On 10 Mar 2005 19:23:09 -0800, wrote:

I forgot to add that since the part will be used in a musical
instrument, it will be moved and banged on a lot (only by the range of
forces exerted in the use of the musical instrument) and should not get
bent out of shape from these forces.

I'm sure that material is the key factor in this, so that is something
that I need to factor in as well.

I think you must invest the effort and buy the tools to develop the
skills you need, or find someone with the skills and tools you need
to work with you on this. In the latter case, in order to succeed
you'd need to fully disclose what you're trying to accomplish
because there are surely variables, constraints and opportunities for
innovation that you're unaware of.

You may wish to consult with an attorney if you're worried about how
to manage full disclosure. Patent is one course, NDA is another, but
the best and most effective (if most difficult to achieve) is trust
based on a mutually-beneficial endeavour. Legal stuff works mostly
to the profit of lawyers. Trust is better if you can find it and be
worthy of it.

In order to be comfortable doing that, you'll need to figure out how
you can work with someone having the necessary skills in a way that
is of interest to them as well. I'd suggest looking for a retired
person with the requisite skills and a few patents. Such a person
is not likely to steal your idea for two reasons: he demonstrably
has plenty of ideas of his own, so if he were inclined to pursue an
idea for profit he'd be pursuing his own ideas rather than bother with
yours. The benefit for the other may be only trivially monetary,
particularly if they don't need or seek money but merely enjoy
interesting projects and collaborations.

Some retired guys are like that. Finding one in your area would
work best so you could visit often to look at "stuff", tweak and try
in real time. In this scenario you should plan on doing all the scut
work of dealing with vendors etc yourself. Having an idea is about
3% of having a product. Having what you think is a good working
prototype is maybe 10%. The rest of the journey to "ka-ching" is
tedium and investment. YMMV.

An arrangement and relationship must be fair both ways in order to
work, but that just means that both parties feel that time spent is
rewarding and/or enjoyable in one way or another.

Good luck! Nothing Is Urgent. Having Fun Is Job 1.