I periodically look around for a gadget to hold all those damned plastic keytags we get (from the grocery store, the gym, Blockbuster, and practically every place we shop). Putting 'em on a key ring just makes them wear out and tear and get lost, putting them in anything else means I never have them.
So I’ve got an idea for a design for a holder.
How might I proceed with such a thing?
Difficult to say, without knowing more about the design. Is it a single piece of plastic? Metal? What sort of shape: Could it be made in a simple two-piece mold, or would you need a more elaborate mold? Or maybe it’s composed of multiple pieces which each meet that description?
Actually, even that’s getting ahead of matters. You say you have an idea for a design. Now you need to turn that idea for a design into an actual design. Your best bet for that is probably CAD software. If you’re affiliated with a university, they might have programs on site-license that you could use, or you could go looking for a free one (the ones that aren’t free are almost certainly outside your budget). No matter which route you go, it’ll probably take you a while to learn to use it.
Come to think of it, that does suggest one possible avenue: See if your local college offers a course on using CAD software, sign up for it, and do this as a final project.
CAD software seems excessive for designing a personal use gadget. Just grab some graph paper and make a detailed set of scaled drawings with a pencil and straight edge.
As for prototyping, I would imagine you probably know at least a few people with basic machining / power tools in their garage who would be willing to let you you use them for some other favor. Alternatively, I’m pretty sure you can contract out online to a 3-d printing or laser cutting company. Unfortunately, they will probably require CAD files.
That’s one reason why I suggested using CAD instead of graph paper. Another is that, unless it’s a basically two-dimensional shape, drawing it in enough detail on graph paper is going to be very difficult, and probably require training in drafting, a now largely-obsolete skill.
I expect that shortly there will be an app for smartphones so that you can just store all the barcodes in your phone. Actually I would be surprised if one did not already exist.
They exist. I think that they have mixed success. Scanners were designed for reflective surface like ink on paper not a glowing screen so it is sort of a crap shoot if the thing works at the cash register.
They work great when the application at the register is designed to read them. I use my phone for boarding passes now. No more paper.
Popping back in - I wasn’t online much this weekend. Thanks for the suggestion of CAD - I’ll have to see if anyone I know has the software. Agreed that there are barcode apps but there are some systems for which that wouldn’t work (e.g. the system I scan my fitness center card - it slides through a slot).
I may not ever do anything with this, but it’s a nice dream.
You can try Google Sketchup instead of a CAD program.