Sharing of tool/kit designs

[thedude]

Since reading British Reds group buy for the Red Hunter made by Cegga I have had a bit of a silly idea. Here it is...

To avoid massive demand for the product could he make the design publically available on a "use it and pay a fee", say £10 for every axe you make/have made (£5 to British Red, £5 to Cegga to cover development and headache costs) (or all to charity if he is feeling generous).Then instead of people arguing who gets the next one makers can be approached with the design and asked to make one.

Now a really silly idea....

If we did this with a number of designs of knives, axes, tarps, kit etc. those of us with design skills could do the drawings (and acknowledge our influences of course) and everyone would be free to search out a maker to make it for them. Maybe a nice long list of makers too would help it along and everyone can get the toys they want made by anybody who thinks they can do it.

Share the work, share the pennies and we all get the toys we want?
I must add that I am not advocating 'copying' of other peoples work but suggesting that those whose work is very popular could make the designs available publically with a license fee so that 'copies' can be made in a fair way if people want them.

Wonder what you all think?

p.s. Just realised, I have no idea if this infringes any rules or anything (I shall have a quick read of them) but if it does please delete. Also I am not a maker and do not plan to make any money from this idea but can do CAD drawings of things and will do them for free for makers if I am not snowed under with other work, as this is in the spirit of what I am suggesting.

 

[British Red]

thedude,

For my end, any of the designs I have come up with are freely available for people to use, adapt etc. No charge at all provided that its not a "for profit" thing at which point I'm sure a charity donation can be discussed. This is the very reason I post them up. Sadly, a great deal of the difficulty is in finding a sufficiently skilled maker to actually execute them. I know of, worldwide, three professional quality custom axe smiths. I'm sure there are more than that but they are about as common as rocking horse droppings. Singtecks leather work is a different point - with him its the time and ability to really innovate and not charge the gross national product of a small country that's amazing.

I guess what I'm saying is that my crude design sketches (which, at the end of the day amount to little more than the input of a bloke who uses stuff a lot) are a tiny part of the equation. The rare thing is finding craftsmen who combine talent, value and availability. They are out there for sure, but hardly on every street corner. Maybe that's what makes their work so special?

Anyway, having played with a few designs now (axes, sheaths, carry systems , I have a couple more coming up Watch this space for the BR knife and also an entirely new ventile garment......)

Red

 

[Mikey P]

Effectively, you're talking about a licensing agreement, yeah?

It sounds a pretty good idea but it might be worth one of the legal eagles who frequent the site having a quick look at the proposal.

I remember there was a bit of a faff over the portable fireboxes as someone posted an idea on the forum which then 'appeared' (I have to be careful with my use of language) as a group buy item, manufactured by a commercial company.

This thread appears to have disappeared, which is a shame because it was very interesting to read as a neutral party!

 

[thedude]

Cheers for the input Red, it is nice to hear your happy to share and share alike design wise. Also I fully understand the trouble finding good axe makers, try finding someone who can forge you rear helper springs for a 35 year old car - both almost impossible tasks.

And Mikey, yeah licensing agreement type of thing but also along with chaps like me doing actual drawings so that not just design ideas but also dimensions can be a bit clearer.

As an example, I really fancy a Guycep Bushcrafter (Linky ) but would really hate getting someone to rip off the design as it is Guys own. Also I would quite like to get the dimensions mostly right which is a chore off pictures. And I cannot buy one from Guy as he is in the forces at the moment which means it will sure be a while before he is making again. But if he agreed to let me publish a drawing of the design then everyone could have one and he gets the credit.

Hope it is all clear