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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 6:08 pm 
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The problem with trying to offer new products once in a while is that sometimes one invents themselves into a box. This was the case with the BATT, and now the Darkside.

That Snowflake lap encountered two issues. First, it did not spectactularly outperform the Darkside. In addition, there were purity problems with suppliers for one of the critical ingredients. Essentially, no one would have any overwhelming reason to buy it.
If I do not come out with a noticabley improved product, then people will not longer be willing to try new offerings.
Rule 1: They have to work better than what is on the market, or why bother?

Frankly, zinc is fun to machine, and while I may joke about what a dump gearloose is to work for or at, I realized today that I CAN make zinc laps competiitively priced with that firm based in the PRC. And all this time I thought I was kidding.
Low overhead, no transportation or import charges and accepting a modest but fair profit makes a big difference to the bean-counting end.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 6:17 pm 
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It appears to be somecat other than Lord Iggy. Must be his Uncle.


He has a better voice for Mandarin than I do, actually. A couple of co-workers of mine were trying to teach me it. I found it fascinating because there is another dimension there, intonation, and it's really important. As much as I love languages, my Yankee brain is simply not wired to grasp it.
It is as though Euclid were suddenly presented with a Five-dimensional Universe. "This program has encountered a problem, and must close". Fatal runtime error.

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:58 am 
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Rule 1: They have to work better than what is on the market, or why bother?

Gearloose, you might ask the users of your (excellent) laps if there is anything they don’t like about them. You don’t need ask me the question. Because I don’t think there is any.

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Harder, possibly flatter, and a higher coefficient of friction. It puts more horsepower into the stone.
This refers to a zinc lap. But it sounds familiar. I have the BA5T lap and haven’t even tried it yet.

It seems to me that your own creations put you in the tough position to make something outdoing them. But isn’t it a happy problem?

By the way, talking about a tonal language, Vietnamese is the extreme. For examle, "ban" can mean friend, table or filthy with the slightest difference of tones. With a foreigner's pronounciation, a word sometimes changes into a very embarrassing expression. :oops: Very dangerous.

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I am a slave to cutting a stone completely free of chips and very much enjoying it.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 7:18 am 
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Gearloose, you might ask the users of your (excellent) laps if there is anything they don’t like about them. You don’t need ask me the question. Because I don’t think there is any.


Usually there are adaptation issues or an occassioanl bent lap in shipping. The Customers are usally pretty outspoken when something goes wrong. There is the occasional person who just cannot get them to work, and I try to help as much as I can, but statistically, these are outfliers.
Maybe a Suggestion Box on the page...?

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I have the BA5T lap and haven’t even tried it yet.


You are missing a treat.

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It seems to me that your own creations put you in the tough position to make something outdoing them. But isn’t it a happy problem?

Frustrating. For example, I have been working on an alloy for YEARS, off and on, that would be very desirable, but there are fabrication issues with the material that would require large capital equipment investment, and this niche market may not support that effort. $60,000 would be a lot of laps to sell to recoupe before break-even. So it's the business end that is so frustrating. One of the reasons Industry does not develop new products as often as it could is that I could simply get an SBIR Grant for CPFF at 8%, and probably make more money without selling a single lap.

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By the way, talking about a tonal language, Vietnamese is the extreme. For examle, "ban" can mean friend, table or filthy with the slightest difference of tones. With a foreigner's pronounciation, a word sometimes changes into a very embarrassing expression.


This was painfully explained to me by a giggling co-worker. I say the wrong thing half the time in English, as it is.

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