The ‘YellowClip’ Clothesline Clip designed by Paul Sandip is just one of those designs that brings up such questions. It’s curvy, it doesn’t rust, it’s available in a variety of colors and it looks like a tooling nightmare. Is it? How in the blazes do you think this simple design could be manufactured?
The Buzz
There’s been a lot of conversation about the #yellowclip going on in Twitter-land. It started out as discussion about the design, the price and the fact that it’s currently only a prototype, but the interest quickly turned to the tooling of the single-piece icon of cloth-hanging bliss.
On the LinkedIn ID Group, C. Sven Johnson has asked the question How is this seemingly simple product tooled?
Update: I’ve also posed the question on the SolidWorks Forum and is getting a lot of input from people knowledgeable in the area of Mold Design and Material properties.
The Hints
Here’s what Paul had to say when I asked him about how the clip would be manufactured.
Regarding my thoughts on how it will be manufactured…i would not like to disclose much details as it is lisenced to a manufacturer and we have signed a Non-disclosure agreement. The only clue is…it is definitely a two part mold.
The Clip is being sold for $20.00 ( currently on pre-sale for $4.00) at Moq7. Yes, $20 for a single clip. As mentioned above, it’s a prototype which will be manufactured if 10,000 are pre-ordered. Currently, only 13 have been sold. For a ‘simple’ part like Paul’s clip, this cost would typically be associated with low-runs or high material cost. The question is… How would this actually be tooled for manufacturing? Is it even possible?
