[FXC]

I'm trying to design a little... something. Because it's very early, I can't tell you exactly what the final product will be (if at all) but it'll be very interesting. The main challenge is the mechanical part, which involves creating a sort of a spring loaded latching switch inside a tiny cylinder - less than 1/8" dia x 1/4" high AND with a lot of travel - more than 1/8". Think of an automatic ballpoint pen mechanism crammed into the aforementioned space. Any material can be used and cost is not an issue, even for production quantities, it can be as high as several dollars per piece.

I couldn't find an exact category match on the forum; if you know of a better fit, please let me know. Anyway, what I'm trying to find is... how to find a mechanical designer or where to even look. I'm not looking for free A-Z design but conceptual ideas are definitely welcome!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

[keebler303]

If you are just looking for brainstorming, then throw up some constraints and you have a good chance of getting some other input. If you are looking for CAD, solid modeling, prototyping your best bet would probably be with a freelance guy, there are several folks here, including me, who do little jobs on the side. If you're interested in some solid modeling and that type of thing, shoot me a PM and I can take a look at it for you.

Matt