Quick look at the Evora group buy key

[Stuno1]

Quick look at the key for anyone interested. It is very well made and incredible detail. 

 

[CocoPops]

Looks a bit rough and ready?

[Chris J]

I'd have to paint it to match the car...

 

Good model for how the roadster could look though!

[Stuno1]

7 minutes ago, CocoPops said:

Looks a bit rough and ready?

It's very good but yes you can see some machining. I can imagine some may paint it to make it smoother but then the paint will chip etc. It's nice how it is. 

I like the fact it's different and never liked the standard key personally. 

[PaulCP]

18 minutes ago, CocoPops said:

Looks a bit rough and ready?

Will be a no goer for you anyhow, it's got black wheels 

[C8RKH]

It's just a fookin' key for christs sake. Lol - I know I'm a heathen. A low life. A piece of no use white trash. But I did not buy a Lotus for the key...... God, and I thought I had first world problems.... Ho hum, I'm off to butcher my cork screw as although it does a fine job of opening bottles of wine, well, at the end of the day it's just a corkscrew and I never liked it even though I robbed it from the hotel room once....

 

It's Friday. I need a glass of vino collapso

[Barrykearley]

Vino ?? Bloody champagne socialists !! 

I has to filter the wasps out me cider

[C8RKH]

The grapes for my vino were trampled by the washed feet of 340 virgins from Newcastle. It was then nurtured in a vat made of pure silver. It has now been served to me in a crystal glass.

Not a peasant farmer in sight!

 

 

 

This is the Porsche forum, yeah....

hahahahaha.....

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

I just about believe the silver vat and crystal glass bit, but 340 virgins from Newcastle, really? Ant 'n Dec maybe, but I can't believe there's another 338 out there.

[agentdr8]

I think @TBD did a great job on the keyfob. Can't wait to receive mine. No more key stabbing me in the leg!

[CocoPops]

Did I hear him correctly!? £175 per key fob!?

[agentdr8]

Yeah. SLS printing isn't nearly as cheap as FDM, but produces much higher quality and resolution prints. The costs could probably be reduced by moving to injection molding, but since it's such low quantity, there'd likely be a huge penalty for a small batch. 

[ricvx]

[Stuno1]

Not a fan then! Lol

[ricvx]

Sorry not for me. Key really is the last thing I care about!

[C8RKH]

2 hours ago, agentdr8 said:

 No more key stabbing me in the leg!

My Evora key has never stabbed me in the leg as it is either in the ignition or on the key hanger waiting for me to put it into the ignition.

[agentdr8]

I suppose I could always leave it in the ignition to avoid the problem too, but sometimes the key has to be removed and put into my pants pocket. 

It's definitely not ideal that it's so pricey, but I like the uniqueness of it and the amount of effort @TBD put into designing and producing it, and don't mind supporting a fellow TLF member. To put it into perspective, if this were a 911 key, it would be about $500. Granted, that has a much more finished appearance, and has electronics inside, but it likely cost them less than $20 in parts to make. 

[TBD]

I just had to copy this picture from Lotustalk, which shows what Chad has made of my design.

[CocoPops]

How it should have been delivered, for the price.

the finish shown in other pictures/videos is very poor.

[C8RKH]

I think it is a brilliant execution Thomas and a great idea. It's not for me, as at the end of the day, a key is just a key to me, however I can see how others will like it and that's fine by me. We're all different. I mean, for crying out loud, some people even like Evora's with rear seats. I mean, what's that all about...

 

[TBD]

2 hours ago, CocoPops said:

How it should have been delivered, for the price.

the finish shown in other pictures/videos is very poor.

I've used the leading sources, i.materialize.com and rapidobjects.com for this project. 

So, just to give you an impression of what 3D-printing costs.

The FOB is made of 4 parts in at least two materials:

• The rotating slug holding the keyblade and slug, which is 3D-printed in brass and then chromed. Cost per item: ~ 50 €
• The two piece lower section which takes the slug: ~25 €
• The upper key body,: ~ 25 €
• The spring and screw, each costing ~ 0.50 € a piece in the low volumes we are talking about. 

The finish is a direct result of the 3D-printing process. Rapidobjects will sand and paint the pieces for you -  at the "minor" cost of 60 € a piece plus VAT.

Add in roughly 100 hours 3D design time and the cost for the underlying 3D-model of the Evora at 100 € the FOB is actually underpriced at any level.

Sure, if somebody would like to commercialize these using injection moulding the cost would drop dramatically. But then they would sell it through Lotus Cars and you get to pay twice as much anyway.

[C8RKH]

I think the perception is 3d printing is cheap. people forget the massive number of hours and the effort that goes in to design. It's worth what someone is willing to pay.

 

[blueg33]

4 hours ago, TBD said:

I just had to copy this picture from Lotustalk, which shows what Chad has made of my design.

That looks much better.

The problem is that production runs are so small.  I wonder if a 1:76 diecast model evora could be modified as a key fob with less cost?

[2011 Chrome Orange]

I'm extremely happy with how Thomas made these. Its a great kit he put together. I also think the pricing was more than fair for such a low volume item. I realize its just a key and not for everyone, but for those who like to tinker or customize, I think it came out pretty cool.

It will look even better after it cures for a while so I can wet sand and buff it out  

[Stuno1]

And it's done. Very happy with it now.