

Ask HN: Moldable plastic for products? - jitron3

I'm a hardware guy with a product I'd like to sell. Mass manufacturing of the circuit won't be a problem, but the plastic it's mounted in looks like it will be. I don't need a 3d printing service, I'd like a cheap (under $300), preferably DIY method of making and mass-producing plastic shapes. Any ideas?
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trapper
Go lowtech and use shapelock or plasticene for prototyping. It's amazing how
much you can do with plasticene, playdoh and other similar products. Some of
the top design firms start out this way (ideo & frog from memory).

Make some things and see how they "feel" with your product. At this stage you
need to forget about styling and worry about how it acts.

Then once you know what you want the product to feel like (even test it with
potential customers), then make it look nice. There are plenty of people who
can do that step for you, but the next step is usually a rapid prototype after
designing in 3d for product testing.

