I was looking at ways of starting small enterprises years ago, and kept
seeing suggestions to contact a local chapter Senior Corps of Retired
Executives (SCORE), for helpful information/guidance in establishing new
startups, grants, SBA approval, etc.
A local Chamber of Commerce or (enginneering/manufacturing) development
association might be able to suggest some contacts for design help.
The trouble I see with wanting to make a small metal part that could be a
great convenience in using this musical instrument, would be that a China
manufacturer could possibly flood the global market with only one week's
production of such a part.
It sounds as though the part could probably be prototyped with epoxy putty.
That would allow testing and improvements to be done without any serious
machining.
The putty can be cast on a piece of scrap material that has the same
dimensions as the instrument's part, and filed/sanded to an appropriate size
and shape, then painted (to conceal that it's just a lump of putty).
The putty model would give the inventor a 3-D part that can be measured, and
dimensions that can be transferred to metal. Fabrication costs could be
derived from the dimensions.
Follow the appropriate steps in copyright protection (witnessed, dated,
detailed drawings as the product evolves, etc) in case you decide to pursue
that later.
WB
.............
"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
On 11 Mar 2005 11:14:41 -0800, wrote:
I've researched into the applicable patent law, and the metal piece
that I'm trying to manufacture is too obvious to patent.
I agree that the relationship that you're describing would be ideal. I
would like to find someone like that to work with. In my experience
with business however, I've only ever encountered people that want to
screw you from every possible angle before you have the chance to know
what hit you.
I am by nature a person that wants to only engage in non-zero sum
exchanges (transactions from which all parties benefit). However, I've
learned from experience that if you don't protect yourself, you'll get
ripped off in a second, and that even the most seemingly fair and kind
person will probably switch personalities at the prospect of profit.
At the same time, there are some genuinely honest and fair people out
there, but they make up a much smaller percentage of the population
than most people would think.
In my present situation, the only way to protect myself would be to
either:
a) work with someone who is legit (if you can recommend anyone, I live
in the Chicagoland area. Like I said, I am only interested in engaging
in relationships in which everybody benefits, so the person to which
I'm referred to would benefit as well)
or
b) legally pin down the person who I work with such that they can't
take the idea, manufacture the part themself and start selling it (not
that they would probably know the target market anyway)
Of course, option A is much more preferable. However, if option A
doesn't pan out, do you know how an unconnected person finds a
metalworker that could do what I'm trying to have done?
Too bad you're not near Minneapolis!
You might see if there are retiree organizations of companies in your
area that would have employed the type of person you seek. In
Minneapols, for example, you could very likely find some guys thru the
Honeywell retiree organization. These orgs are set up for pro bono
volunteer work, but nobody spends all of their time doing that.
I probably spend half my time doing stuff like you describe, though
mostly in the area of designing electronic gadgets -- and even
building them now and then. I can tell you that the minute you
pulled legal papers out of your briefcase, I'd be gone in a
heartbeat. You might be better off asking about other such work a
person might have done and checking references. I'd have no problem
with that. There are a number of readers of this group that I think
would vouch for me. There must be guys in Chicagoland like that too;
it's just a matter of finding them.
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