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ysabetwordsmithEvery once in a while, Kickstarter throws me a link to a totally random project. Believe it or not, this one was after an update for an aromantic anthology.
For my gizmologist and hobby-scientist friends: Have you ever wanted a gizmo of your very own? This one can even make other gizmos! :D I love nerds so much. It's not even a product type suited to my creativity, but I enjoyed the hell out of browsing just for the fun of it. Reminds me of geeking out with friends at Uni High.
SALTGATOR: The 1st Desktop SoftGel Injection Molding Machine
Rapid Soft Part Making | 10-Minute Ready | 3D-Printing Mold Support | For DIYers & Designers
$278,954 pledged of $15,000 goal
1,097 backers
38 days to go
SALTGATOR puts the power back where it belongs: on your desk, in your hands.
More materials. More molds. More freedom—all from your desktop.
SALTGATOR packs full-scale soft molding into a compact, desktop-friendly form. Heat, stir, inject—it’s all built in, no extra gear required.
Say goodbye to bulky machines, complicated setups, and long waits. With SALTGATOR, every idea gets molded fast—right from your desk, your studio, or even outdoors. It’s fast, fuss-free, and always ready to turn your ideas into reality – in an interesting way.
SALTGATOR uses sealed construction and eco-safe formulas to eliminate fumes, burns, and other common hazards. Every step is designed to give you peace of mind while you create.
SALTGATOR comes with a preset mold library and easy-to-follow video guides, so even if you’ve never molded anything before, you’ll be up and running in 30 minutes.
Molding isn’t just one shape, one color, one idea. With SALTGATOR, you can go further, mix it up, and get creative with pro-level techniques—all from your desk.
Recommended for fishing enthusiasts, hardware designers / makers, educators / STEM programs / makerspaces, cosplayers and prop artists.
Some further observations:
What makes a gizmo? It's an invention, not just any invention, but a really great one. It starts out as bleeding-edge technology, often a leap to something new or a big improvement on something that makes it much more usable. It's the source of things that may later become commonplace, before that happens. (Cars started out as gizmos, back when you had to be a mechanic to keep one running.) Some gizmos are actually simple to make but difficult to think up, like the Tesla Fluid Valve. In this case, it takes a process that used to be cumbersome, risky, and expensive then turns it into something compact, straightforward, safe, and affordable. If you look closely at the features, you can see some of the clever parts. I can practically hear somegeek saying, "Can't we just do this the easy way?"
In general, this looks expensive, but for a gizmo, it's a real bargain. It's comparable to cheap 3D printers and cheaper than mid-range or better ones. So not unreasonable as a hobby splurge, but really attractive as a business investment for a home inventor.
At first, the production time sounds good for personal prototyping, but way too slow to make products for sale. At 10 minutes per cycle, you could only make 6 in an hour, unfeasible for anything but premium custom builds. But! The chamber holds a maximum of 4 fluid ounces. Most of the molds will be for fairly small things, such as fishing lures. That means you could fill a bunch of molds at one time. If you do 5 per cycle, that's 30 per hour which is not bad; at 10 per cycle it would be 60 which is quite good for a homemade product and impressive for a custom build. Of course, you can also use it for prototyping and then just pay a light industrial center to cut a metal mold and print however many you want.
For my gizmologist and hobby-scientist friends: Have you ever wanted a gizmo of your very own? This one can even make other gizmos! :D I love nerds so much. It's not even a product type suited to my creativity, but I enjoyed the hell out of browsing just for the fun of it. Reminds me of geeking out with friends at Uni High.
SALTGATOR: The 1st Desktop SoftGel Injection Molding Machine
Rapid Soft Part Making | 10-Minute Ready | 3D-Printing Mold Support | For DIYers & Designers
$278,954 pledged of $15,000 goal
1,097 backers
38 days to go
SALTGATOR puts the power back where it belongs: on your desk, in your hands.
More materials. More molds. More freedom—all from your desktop.
SALTGATOR packs full-scale soft molding into a compact, desktop-friendly form. Heat, stir, inject—it’s all built in, no extra gear required.
Say goodbye to bulky machines, complicated setups, and long waits. With SALTGATOR, every idea gets molded fast—right from your desk, your studio, or even outdoors. It’s fast, fuss-free, and always ready to turn your ideas into reality – in an interesting way.
SALTGATOR uses sealed construction and eco-safe formulas to eliminate fumes, burns, and other common hazards. Every step is designed to give you peace of mind while you create.
SALTGATOR comes with a preset mold library and easy-to-follow video guides, so even if you’ve never molded anything before, you’ll be up and running in 30 minutes.
Molding isn’t just one shape, one color, one idea. With SALTGATOR, you can go further, mix it up, and get creative with pro-level techniques—all from your desk.
Recommended for fishing enthusiasts, hardware designers / makers, educators / STEM programs / makerspaces, cosplayers and prop artists.
Some further observations:
What makes a gizmo? It's an invention, not just any invention, but a really great one. It starts out as bleeding-edge technology, often a leap to something new or a big improvement on something that makes it much more usable. It's the source of things that may later become commonplace, before that happens. (Cars started out as gizmos, back when you had to be a mechanic to keep one running.) Some gizmos are actually simple to make but difficult to think up, like the Tesla Fluid Valve. In this case, it takes a process that used to be cumbersome, risky, and expensive then turns it into something compact, straightforward, safe, and affordable. If you look closely at the features, you can see some of the clever parts. I can practically hear somegeek saying, "Can't we just do this the easy way?"
In general, this looks expensive, but for a gizmo, it's a real bargain. It's comparable to cheap 3D printers and cheaper than mid-range or better ones. So not unreasonable as a hobby splurge, but really attractive as a business investment for a home inventor.
At first, the production time sounds good for personal prototyping, but way too slow to make products for sale. At 10 minutes per cycle, you could only make 6 in an hour, unfeasible for anything but premium custom builds. But! The chamber holds a maximum of 4 fluid ounces. Most of the molds will be for fairly small things, such as fishing lures. That means you could fill a bunch of molds at one time. If you do 5 per cycle, that's 30 per hour which is not bad; at 10 per cycle it would be 60 which is quite good for a homemade product and impressive for a custom build. Of course, you can also use it for prototyping and then just pay a light industrial center to cut a metal mold and print however many you want.
