FloorSkills is now manufacturing specialist tools. The tools wont be cheap as i have opted for high quality special steel that they will be made out of. But im worried i might of made a mistake as they will be expensive to manufacturer. I can obviously make the tools out of normal steel which will be around 1/3rd of the price but do you lot want cheap or quality? What tools are we producing ? We have a fair few in prototype form that we are using on our courses at the moment to get feedback. At the moment they are made out of normal steel. Feedback so far has been great but already one of them has been bent. We are producing a range of templates to help install LVT and Cap+Cove flooring. Some very funky templates will soon be available for bespoke welding etc and we have a new tool to cut perfect curves around obstacles like a shower tray. So whats this special steel ? Basically its a rust proof steel (like stainless) but its also flexible Why have i gone with this? 1- your templates /tools wont rust. 2- if you was to drop one of our tools or if it was to get trapped under a heavy carpet in your van it should survive and still lay flat. 3- As its flexible we can reduce the amount of strength needed. That means we can cut sections of steel out and make the templates light weight. 4- The templates will also be able to bend up walls etc or around obstacles. So whats your thoughts? am i going the right route or should i save money and make lower quality tools that will obviously be cheaper to purchase? Do we want quality ?
Quality pays for itself in the long run. What prices roughly? Say for the cutting around shower tray one?
Personally, I buy the best I can afford, and hope I only have to do it once. Highest quality all the way.
I have no idea yet. I know what the steel will cost me but i dont have a quote off the company doing CAD drawings and the use of the laser. What they have done so far has been Free. But they obviously will want to earn there money back. The laser takes 8 minutes to cut and engrave the templates so far. There CAD chap charges £150 per hour and then we have the cost of the laser +2 staff running it, then we cutting using a expensive gas to give better finish etc. Im guessing that the laser will cost me around £400 per hour. If my Maths are correct then one template set will cost me near £60 quid to cut before we add on steel costs etc. Im guessing here at moment.
Charlie seemed to like one of the new templates he was using. He was using the prototype tho that was solid steel. It will be far better when we start to sell them. Also he likes the European style of installing Cap + Cove. Did a great job of his install also . I will send one of teh prototypes home with him. Be great if you could knock up a bay in the garage for him for him to practice on and show you. He has done really well this week.
I started out with, among other tools, a cheap mitre saw from B&Q. If I bought one I must have bought 20! Then a few years ago I bought a Nobex mitre saw. It still cuts as accurately as when I got it and has more than paid for itself. As Neily says buy the best you can afford but like any tools the larger the production the less they should cost. Stick to your guns Matt - "If you build it they will come" as Mr. Meccano once said.
Nice one Matt, I can set something up for him, so he can have a practice. Were working at Addenbrooks hospital at the moment, so there is plenty of site material we can get our hands on. Don`t tell him he has too well, he tells me i`m doing it all wrong !
Sod that! Stick to what I know..... Golf and footy. Massive thanks for helping me out this afternoon. Let me know what you have next week.
Mass production is the key to keep cost down in quality products. I also don't mind paying that bit extra for a tool that will work well & last but also there's nothing wrong with having top of the range & economy products ! Most manufacturing company's normally have three options top middle & bottom ! The middle product is always in higher production because most people go for the middle one as a rule !
Very disappointed Went to see the engineer this evening to see how he was getting on with cutting the templates out of spring stainless steel. Turns out that he has spent the whole day ringing steel manufactures trying to source the spring steel wide enough. He has never had to order spring steel before so was a bit put back when his normal supplier of steel (collect same day)told him "its only available 30cm wide" Everyone is telling us that spring steel is only made up to 30cm wide ! These templates are double that. So, im very disappointed. We can still make teh templates out of stanless but i wanted to use spring steel so you could bend teh template around obsticleas and also the templates would be almost indestructible in the back of your vans. It looks like we are going to have to make out of normal stanless. Down side is that you wont be able to bend them and if you drop the template it will bend.
