Creating New Products

This has been an amazing year so far for learning new things putting them into practice.

Early in the year I finally finished getting my shed insulated and electricity run to it so I could start making things again. I bought a new 3d printer as the technology had vastly improved during my 6 year hiatus from 3d printing.

From there I've greatly increased my 3d CAD skills, learned how to design circuit boards, gotten decent at soldering components, and used AI to help me code some microcontrollers because my coding skills are far too rusty.

Learning all those skills gave me the motivation to try starting up my side business again and design products that would be helpful to technicians in the field.

I added two more printers to my arsenal and started producing my first product. I then learned that certain lasers can actually mark plastic without melting it so I invested in one so my products would have more detail than can be accomplished with 3d printing alone.

I've been working hard on this project for the last month and change. After what feels like too many prototypes (and a few hiccups along the way), I am super excited to launch my third product for HVAC Techs.

My first product was first designed almost 8 years ago and used only 3d printing. The second one uses both 3d printing and laser engraving. This third one adds circuit design into the mix.

I call it the "Reliatel Test Mode Thing" because I'm bad at naming products and decided I should put "Thing" at the end of all my product names. 😅

It's just a box with a dial that allows selection of specific resistors, but if you've worked with Reliatel controls before you'll know why this is useful.

Thanks for reading my ramblings!