Ask HN: What can you realistically manufacture in your garage?

I know what they do. They make aftermarket attachments for simulated racing gear

I scratched my own itch.

I wanted the product and knew others in the industry would too. Once I was able to get it in the hands of a few operators to see and use, it started selling "organically" through word of mouth.

usually you find a market by scratching your own itch.

helps if you have breadth of knowledge and experience in a variety of fields also. interdisciplinary solutions still have plenty of untapped market potential

other than that there is no magic formula that i know of. its kind of one of those "if you have to ask..." type things.

The material costs for 3D printing are really small. A 1kg spool of PLA is in the order of 20-30 USD, and most 3D prints have only a small amount of infill, so they're surprisingly light for their volume.

For example, I designed a set of sprockets to drive my blinds, and the total weight of the sprockets to drive 3 sets of blinds is less than 15 grams of plastic. This goose-shaped figurine is about 35g of plastic: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3906053

For my application, it's much cheaper and I have the added flexibility of being able to adjust my design and rapdily prototype should the other components need to change due to unavailability -- I have already had to do this.

For something that costs me $0.17 at home, Etsy people want to charge upwards of $4 plus shipping and Shapeways or the like are $20+.

I've thought of making various custom (and ruggedized) game peripherals. The electronics and switches I could do (assuming the ICs are available), but designing housings to be 3d printed might be tricky.

For a guitar, however... possibly having the body made of wood like a real electric guitar could be a selling point.

It's a little hyperbolic, but the idea was too good for me to ignore, so I had to do it, learning curve be damned.

I have a background in electrical engineering, but a) it's 20 years out of date (I got the degree and immediately went into software), and b) my training was somewhat niche in that I focused on microprocessor design. So I'd never (for example) learned how to lay out a circuit board, or deal with mixed digital & analog effects (well, at least not at the scale of a PCB).

Recently I had a small project idea that involved a pretty basic PCB. I was surprised at how easy it was to teach myself board layout (using KiCAD) and several related skills. You can get one(ish)-off PCBs manufactured by PCBWay or OSH Park on the cheap. I haven't finished the project yet (supply chain issues), but I'm pretty sure it'll be successful, and fairly cheap, considering.

There are lots of resources online if you need more external help learning. Two I was pointed to (but haven't really dug into too deeply yet) are All About Circuits (https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/) and Ultimate Electronics (https://ultimateelectronicsbook.com/). For the more physical aspects, YouTube has been a great resource -- for example I needed to solder a 5mm x 5mm QFN IC to a breakout board, and didn't want to spend the money on a high-end rework station. A random video on YouTube taught me how to do it with some flux, solder paste, and a cheap hot air gun I bought on Amazon.

Next I'm going to look into getting a 3D printer, and learn how to design stuff for that. I expect the learning curve there will be higher (at least for me), but I don't see it as out of reach.

Thanks for this suggestion!

I have looked at SLA printing and "bench/desktop" injections molding setups like MicroMolder, but I've ruled those out cause I don't have enough ventilation or appropriate space for handling resin -- I don't actually do this in a garage, but a spare room.

bicycle tube for making bikes out of chromoly can be bought from many makers. The good stuff doesn't have uniform wall thickness but has thinner sides and thicker top/bottom for lower weight/stiffness. It should also have butted ends, meaning that it has thicker walls at the ends.

McMaster-Carr won’t sell to small companies, my friends and I have tried several times, only to have orders cancelled for the above-mentioned reason. It’s a shame because their website has a wealth of information (CAD drawings, measurements, etc.), one of the best I’ve seen.

Funny how most of that gear could just be an iPhone now!

I remember this from the 80’s too, I was 8 when I met him and it was the coolest thing ever.

> Are you going to make the old-timey recombants with the steering below the seat, unlike the modern ones with the huge handlebars?

I think that steer is something easily replaceable. I want to do lowriders - when the lowest point of butt is lower than a line between two axles. This is an incredible fast form-factor for totally good roads. Thanks HN for a discussion.

I see some high end custom jobs where they swapped some of the carbon fiber with some kind of coating on some kind of styrofoam. Its much more bulky to get usable strength but its not that heavy and it makes no noise.

Capital needed for distillation? Just watch an episode of Moonshiners on Discovery channel and you'll be set. Nothing you couldn't buy at Home Depot or the local hardware store for about $100.

It's fairly safe if you operate in a well ventilated environment, have fail-safes in your still in case there is a pressure build up, and use electric elements instead of gas.

Plenty of people use gas, but I don't see why given the increased risk and cost.

For gin you need to make or buy neutral spirit first. Buying it is ideal as larger providers can make it cheaper and cleaner than you, but needs a license so you won't do this while you're developing a product.

Then you will likely use a pot still to make your final product. You can use the same equipment to do both processes if you have a modular design.

None of the above is set in stone - gin is a bit like jazz and breaking the rules is common.

You can buy an alcohol still from Home Depot for $200.

My neighbour just mentioned having been recently granted approval to make gin at home. Wonder if I should be concerned...

I mean, building a jet engine from an old car turbocharger is not that difficult, you only have to manufacture the combustion chamber.

This is indeed the case in my HOA as well and I was (pleasantly) surprised to see it codified as such.

Gotta have a carve-out for the folks participating in an MLM scheme out of their house. They're quite popular.

Of course it also benefits remote tech workers who have an LLC or whatever. And handymen, et c.

I actually got something along these lines into my deed--which was for a software business before that was pretty normal and not the sort of thing even worth mentioning.

I suspect that is because home based businesses are explicitly protected in many localities in the US. AKA, the HOA couldn't actually tell you that you couldn't do it if they wanted to.

Yeah it has been weird to me how many HOAs explicitly call out hairdresser as something you can’t do from home.

There are also zones for businesses that do or do not allow living there.

My next house is going to be so far from my neighbors that if they were complaining about noise from my basement they would be admitting to trespassing.

I don't think "there are some place where law enforcement doesn't give a shit" is a good reason to just not care about legality. At the very least, it would behoove someone living in a place Detroit to at least think about it -- and perhaps decide "nah, no one is going to bother me" -- before starting something.

Not who you're replying to, but I would imagine its an issue of registry and/or zoning depending on the type of business (and maybe tax stuff too). I'm from Australia so probably pretty different laws, but here at least you have to register the businesses address of operations and a part of that process is identifying your 'primary operation or activity', ie what the business does, some operations will be excluded from being conducted in residentially zoned areas regardless (large scale manufacturing, waste disposal & recycling, etc) but most trades will be permitted, I know a number of car mechanics that operate largely from home.

compressed gas storage, flammables, chemical storage, hot work, etc are often governed by local law over and above needing a property zoned for light industry.

You need a "Home Occupation Permit". The details will vary by municipality, but here are the requirements for Sacramento CA, just to pick a random example: https://www.cityofsacramento.org/-/media/Corporate/Files/EDD...

"The following occupations are eligible for a Home Occupation Permit subject to restrictions discussed in the next section. If the occupation is followed by an asterisk, the use is also subject to special conditions also discussed below. Eligible home occupations are:

1. General office uses, such as accountant, administrative assistant, answering service, appraiser, architect, attorney, bookkeeper, broker or agent (real estate, insurance, etc.), counselor, consultant, drafting service, engineer, interior decorator, secretarial service, word processing service, and other office uses whose characteristics are substantially similar to those listed.

2. Commission merchant, direct sale product distribution, internet, or mail order business.

3. Dressmaker, tailor, fashion designer.

4. Mobile vehicle glass installation and mobile vehicle detailing.*

5. Pet services, such as pet sitting, pet grooming, pet training, and veterinarian care.*

6. Office for contractor, handyperson, janitorial service, landscape contractor, gardening service.*

7. Artist.

8. Tutoring.*

9. Small equipment, appliance, and computer assembly, repair, or reconstruction.*

10. Healing arts professional, including physician, surgeon, chiropractor, physical therapist, acupuncturist, and somatic practitioner.*

11. Hair stylist, barber, and manicurist.

12. Swimming instructor.*

13. Cottage food operation as defined in section 113758 of the California Health and Safety Code."

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I saw somebody get dinged for this once for running a Twitch stream out of their garage and accepting donations, one of the only times I've seen the modern "contractor" trend work out in anyone's favor:

- https://nitter.net/happyf333tz/status/1036846647945261056

- https://nitter.net/happyf333tz/status/1040074413599678465

Most local governments have zoning restrictions that dictate what kind of structures can be built and limit what activities can be done in an area. Typically there are certain activities permitted as a right, some that require special approval, and others that are just flat out banned. The single family dteched housing zones where most garages are located tend to be the most restrictive zones with regards to commercial activity. Typically if you violate a zoning law you'll get some standard number of days to comply or you'll get hit with a large fine.

Yeah this seems so strange a thing to do. Maybe they're personalized/ruggedized in some nice way?

Yes, that's the hard part. Often times harder than the mfg work. I believe he took over the contract from an acquaintance.

I think super-niche small-run hobby/lifestyle/specialty products are the big answer if you want to monetize your skills and experience.

I'm really into analog photography and I can think of several products that people (including myself) would pay for but that it's just not economically feasible for a big company to hire a bunch of people and pay them wages, health insurance, and 401ks to make, on top of the actual cost of the product. I'm looking to gradually put together a workshop to try and make some of them, and if I do them, I might as well sell them. Even if it's $100 out the door for a $5 piece of metal, there's actually a market for that in terms of hobby income, it's just not a market that will sustain full-time employees and mass production.

Between 3d printing, stamping, a CNC mill and lathe, casting, a laser cutter, and a vacuum oven, you can really do a tremendous amount of stuff in your garage, especially if you are willing to leverage these tools together. 3D print a part and then cast it in a durable metal, machine it to clean it up. CNC mill yourself a stamping die. Use the vacuum oven to cure things, or dehydrate your filament, etc. Like on paper that's pretty much a tool-and-die shop, given sufficient effort you can make things that will let you make whatever else you want - much like chemistry you're never more than a couple tools away from the thing you want, you just have to make the thing that will let you make the thing you want.

Optical lithography is not that hard either as long as you're not working at semiconductor scale. There's that kid that is making chips in his garage over in the UK or something. But you can use that as a manufacturing technique for other stuff. Or use resist etching like for PCBs.

In a lot of cases, really the only limit is when you bump into something that's restricted or too hazardous to keep around even if it's unrestricted. Like boy, mercury intensifier works great but... I like my nervous system the way it is. Even selenium intensifier or pyrocat developer are pretty yikes in terms of the MSDS, very much a "better have a fume hood" thing, or do it outside (in a daylight tank).

Incidentally, but, my most insane "I'd love to do that in my garage" is custom lenses. I know the accuracy is probably just not there compared to what you'd realistically need for good results, but it really seems like single-point diamond turning should be something that is achievable with a high-end setup (say $25k) in this era of solid CNC mill or lathe setups for half that price. Maybe it's something you could build out of a CNC setup but again, is it accurate enough to make it worth it (not sure of the tolerances required, at least 1/1000th, probably 1/10,000 is better, 1/100k or finer should do it, which I guess isn't too far out of what you can do with a lathe, it's all just end work and you have to be precisely optically centered and aligned). Coating is one where you'd need the vacuum oven for sure, assuming it wasn't too toxic (iirc coatings are fluoride based). Growing optics-grade fluorite or calcite crystals also might be possible for lens blanks (although again, maybe too nasty) - or glass casting too. You'd need an optical bench too of course.

There is definitely a market for that I think - all-fluorite lenses are excellent for wide-spectrum photography (UV to IR in the same lens without focus shift - see the Coastal Optics lenses f.ex) and people (companies) pay big bucks for those, like $50k is entry-level for something in that class if you go out and buy it new. And with single-point you can make aspheric lenses as easily as spheric, so you could do all-aspheric designs that aren't commercially viable for mass-market lenses... as well as super-high-quality repros of classic lenses that are obscure or just classics. People would pay for a neo-retro Hypergon or modern takes on sonnar/h...

To expand on this, there are entire "fan clubs" around old military trucks - for example https://www.steelsoldiers.com - so you could infiltrate said groups and find what parts are starting to become rare/hard to find NOS anymore (new old/original stock) and start making replacements.

Selling cannbis clones and support etc could be very lucrative.

And potentially legal, depending on locale.

A couple years ago I became quite interested in building my own grow lights for starting garden veggie seedlings. The YouTube recommendations surrounding such videos were quite interesting... It turns out another plant needs high power as well.