Clicker Die - Versatility In The Pattern

[Denster]

Both Lobo and K-Man make excellent points comming at the situation from different perspectives. Both make attractive, serviceable holsters and accessories. Lobo's is a retirement business and I would guess that he has about reached the limit of what he can do and still leave time for the important things (beer and poker) without taking on help. Considering the exposure I see him getting on some of the forums that may be in the near future.

Kevin is aggressively growing an allready (deservedly) successful business and probably ships at least 10 times Lobo's volume per week. For him automation is a must and the cost of dies and a clicker would be quickly amortized vs salary+benefits+workman's comp etc.

I would guess it depends on your volume of business and where you want to go with it. For myself I can make 20 to 25 holsters per week in the time I want to work. I don't ever want or need to be larger than that. So my perspective is different. Also I'm always tweaking designs or doing somethng different not a situation where a clicker or dies would be useful.

[K-Man]

Particle:

Yes, it is a full-time job for me. But at the time I purchased the clicker, my sales/work load was much less. However, I recognized, more accurately - envisioned, the growth. At the time I got the clicker, I was only doing 1/10th of what I'm doing now. The size of my operation for employees is two - myself and my wife. You have to decide what you want to do and where you want to go/what level you want to take the holster-making to. All I can do is tell you what the benefits are, or not, with using the different clickers and other machinery that I have experience with. The equipment choices make a huge difference in the quality of the product.

The purchase of a clicker is one of the larger $$ purchases you'll encounter as you go along. If you're considering one, consider the long term commitment it will also take to make it pay off. I derive great benefit from mine because I also use it to cut out other patterns - not just holsters. I've got a wide assortment of other dies - from knife sheaths to dog collars to saddle bags to purses to rifle slings to quivers to coasters to dog muzzles to spur straps. Holsters and related accessories are only one segment of what I make/offer.

Shop around for the clickers - look on eBay, Craig's List, whatever other equipment sale places that are local to you. I recently saw a 15-ton Tippmann clicker on eBay for $1800. Regular price for that is ~$3000. The company I'm partnering with in the manufacturing of our holsters just bought a 20-ton, swing arm, clicker for $400 off of Craig's List.

With respect to the dies, you'd be wise to not order a die for a design right at the get-go. There's generally a period of time where you're tweaking the design to some extent. Once you've got it worked out, then order the die. As you gain experience, you'll probably find that there will be less and less tweaking needed.

Since you're starting out, again, give serious consideration to having someone "click" out the patterns for you. That would save you even more time. The cost to do that is generally going to be minimal. It would take you a fair amount of time I suspect to spend the comparable amount of ~$2000 that you would spend on a decent clicker. In the meantime, you can see if the amount of growth (that you're hopefully experiencing) justifies spending that $2000 - $3000 for your own clicker.

I don't discount the concerns/issues you have in deciding when to cross the line into a higher level of operation. I know insurance, for example, is a huge expense. I'm retired from the USN, so I'm fortunate from the perspective of insurance costs. BTW, in the time I save by using a clicker, and other machinery, I spend it now making custom acoustic guitars and custom gun grips.