Assembly instructions

[Joe Hillmann]

Over the years I have designed several small toys for my kids to be but out on the the laser and then snapped together. Airplanes, hot air balloons, rocket ships, subs, blimps, trains, and trucks. Over the last few weeks I have been redesigning all of them so I can sell them as snap together sets. Each one fits on a 6x6" piece of 1/8 inch ply and the pieces snap out by pressing on them and a little bit of wiggling.

They aren't quite ready to go but I brought one of each assembled and one of each still connected together to a craftshow last night just to see how people react to them. I had several people and one toy store owner want to order some of them and I told them I have to wright up an instruction sheet on each model before I start selling them and that it would probably be the end of next week before I have them ready to go.

I started working on the instructions for them this morning, and... to be honest, they suck. In my mind I had an idea of instruction sheet that are kind of like what you get with lego sets, nice and clear 3D drawings, but that isn't working for me at all.

I was playing with the interactive extrude tool in corel and I can't get it to work.

So when you sell something laser cut as a kit how do you handle the assembly instructions?

I had thought of selling them as puzzles and skipping the instructions altogether but don't know how well that would work on some of the more complicated sets.

[Ross Moshinsky]

I've done assembly instructions and they are time consuming and difficult. You're going to need to take your 2D drawings and bring them into something like Google Sketchup and create 3D renderings. From there, you should be able to get some pretty good screen shots together.

Another alternative is supplying view of the pieces on the sheet with numbering, 3D explosion drawing, and text on the side. You can also supplement the instructions by posting a "How To" video on Youtube.

[Ryan Mooney]

Not an answer to your question.. but..

FYI, if you didn't know the US now has a whole slew of roadblocks (err safety testing requirements) for toys that you probably ought to know about.

A handful of handy links.
http://www.cpsc.gov/info/toysafety/index.html
Also the more detailed FAQ at http://www.cpsc.gov/info/toysafety/index.html is useful.

You may qualify as a small batch manufacturer http://www.cpsc.gov/info/toysafety/smallbatch.html although I haven't spent a lot of time investigating the specific hoops one would have to jump through there (it appears that registering is enough if you meet the criteria but I wasn't even clear what the 7,500 number applied to - all toys? batches of a specific toy? What if they are substantially similar yet different like two models of airplane are those different toys? Presumably there are lawyers somewhere around here chomping at the bit to take your money to answer those sorts of questions).

[David Fairfield]

I use the 3d feature in Adobe Illustrator. For simple compositions, its easy and efficient, and becomes intuitive after playing around with it some (take it from somebody who just can't figure out Rhino). For complicated compositions, e.g. bending, twisting and curling parts, its no good at all. I imagine Corel is similar and can't be too hard once the penny drops, if you know what I mean.

But before I tried the 3d feature, I photographed the parts in assembly phases, and traced the photos. Filled the traced shapes with greyscale for shadow. It actually worked pretty well as I could get the exact set up I wanted and because its traced, the backdrop and general photo quality wasn't important. I just shot the pics on my workbench as I assembled the demo. The finished drawings looked a lot like computer graphics, in some cases better. Give it a try.

Dave

[Joe Hillmann]

Dave,

The taking a photo and then tracing is my plan at the moment. One of the biggest problems I am having with corel is figuring out how to show objects that go through a slot in other objects. It will either show up as going above or below the other object but not through it. I also think the hand drawn look will go with what I am planning as well.

[Bruce Dorworth]

Scrap all that 3d drawing stuff!!! I would build each toy once and take pictures as you put each or a couple pieces in place. Then you can always add some text under each photo. It would also help to take a picture of the whole toy right off the laser. On this picture you can give each piece a number. Then say take piece 5 and connect it to piece 99.

Better yet take that same picture right off the laser and number each slot along with its corrrisponding slot. Like, on piece 5 put a 3 on the slot that connects to piece 99 and a 3 on piece 99.

Make any sense??

Bruce

[Joe Hillmann]

Not an answer to your question.. but..

FYI, if you didn't know the US now has a whole slew of roadblocks (err safety testing requirements) for toys that you probably ought to know about.

A handful of handy links.
http://www.cpsc.gov/info/toysafety/index.html
Also the more detailed FAQ at http://www.cpsc.gov/info/toysafety/index.html is useful.

You may qualify as a small batch manufacturer http://www.cpsc.gov/info/toysafety/smallbatch.html although I haven't spent a lot of time investigating the specific hoops one would have to jump through there (it appears that registering is enough if you meet the criteria but I wasn't even clear what the 7,500 number applied to - all toys? batches of a specific toy? What if they are substantially similar yet different like two models of airplane are those different toys? Presumably there are lawyers somewhere around here chomping at the bit to take your money to answer those sorts of questions).


I don't want to get this thread off track but, There are exceptions for toys made of natural materials. And since they have many small parts that could break off I just have to have it labeled as not for children under 3 or that it is a choking hazard.

[David Fairfield]

The problem with photos is they don't always print clearly, and you have to keep the backgrounds uncluttered and mind the lighting if you want professional results. I found tracing photos was a little less effort and the results were superior. I occasionally use photos in the instructions too.

The most efficient way might be working in a 3d program from the start, like Sketchup, and generate the laser graphic and instruction sheet from the same file in the same software. I'm a slow learner and resistant to change :o so I just muddle along with what I know. :)


Dave

[Joe Hillmann]

Bruce, Thanks for the suggestion, but I think I will avoid actually putting photos on the assembly instructions first because they often don't print well and because I am very limited on space. The packaging will be the instructions so they will have to fit onto a 5x6" piece of paper. That will be glued to the back of the piece of wood.

[Joe Sanchez]

Joe,

If you live in a town that has a small community college, contact their graphics design departments. Those kids are brilliant and they could put something together for you in a short period of time. Some are looking for a part-time / free-lance gig and so they are willing to get their feet wet. You can work out the money details so that you both win.

The way I look at it, I would rather be making money with my machines than having to deal with something that I am not very good at e.g. illustrations and instructions.

Just my 2 cents.

Good Luck!!