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Slik Stik Stainless Steel Handles for T-Stick Plus
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microwrx:

--- Quote from: Zakk on May 13, 2004, 01:09:51 am ---
--- Quote from: microwrx on May 12, 2004, 11:46:12 pm ---
--- Quote from: Zakk on May 12, 2004, 05:37:29 pm ---I wonder if they could machine them out of anodized aluminum, or if that would be too brittle?  Now that would be kind of cool in different colors!

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Hahaha.  You don't machine them out of anodized aluminum.  You machine them out of aluminum and have them anodized!  If you wanted to keep the shafts silver and only anodize the ball/bat you cut the shafts slightly bigger initially and after anodizing the whole thing stick it back in the lathe and skin the anodize off the shaft.  

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Thanks for correcting me, but you just described machining anodized aluminum ::)  Why not just immerse only the handles into the bath instead of the whole thing then? hahaha  

ha


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Not quite, machining anodized aluminum suggests you start with a flat or round stock of aluminum that has been anodized and machine that to the shape of your handles.  What I described was machining your handles, anodizing them and then removing the anodize from the parts you want to remain silver.

I thought about the idea of immersing the part in the bath only as far as needed to cover the ball/bat but it would be almost impossible to grow a uniform anodic layer that way (yes I have anodized stuff myself at home before).  You would need to immerse it past where you need it to stop and then skin it back anyway so why bother.  Having said all that I do recall reading somewhere you can cover/coat sections of items to be anodized with something so it doesn't grow the anodic layer in just that section.  Didn't think of it earlier and don't remember what it is you use.

Anyway, your idea was good to start with and yes, I believe it would chip, in fact I know it would as my friend has done it.  He is a master at micro finish machining and still had trouble with very minute chipping.  However you'd only be able to notice it if you looked very close and it'd be at the base of the ball/bat where you can't really see anyway.

Sorry, got a bit off topic but an intereting idea.

JJ
Zakk:
I remember reading a tutorial on doing your own home anodizing some time ago.  It was neat that you could keep different vats of the color virtually forever (I think the electrode is the part that wears out?).  I was going to do some myself, but then I started looking into the price of metal lathes and tools etc, and though whoa!  

Besides, I don't think anodization is very permanent.  Might end up having a very scratched colored handle (as Oscar said to me, "what if someone was wearing a ring?")

Ah well, we did a good job of hijacking this thread alright :)
Still, interesting ideas...always comes back to cone buttons for me: machine aluminum cone buttons and do them up in custom colors.  Maybe I will buy that lathe :)
microwrx:
Yeah, sorry for hijacking the thread.

Anodizing at home is pretty simple.  I did it just to prove it worked.

What you are actually doing is 'growing' an anodic layer from the aluminum.  The anodic layer is only microns thick and looks like honeycomb under a microscope.  Once you have grown it you then put it in a dye bath.  The honeycomb shaped cells fill with the dye and once you have the desired color saturation you boil the part to seal the cells and lock in the color.

The anodic layer is much much harder than the aluminum you grow it from (can't remember the rockwell hardness figures) hence some people anodize clear (miss the dye step) as it makes the aluminum harder and more resistant to damage.  It is because of the additional hardness that it chips when machined.

I want one of those mini lathes myself.

Anyway, sorry again for the hijack.
andrewonawall:

--- Quote from: microwrx on May 14, 2004, 01:15:48 am ---Yeah, sorry for hijacking the thread.

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No, no, no, this is okay. While I would prefer to have stainless steel from Slik Stik, I am open to discussing other options because they may not do it. I wanted their other pair tops for my 4-p set up, but I will also have a T-Stick+ for the classics. I wanted to have matching joysticks (at least in the materials, I want a ball top for the T-Stick+). Anodized aluminum would be cool because I would like to have that red top. I just don't want it to be plastic. But how would it look to have polished and anodized alum w/ stainless steel? What would also be cool is to have anodized aluminum for the 4-P controls because I am doing a color scheme (red, blue, green, yellow). Having the correct colored pear top would be great! Now, I am thinking that I should investigate making all the sticks custom from a machine shop. Wouldn't the aluminum be lighter and give it a different feel in game play? I have heard that many people like the heavy feel of the stainless sticks.
krick:

--- Quote from: maraxle on May 12, 2004, 07:11:14 am ---I think Slik Stik's stainless steel handles are overpriced for what value they provide

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I don't agree or disagree with the above statement.  But I'd like to point out some things that might make people think a little...

The sad fact is that we live in a free market economy.  If Slik Stik is the only company that makes stainless handles and people want them, since they control the supply, they can set the price at anything they want.  However, there are two extremes...

1) really high price, nobody will buy them, no profit.
2) really low price, everybody buys them but the profit margin is too low to make any money.

Obviously, the optimal price lies somewhere between these two extremes.

Consider two scenarios (completely made up numbers)...

1) $10 part times 100 customers = $1000
2) $100 part times 10 customers = $1000

Which one is better from a business perspective?

Common sense would be that more customers is better.  However for most companies, scenario #2 is actually preferred.  Why?  There is cost overhead associated with selling a product: advertising, warehousing stock, taking orders, shipping orders, fielding support calls, handling returns, etc...  So the more money you can extract from each customer, the less overhead and the more net profit.

The trick for any company is to find that price point for a product that is just shy of "too expensive".  They want the maximum number of dollars with the minimum number of customers.

Of course, most (if not all) of this theory goes out the window when you are talking about a commodity item.  The above only applies when the product in question is unique and only available from a limited number of sources (preferrably just one).
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