Need some help. Battering ram.

[Sberry]

You are already set up, weld the cap on, this is sposed to be a quality tool, this is a poor place to pinch a penny. Its not something found at Walmart.

[turbo38t]

It's not about pinching a penny but when you are in the business to be making money, a small amount of time saved in the long run can equal a great amount of money. The reason I am asking in the first place is because the original caps were too cheap for the purpose. I am not trying to design a cheap pos but rather keep things simple to keep costs down. Simple does not mean poor quality. Dave

You are already set up, weld the cap on, this is sposed to be a quality tool, this is a poor place to pinch a penny. Its not something found at Walmart.

[MMW]

Why can't you just leave it open? I'm thinking it's only for cosmetic reasons that you want it capped or is there some specific reason it can't be left open.

[Sberry]

You have a point but,,, if this is a deal breaker then this product is likely under priced to start with. Even effort to source different materials and change a process when you have the equipment at hand may not be worth the effort. In this kind of product the money is made on the marketing end, not primarily on the production and it relies heavily on its quality and low warranty claims, it cant afford a customer to perceive it as a pos, real or not. I would be very leery of putting a piece of plastic on this fine tool, it really sabotages the marketing efforts.

[Sberry]

Look at the controversy changing a wire feed drive roller holder or whatever it is from cast alum to plastic causes, its inside the machine cover and dont mean squat but once a customer owns that in his mind its about impossible to change.

[turbo38t]

That's why they are getting away from the plastic caps. Quality is of utmost importance, but, on the otherhand that doesn't mean you need the most expensive alternative used. This MAY end up being the way to go but looking to improve at all times. It's not a finalized tool. It is being heavily tested and modified still. Not totally done with the idea of a welded on cap, just looking for other ideas. That's what design and fabrication is. Yes, your idea is good but maybe someone has a better, simpler idea? Dave

You have a point but,,, if this is a deal breaker then this product is likely under priced to start with. Even effort to source different materials and change a process when you have the equipment at hand may not be worth the effort. In this kind of product the money is made on the marketing end, not primarily on the production and it relies heavily on its quality and low warranty claims, it cant afford a customer to perceive it as a pos, real or not. I would be very leery of putting a piece of plastic on this fine tool, it really sabotages the marketing efforts.

[araspitfire]

Personally I'd go for the checker-plate cap myself... but I'm not trying to make a ??? (few hundred... thousand??) of these things...

If your numbers are in the thousands, then I wouldn't shelve the mass-produced plastic cap either.. (nothing gets hit on this end right?)... I'm sure you would find some polyethylene or similar tough material that you could have made special that would be a tough plastic and not break from the impact forces coursing through the thing...

Numbers would have to be high to justify the effort to pick the right material, and then have it molded up though...

Al...

[turbo38t]

Numbers are hoping to be in the high 4 digits or more. This thing creates alot of energy . They are testing the welded cap now and the thing may even need a breather hole as to not distortt the metal. Dave

Personally I'd go for the checker-plate cap myself... but I'm not trying to make a ??? (few hundred... thousand??) of these things...

If your numbers are in the thousands, then I wouldn't shelve the mass-produced plastic cap either.. (nothing gets hit on this end right?)... I'm sure you would find some polyethylene or similar tough material that you could have made special that would be a tough plastic and not break from the impact forces coursing through the thing...

Numbers would have to be high to justify the effort to pick the right material, and then have it molded up though...

Al...

[Cargoon]

If weight is not to inportant, fill it with Concrete, smooth out the top, let it cure and powder coat the thing.
Good luck with sales, it looks like it would be fun to use.

[Sberry]

I was interested in the numbers too and that is about what I might have guessed the potential to be. Pricing something can be difficult, something like this could be 5x the cost of production.