New to Fab Labs - first project!

Projects
#1

Hi Fellow FabLabbers,

I am new to this, so apologies if I make any false assumptions or mistakes.

I am working on developing a small skincare business and am hoping to use cork (quercus suber) as my packaging. LUSH Cosmetics has already done this, and it seems straightforward. Does anyone know how I can get access to the equipment needed to make this - and perhaps a person(s) who know how to operate these machines?

The goal is to create something like this: (https://uk.lush.com/products/shampoo/cork-pot) but in a different size (trying to make 500 units).

Thanks!

#2

Fab Lab’s are a place for entrepreneurship, but business is supposed to grow outside of the lab rather than within it. For the number of parts you want to make, I don’t think Fab Lab’s are a good place for this to be done. Perhaps if you wanted to prototype something, that would be a different story, but it would be up to you (with help from everyone in the network) to actually do the work. That is the whole point… personal fabrication.

Otherwise, if you are looking at starting a business, I would contact companies that do high volume woodworking and have them give you quotes on making these items. You will need to have working drawings of the parts. I am not quite sure how easy it is to machine cork or the tools involved, but I would assume that typical woodworking tooling would do the job.