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I want to take my product from the prototype stage to manufacturing.

Good Evening,

We are a start-up business which has already prototyped a device and now needs to have a great number of them made. My engineer has made SLAs and has all the information in IGS files.

We need a mold to manufacture plastic parts for a device much the size and shape of the Etch-a-Sketch toy.

Can you do this?

Dear JB:

We are a web publishing and consulting firm and don't provide manufacturing services ourselves.

If you have not previously been involved in manufacturing or are not familiar with production processes yourself, I would strongly recommend finding someone to advise you before going ahead. Depending on the part and product, you may be able to greatly lower your tooling costs or avoid them altogether. Conserving cash is job #1 for a startup, and I'd be very reluctant to spend money on molds for several reasons until later in the game, if it can be avoided.

You can find listings for a number of consulting services, including our own, on our site at the bottom of this page:

http://home.att.net/~castleisland/web_lks.htm#cons

Thanks and best regards,

Ed Grenda
Castle Island Co.
The Worldwide Guide to Rapid Prototyping