resistant to heavy users or UV in outdoors.
I would suggest a rotomolded version or an Aluminum bench. Taken in consideration the requirement of sustainable, I would not discard a wooden and/or plywood version.
Which is the limit weight that you are thinking on?
I would like to know why are you asking for injection molded plastic. The mold for this rather big part will be very expensive and the result could be (as i saw in many molded chairs) fragile or not resistant to heavy users or UV in outdoors.
I would suggest a rotomolded version or an Aluminum bench. Taken in consideration the requirement of sustainable, I would not discard a wooden and/or plywood version.
Which is the limit weight that you are thinking on?
Manuel Rosso