How Many Prototypes Do You Make Till It Is Sellable?

[DavidL]

Every time something is made there are small tweaks I can make that I didnt notice.

How many prototypes do you make till you have a complete item that is sellable both in method and consistency?

[TapTapTap]

DavidL,

Interesting question. Back in the eighties I used to work the local markets. What I noticed was the comments from customers about the items I was making and I made notes for later reference. There are plenty of books available on how to build everything from a saddle to a keycase. If you are doing "your own thing" then the WOW factor is your goal. There are heaps of tutorials available that are designed to ensure you produce an item without the need to 'tweak it. Check out - Myleatherwork.com and you will see an example of a tutorial. I hope this advice gives you some guidance. Regards, TapTapTap

[Art]

With patterns, you can always tweak them, you don't always, but you can. Once you get it built, then you can see where you might have went wrong. Take a good long critical look and adjust. By the time you have the second one in leather, you should have little to mess with, but we're all human and a third might be necessary. Once you've ordered the clicker die, well, you're pretty much finished.

OTOH, there are some new designs, that devolve into design fests where you just have a problem beating out a design, but try to get most of the problems out before the modeling stage. Mock-ups can be a cheaper intermediate solution, but with leather goods there won't be much difference between a mock-up, a muck-up, a f--k-up, and a prototype.

Then again, with leatherwork and design, you do get better as you get more experience.

Art

[DavidL]

I understand do as much tweaking on the pattern until as much of the problems are out, move onto a paper pattern to see if any more is needed, finally a prototype is made. From there if it is okay move on second prototype and if no problems are seen continue to production. If problems are still no hashed out create prototype 2 and so on.

Im sure in any business that manufactures anything they have a system they use to work out to fix flaws, even then the version 2 comes out and its even better designed and better suited due to customer feedback like tap said.

[electrathon]

If I am lucky, I get it on the second try. Usually it is on the third.

[JLSleather]

That's going to depend on what is "sellable". I sometimes throw away projects I consider to be far superior to what I see for sale every day. In fact, years ago I started cutting up projects I was scrapping before throwing them out -- when I found some of my items had been taken from the trash and sold.

[UKRay]

An interesting question... I have changed the way I make patterns. No more paper, I make the pattern directly onto flooring vinyl and cut it out. Vinyl behaves in a very similar way to leather; it folds, rivets and even stitches in the same way. Using vinyl means it is very easy to spot and correct design flaws before you even make a prototype.

Hint: most flooring or DIY stores have sample books (vinyl pieces about 18" square). They throw these away when they go out of date. I blag one every time I go past the local flooring store!

[simontuntelder]

Sometimes first try, sometimes it takes twenty protos with numerous little tweaks. Another thing is testing the product, which I usually do for a couple of months, if it's something that I'm going to make again and again. Time testing is often a very important factor.


The vinyl idea is good. It's a good way of saving money on precious leather.

[sbrownn]

I create my design in a CAD program before doing anything. You would be amazed at the number of changes you might make to the design in CAD before doing anything. I then use the CAD model as a basis for 3D printing cutting templates and mold sets.

[cgleathercraft]

I went through 4 prototypes for my holster. all different designs and for 3 different firearms. My final finished product was exactly what I wanted and was the first holster I made for that firearm. While the prior holsters are functional they look like a 3 year old put them together (except maybe that 4th one).

Practice and critical thinking are more important than attempting to master a single item in x amount of tries.

Burn through a couple (cheaper) hides and make those mistakes. The lessons learned will be more valuable than the couple hundred bucks in your pocket.

[LumpenDoodle2]

I have bought a couple of very cheap split hides to try out my prototypes on. The quality of the split leather is actually good enough that I can then 'road test' the prototypes before using the good leather.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

"Mock-ups can be a cheaper intermediate solution, but with leather goods there won't be much difference between a mock-up, a muck-up, a f--k-up, and a prototype."

Thanks Art, you gave me my laugh for the day. And there's a lot of truth to that.

Like Electrathon, I usually get it on the second try. If I don't get it by the third, I bag the project, but I realize we may be talking about different types of projects and a custom situation vs manufacturing. With years of experience, I have learned to predict if a project is going to be good right out of the chute or take some experimentation. I tend to take fewer of the second kind unless the client understands they will pay for every minute of experimentation/tweaking/prototyping. With experience, you also get better at initial design work, so there are fewer second and third attempts.

[Jimdad]

For most of my simpler items, one or two. Often the first, as long as I have tested/practiced the individual steps separately. But, I started in on leather to try and make a wrist brace that was comfortable and better looking than "hospital beige". I've made at least a dozen variations on similar & very different ideas, and still never came up with one I'm completely happy with-- the attempts apparently were the extra physical therapy I needed though, and so the prototypes have been shelved for other leather work. My point is that it also depends on what you're making. A card wallet can have a stitch off by half a mm and you might not be able to tell, but half a mm off on where I began an angled cut on a wrist brace might make all the difference. So different items may have different tolerances.

[Aidanforsyth0]

With wallets I usually get it on the first try with very slight modifications afterwards. Usually I make a customers custom order and then tweak it from there and list it on my site. With other items like bracelets I have made numerous prototypes but have yet to post one because I just haven't gotten it to my liking.