Looking forward to this. I know it's early in the process but do you have "best guess, don't hold me to it" ETA?
The one thing i will not do is keep people in the dark. I am going to be fully open about the development of my product offerings and where they currently stand. So here we go..
The obvious most important product is the constrained layer damper. Right now i am working with a US based manufacturer (no, i cannot just make butyl in my basement lol) who i gave 1 very specific requirement. That is to be the top performing product on the market in terms of resonance control and how it holds up to heat. The manufacturer in question is no stranger to either of these. They test using ASTM E 756-05 guidelines to test for whats called composite loss factor. This is a very strict and detailed testing process that takes the lab
3 days to test a single sample and are tested for resonance control from -40 to about 200 (i think it was 190) Fahrenheit, as well as how it holds up to said heat. You even have to pay just to acquire the information on how to do said testing. We have testing results for a few different products and i was supposed to have some pricing info yesterday, but something more important jumped in front of us in line. When i mean more important, i mean customers of theirs who are spending millions, not thousands. Lets be real, im the smallest fish in their sea, but they have been incredible in terms of working with me and giving me the time of day and not brushing me off. So what i was told yesterday instead of pricing information was this..
- 2 different cld products, one smaller but thicker, one larger but thinner. Thicker one is aiming to be about 120 mil. This is based on suggestions by the engineers there who know my requirements for this product. The thinner will probably be around 80 mil, maybe less
- Said person that i am working with is going to be at their main lab today. He said he will be "raising hell" with the cost analysis guys to get me pricing information by the end of this week. I told him that while i appreciate it, i wont be surprised if i dont have it until next week the earliest, and i am fine with that. Just the way things go, ya know? I have plenty of things to do in the meantime. (website for product descriptions, articles, etc. as well as running the shop and getting stuff done there). We will also have a butyl rope that will be of the same formula as our cld
- The next 2 products we are working on is decouplers, like closed cell foam. One will be a closed cell foam, and one will be an OEM style material that is used in a lot of luxury cars. I have worked with, off the top of my head, 10 or 11 closed cell foams. I have only one in my mind that is just "better than decent" that is still on the market. Problem is, its insanely expensive. 4.89 per square foot of 1/8" material to be exact is what it costs in bulk. The reason i think it is good is because it is thick enough (if you order in quarter inch or half inch) to fill enough gaps and have some sort of pressure on the door panel, but is so much easier to compress. So it is easy to work with since you dont have to struggle to get your door panels back on, but it is thick and low enough on the durometer that it does an excellent job at decoupling. I aim to create a product that is similar that also meets requirements for use in automobiles (fire ratings). The other OEM style one will be even better at decoupling, while also providing absorption properties. While it wont absorb much, itll still be something and be effective at about 800hz and up which is where a decent chunk of outside noise resides. I had this idea for a while after trying to use polyfill in my doors as a backyard style equivalent. NO ONE else had a similar product in the aftermarket, that is until i got an email about a company that i happen to be a dealer for releasing the exact same thing im thinking of soon. lol, fml. Back to the closed cell foam, i have gotten a few samples but nothing that i am fully satisfied with yet. I still have a few more coming though.
- Next up is a noise barrier. Everyone has MLV. I'm trying to do something different that will be much easier to work with and fit behind panels, while also being more than 4x thinner yet 2x heavier. Im talking about sheet lead. And let me just get this out of the way.. Lead in its solid, sheet form is NOT as dangerous as its made out to be. The issue with lead is when it is in its liquid (like when you solder) form, or powder form, and it is also only a concern for babies and small children. Regardless, you will not be touching the lead directly because of what i plan on doing with it, but theres one problem.... Problem here is that i am having a very tough time finding a supplier that will attach CCF to both sides of it. I can get said product in bulk right here in my tri-state area, but i havent found a single manufacturer here, or abroad that has the capability of combining ccf to it. Two totally separate things, so i can see why. This is my biggest hurdle right now. I will also offer MLV in the future so i dont limit my customer since there will be people who are afraid of messing with lead regardless of how dangerous or not it may be. The other product will just be much easier to work with and much more effective.
- Obviously closed cell foam "rings" to couple your drivers to door panels.
Also working on sourcing the famous velcro that we all love
And of course i am open to other ideas and constructive criticism. Thank you for the support so far guys. Seriously. It means a lot.
