On Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:19:14 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

This style toolholder has been around since the late 1800's, according
to what I read in a forum. Universally approved - "I'll never go back"
they say. Yet, not that widely used, I think. A few make their own, as
I did. A few buy the $140 - $150 commercial one (Eccentric Engineering).

I think that these could be hugely popular at the right price. $50?
And I think that they could be produced very cheaply on a CNC mill. The
only tricky part is getting the CAD file, what with the funny angles
involved.

Here is a good picture of the Eccentric Engineering one:
http://home.comcast.net/~bobengelhar...ToolHolder.jpg

Whattaya think - would the CAD file be that hard & what could they be
made to sell for?

Bob
One problem with pricing is whether they are going to be sold directly
by you or if they are going to be sold by distributers. Distributers
may mark up a product like this as much as 100%. Getting the thing
drawn up would be no big deal. I need to redraw many of the parts I
make using my CAD/CAM software because the customers often supply
drawings on paper. Often not even a drawing, just a part to copy or a
sketch that sort of looks like what they want. Many, if not most, job
shops doing CNC work these days do the same thing. Digital drawings
just aren't available in many cases. So getting a machine shop to make
the drawings for the toolholders isn't that big of a deal. If you want
to pay a shop to make these things and then you sell them you will
need to figure out how much your time is worth and how much time it
will take to sell each tool holder. And you will need to make a bunch
to make it worthwhile. I imagine the things will need heat treatment
and black oxide coating besides the machining and packaging. So you
will need to make enough parts to avoid paying the minimum lot
charges. That of course goes for machining too. The setup charges need
to be spread across as many parts as possible.
Eric