Model of the Week: FlexTILT Camera Mount [Co-Manufacturing FTW!]

Ever thought of co-manufacturing your camera gear? “What did you just say?” You heard me right — Co-manufacturing. The innovative camera equipment company edelkrone is shakin’ up the manufacturing scene to team up with YOU. As the makers of camera sliders, dollies, heads, and accessories, they know all that camera gear can be a drain on the ol’ pocketbook. Enter ORTAK.

ORTAK, is a new co-manufacturing approach from edelkrone where you 3D print the simple parts, they provide the machined parts, and you put it all together. The idea is that this allows you to snatch up quality, high-tech goodies at a fraction of the cost.

How Does Co-Manufacturing Work?

With ORTAK method, products are manufactured by you and edelkrone together. edelkrone will manufacture the critical parts, such as CNC machined aluminum joints (or possibly electronic components in the future) to minimize cost, while making sure the end product works flawlessly.

So, as we alluded to, edelkrone sends you the critical parts and you will 3D print the rest of the design. You can even customize the design, form, and color to what you like. The first product on the ORTAK co-manufacturing platform is the FlexTILT Head 3D — a 3D printable version of their BEST-SELLING camera tripod head

The FlexTILT Head 3D sold by edelkrone is currently priced at $149 USD. On the flip side, the CNC machined parts for the co-manufactured version is only $29 USD. Cost for the 3D printed parts? Well, there are nine 3D printed parts altogether with PLA recommended at 90% – 100% infill and 0.1 – 0.15 mm layer height (no supports). Prints were tested on the Ultimaker and Zaxe 3D printers with great results.

Soon, 3D printers will be in every house. If you don’t already have access to a 3D printer, it may be time to invest in one to make ORTAK products even more feasible and see the time it takes for a return on investment drop drastically. We foresee a future in which visionary companies will use ORTAK co-manufacturing method to decrease costs for both the company and the customer while enabling highly customizable and more personal products.

So, if you don’t have a 3D printer in your home, you will ‘soon’ so you’ll be able to take advantage of co-manufacturing. How many will be able to complete the assembly of their co-manufactured products? A question for another time perhaps.

In the meantime, all y’all with 3D printers can get a jumpstart on the co-manufacturing pre-craze and snag your files for the Flextilt Head 3D on MyMiniFactory.

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