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Single Point Rifle Sling Prototype

Hey Guys! I’m the last of the summer interns to introduce myself! My Name is Brett Holmes. I’m an Ohio native (GO BUCKEYES!) enjoying my new home here in North Carolina.  I’m a Drafting and Design student at ITT-Tech. I’ve been working on a single point rifle sling. This includes any rifle from a hunting rife to an AR. It makes long hikes and foot marches easier to bear by taking the weight off of the users arms and puts it on their backpack or vest.

Strap Assembly Pic 1

In this picture i was working on assembly instructions for the slings 5-50 cord section.

Strap assembly pic 2

Here’s the finished 5-50 cord section of the sling. As you can imagine this was a fairly complicated pattern to learn however, I enjoyed the challenge! I’m looking forward to keeping you guys updated on the progress of the Sling!! Check in next week for more pictures and news on the great things happening here at Montie Design!!

 

Brett Holmes

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Montie Gear Y-shot Wrist Adapter – Robin

Hello everyone!

My name is Robin, and I’m the next summer intern in line to introduce myself. Just like Richard, I’m an Indutrial Design Engineering student from Chalmers University in Sweden, and just like Richard, I’ve started working with accessories for the Y-shot. My main project so far has been a wrist support. This will unload the stress on the wrist, which can be significant if you’re shooting a lot or if you’re using a strong rubber band.

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I tested a few mock-ups to get an approximation of the right dimensions, and to make sure that the side brackets wouldn’t get in the way of the hand.

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Since the Gloveshot has a similar function to the wrist adapter, and the same design language as the Y-shot, it was my main inspiration during the sketching process.

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I finished the drawings for the prototype a couple of days ago, so now we’re just waiting for the side brackets to arrive. Can’t wait to put it together!

To be continued.

/Robin

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Whisker Biscuit Mount for Y-Shot Slingshot

I’m Daniel, an intern at Montie Design this summer and I’ll be starting my Senior year in Industrial Design at Appalachian State University this fall. I’ve been working on a Whisker Biscuit Mount for the Y-Shot Slingshot and it’s going pretty well.

I started by looking into ways that people were already shooting arrows from slingshots and ran across a video by Dave Cantebury. Dave was using a simple keyring and a few pieces of rubber to shoot arrows from his slingshot. This looked like a great idea to me, so I used the Y-Shot Arrow Rest with some pieces of shock cord to make a similar set up. It worked great but, a whisker biscuit would be better. This gave me an idea for how to mount the whisker biscuit and use brackets from the Y-Shot Arrow Rest.

The concept is a tube that will hold the whisker biscuit in place and use shock and cable to attach to the Y-Shot brackets. So far, everything is going well and we should be working on a model soon.

Thanks for Reading,
Daniel Helms

Key Ring Arrow Rest Adapted from Dave Cantebury

Whisker Biscuit Mount Concept

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Podcast: Cost to Manufacture vs MSRP

Over the years, we’ve found that there is a general lack of knowledge regarding the relationship of the cost to manufacture and selling price.  I would like to take a few minutes and explain why sales costs are normally more than 2 times the cost of producing most products.  Understanding the costs associated with taking a product from manufactured good to a purchased product is important for the entrepreneur, seasoned engineer or businessman.  Please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions or comments or to discuss how we can put our experience to use for your today!

Cost to Manufacture vs MSRP

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New Projects – Richard

Arriving as an intern at Montie Design really gets you straight into the action. I study Industrial Design Engineering at Chalmers University in Sweden and will spend the summer as an intern at Montie Design. Some of the smaller project us interns have started are based on accessorizing the popular Y-shot slingshot. Many ideas are flowing and below is one example which is a sight system that will be mounted on the side of the slingshot.

Regards,

Richard

Ideation sketches for iron sight and mounting bracket
Mockup model using foam board and an old bracket
Mockup model using foam board and an old bracket
Quick marker sketch of fiber optic iron sight concept
Quick marker sketch of fiber optic iron sight concept
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Podcast: Understanding Economics Helps Us Design Products with Impact

Lets talk about some of the misconceptions about economics and how that relates to the American political and economics systems.  One big misconception is how wealth is created.  Lets spend a few minutes and dive into the mechanisms of creating wealth.  Its important for entrepreneurs, product designers and engineers to understand how these systems work, so we can design and engineer products that have the greatest benefit for our clients and constituents.  Creation of new products is a great way to benefit our clients, their employees and the community.  Lets dive in and swim through some of these issues.

Misunderstanding Of Economics

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Gathering Product Requirements Lunch and Learn taught by Andy Roth

Montie Design - Gathering Product Requirement Lunch and Learn on 4 Jun 13

 

Andy Roth came by on Tuesday at lunch to teach a class on Gathering Product Requirements.  He gave the talk to a full house!  Thanks for everyone who came and participated.  The talk was great and I really learned a lot.  Here are some takeaways from the talk:

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Product Requirements Gathering Presentation by Andy Roth – a Power Point presentation

Watch the  Jeanne Robertson clip shown during the presentation.  This clip really exemplifies how specification gathering can go wrong without timely communication.

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Podcast: Building Sales with Test & Evaluation Units

Generating social reviews is a great way to economically launch your product to your market.  These reviews are also invaluable when customers are making a purchasing decision.  We drive these expert reviews with our test and evaluation program.  Montie Gear uses test and evaluation units to drive social reviews.  Lets spend a few minutes talking about how that program works and who should participate.  This program has been very successful for Montie Gear, driving sales to over 100k in 3.5 years with almost no advertising.

Call 1-800-722-7987 today or email montie@montie.com to find out how we can do this for you.

 

Test & Evaluation Units

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Podcast: Delivering Great Customer Service

Customer service is one of those topics that we all groan when we think about.  During the daily pressures and responsibilities its easy to put off that email or phone call that means so much to a customer who is waiting for a reply.  Lets spend a few minutes and talk about customer service and what can be done to improve it.  Thanks, in advance, for listening.  Please don’t hesitate to call, or email, with comments or questions.  We’re ready to put our experience designing great products to work for you today.  Call me at 919-481-1845 or email montie@montie.com today.

Delivering Great Customer Service

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Montie Design May 2013 Newsletter

In this Issue:

  • Sign up for Customer Requirements Lunch and Learn on June 4
  • Last Chance to RSVP Last Stand on Troublesome Gap Event for Montie Design Clients and Friends
  • New Class – Getting Your Product To Market 101 – Taught by Montie Roland
  • Product Design Win – Slingshot Holster
  • Spring Intern Update – Coco’s Bench and Rachael’s Utensil Holders

Sign Up for “Difficulty Getting Real Customer Requirements” Lunch & Learn on June 4th

Andy Roth will give us practical tools and advice on gathering customer requirements.  Andy has almost 15 years of experience managing complex corporate projects while at Tekelec.  Put his experience and knowledge to work for you at this insightful Lunch & Learn.  This is a great way to sharpen your project management skills and network with other engineers and project managers.  Click here to sign up.

The Montie Design Lunch and Learn series is developed to connect professionals involved in the technical or business side of designing and producing innovative products and technologies with one another as well as with speakers, who have agreed to share their knowledge, professionalism, and willingness to support entrepreneurial growth.

Upcoming events include:

June 4 –  Difficulty Getting Real Customer Requirements?

June 18 – How to Size a Battery

June 28 – Final Friday End of Quarter Networking Event

July 18 – Flex Circuits 101

Aug 7 – Social Reviews 101

Aug 21 –  Designing Rubber Keypads

Sept 11 – Personalities & Personas

Sept 25 – Rapid Prototyping, Rapid Machining and Rapid Sheetmetal

Sept 27 – Final Friday End of Quarter Networking Event

 

RSVP by Friday and Join Us at the Last Stand on Troublesome Gap

Every year Montie Design staff, industry peers, and clients meet up in the mountains out at beautiful Troublesome Gap, NC for a weekend of fun on Memorial Day Weekend.  Sit by the campfire and relax, and be sure to join in the fun of our first annual Zombie shooting course and competition.  In order to complete the course, you engage the Zombie targets with a rifle, pistol, shotgun and slingshot.  The event is free, but an RSVP is required.  RVSP to montie@montie.com.  The brochure is available for download here.

 

Getting Your Product to Market 101 – How to Design, Prototype and Manufacture Your Product

A two day seminar that provides participants an overview of product development, prototyping, product manufacture, and low cost public relations tools to develop a “buzz” about the product.  Hosted by Product Design Veteran and design firm owner Montie Roland

Class Description:  Montie Design, an innovative concept-to-marketplace product design and development firm, has announced that Company President Montie Roland will host a two part class “How-to-Design-A-Product” in Morrisville on Tuesday, June 11, and Thursday, June 13.

Roland, a product design veteran, will be generating a casual dialog where attendees can learn about how to develop a product or service from concept through the patent process all the way through to the point of manufacturing and selling the product.

With a small manufacturing facility in Spring Creek complimenting its main operation in the Triangle region of North Carolina, Montie Design has a successful history of taking products from concept to marketplace. The firm’s team of product design professionals has over 140 years of knowledge and experience helping clients realize products that are economical to manufacture, elegant and robust. Paying special attention to achieving excellence in functionality, operability, value and aesthetics regardless of market or industry, Montie Design staffers have helped turn over 750 exciting product ideas into reality.

In addition to serving customers in a myriad of industry sectors, Montie Design produces its own Montie Gear line of outdoor equipment, including a slingshot; ultralight knife; multi-purpose tree hook archery rest for sturdy support of a bow, crossbow, or rifle with a sling; a camp rack designed to hold pots, lids, serving bowls and utensils off the ground to dry after cleaning; and the popular X-Rest and AR-Rest shooting supports for hunters and recreational shooters.

All equipment in the Montie Gear line is heirloom quality, Troublesome Gap tough. Located near the peak of Hap Mountain overlooking Spring Creek, North Carolina, Troublesome Gap is a rugged mountain area where Montie Gear prototypes are tested and evaluated. 

Sign up at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6546126641/eorg

 

Design Win – Slingshot Holster 

The mighty Montie Gear Y-Shot slingshot now is even better with a rugged and locally made holster. We call it a win because the initial production run is almost sold out before the die cutting tools are even complete.  Call or email us today to find out how we can make your product a winner too!  Click here to see the holster on the www.montiegear.com website.

Intern Spotlights: Kitchen Utensil Holders, Campfire Bench

Spring 2013 Montie Design interns Rachael Hughes and Coco Feng have been working on some very interesting concepts for additions to the Montie Gear line of outdoor camping equipment. Rachael is closing in on a final design for something to keep utensils from setting on surfaces typical to camping, such as picnic tables or coolers — where they may attract wildlife and collect bugs or harmful bacteria – while Coco is working on an outdoor wooden bench design which solves a customer need for hanging backpacks, coats and garbage bags.

We are proud to say that the wood for the bench was sawn on site at our Spring Creek facility from locally harvested timber.  Otherwise the sizes of lumber we used wouldn’t have been commercially available.  The seat is made from a single pine board over 16″ wide by 1-3/4″ thick.  The final shapes were cut from 20″ wide boards using a water jet giving a very precise fit.

Designs can be viewed online at blog.montiegear.com. Montie Design has a long history of hosting interns from colleges throughout North Carolina and from Sweden in order to prepare them for their chosen fields and help them build a portfolio of solid work for prospective employers.


Finally A Way to Hang Your Hand or Bath Towels to Dry


Towels and Sponges Kept Off the Ground to Dry


Finally A Way to Dry Your Silverware and Untensils after Washing


Silverware and Untensils Hanging to Dry

Sit by the Campfire in Style!

Prototype Bench – yes, the seat is a single board 16″ wide by 1-3/4″ thick!


Prototype Bench – come by and give it a test sit

 

We Can Help!  Call Today

Want to talk product development or need help with a project?  Don’t hesitate to contact Montie Roland at 919-481-1845×103 or montie@montie.com.-7987

About Montie Design 

Montie Design is an innovation and commercialization firm with core competencies in mechanical engineering and industrial design. Active in the product design, defense, and technology sectors, we leverage years of industry leadership and extensive technical capabilities to help clients take products from concept to marketplace that are economical to manufacture, elegant and robust. Montie Design is a North Carolina company headquartered in the Research Triangle region with clients across the country and overseas. We are dedicated to economic development throughout our home state and furthering excellence in design and engineering. For more information, visit www.montie.com or download the capabilities statement in PDF format here.
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Coco’s Campfire Bench and End Table Concepts

A bench needs an end table. Coco has been hard at work on putting together the design for the matching end table. Here are the results.

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The wings on either side are a place to put personal items, maybe a book or a flashlight. The top surface can hold a plate, drinks or cell phone.

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Putting it all together makes for a comfortable evening by the fire.

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Podcast: Rightsizing Your Product

“Right sizing” your product means designing products that fit the market and can be practically produced.  Waiting to long to release a product to manufacturing and the market can be worse than releasing too early, because if you wait until its perfect then you’ll never get it out the door.  Lets talk about the concept of having just enough features and benefits for your product to succeed.  Solve a simple problem in a simple way and you’ll have a great product.

2013 April – Rightsizing Your Product

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Intern Update – Kitchen Set Prototypes

THEY’RE BACK!!  Prototypes of the Kitchen Set (Cooking Utensils Rest, Eating Utensils Rest, and Dish Towel Holder) from my last blog are back from the water jet cutting facility.

The prototypes were made using 3/16″ Aluminum and 1/8″ ABS Plastic.

Here is a look at the Cooking Utensils Rest and Eating Utensils Rest in Aluminum and in Plastic:

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This picture shows the thickness comparison of the two materials:

3/16″ Aluminum vs. 1/8″ Black ABS Plastic

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The aluminum Kitchen Rest Set:
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3/16″ thickness aluminum

 

The plastic Kitchen Rest Set:
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1/8″ thickness Black ABS Plastic

 

Let’s put them to use!  In this configuration, campers can keep their utensils on the picnic table:

 

ALUMINUM Set on the table:

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PLASTIC Set on the table:

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Another option is to hang them from a carabiner:

 

Hanging Option

Front View of the Plastic Set, Hanging:

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Rear View of the Plastic Set, Hanging:

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 Observations of the Utensils Rests:

My observations of the 3/8″ Aluminum Utensils Rests:

Pros:  rugged look, feels like a quality product, durable

Cons:  rather heavy, limited color options

Recommendations:  I would like to see this material in a thinner version.

 

My observations of the 1/8″ Plastic Utensils Rests:

Pros:  lightweight, cheaper production, multiple colors

Cons:  thin features (on handle) could break

Recommendations:  If this material was used, it would need to be textured on both sides to look and feel like a finished, quality product.

 

Now let’s take a look at the Dish Towel Holders:

As I wrote in my previous blog, I had designed three different versions of the Dish Towel Holder.  We created prototypes of all three versions, and here they are, also in 3/16″ Aluminum and 1/8″ ABS Plastic.

Option A:

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Option A in Aluminum and ABS Plastic

Option B:

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Option B in Aluminum and ABS Plastic

Option C:

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Option C in Aluminum and ABS Plastic

 

The Dish Towel Holders in Use:

Option A in Plastic and Aluminum:

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Option B and C in Aluminum:

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Option B and C in Plastic:

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Observations of the Dish Towel Holders:

In my personal opinion, Option A is not as aesthetically pleasing as Options B and C.  I have decided that Option B and Option C would make a great pair, since they are the same overall shape, but offer slightly different functions.  Either of these options could extend well beyond the kitchen aspect of camping by hanging other items that would otherwise be taking up valuable surface space.   The teeth on Option B could be used for any fabric item such as a beach towel or wet bathing suits.  The hooks on Option C could be used for things such as a flashlight or keys.

Next steps:

I will be visiting the water jet cutting facility to explore some other options for materials and thickness of the materials.  I have also decided to decrease the height of the Eating Utensils rest, since there is a lot of extra material in the gaps between the smaller silverware.  The Cooking Utensils Rest will stay the same size.

If you have any opinions or questions, feel free to leave me a comment, and thanks for reading!

-Rachael

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Podcast: Fuzzy Front End

“Fuzzy Front End” is a funny term and one you rarely hear about outside of product design circles.  Let’s take a few minutes and talk about what the term means and how use this stage of the product design process to refine your product vision and gather the data and feedback you need to design a better product.

2013 April – Fuzzy Front End