We just received another inquiry for a super-sized SP-8x10. This time the request was for an SP-20x24! In fact, since introducing the SP-8x10, we’ve received requests for everything from 11”x14” up to a 20”x30”! This has happened often enough that we’ve decided it’s worth putting in a blog post.
Could we simply scale up the SP-8x10? The short answer is yes, but then it gets complicated. Let’s break this down into the different aspects of the project.
Part of the challenge is that product design is usually very non-linear. This just means that doubling the size doesn’t just double the cost. In fact, it could take four times the design effort and the production units could be ten times as expensive. Also, the cheapest system to manufacture usually requires the highest tooling cost; an SP-14x17 would probably be cheaper to design but appeals to a smaller market, etc.
Technical aspects:
Obviously, the first approach would be to just scale up the SP-8x10. Just open the original design in our CAD software, change the “scale” factor and export the new design file! Well, it’s a little more complicated than that but, to be honest, the engineering/design effort for this approach wouldn’t be too bad.
However, the resulting injection mold required would be HUGE. Not surprisingly, huge molds come with a huge price tag. This ties in with the Market Size topic below and frankly, we doubt we’d ever recover the cost of the mold.
We’ll take a guess at your next question: “Couldn’t you just 3D print it?” In theory, yes; in practice? No. First, very few 3D printers are that big. (we have one of the largest 3D printers available with a print volume of 400mm x 400mm x 700 mm and it’s not big enough.) Second, it would take days if not weeks to print one unit. This means that each unit be outrageously expensive! Third, 3D printing isn’t entirely waterproof without taking extra steps.
The other option would be to design the tray system from individual parts, machined from solid ABC/PC plastic and glued together. While not cheap, CNC machining makes this option worth considering.
The problem is we’d have to design an entirely new tray system and is a significant design effort.
Also, the individual parts would be hand assembled, raising the cost. While cheaper than an injection mold, it would still be very expensive.
There’s also the practicality side of the issue. As anyone who has handled a large tray of sloshing liquid knows, things get awkward fast! From our limited playing around, anything larger than 16x20 would require two people to handle it. In fact, anything larger would probably require a drain valve system so you didn’t have to manhandle a tray full of chemistry. More complications.
Just a side note: testing can be more work than designing! For example, we probably took at least 100 8x10 test photos of our hangar door while working on the SP-8x10! Testing a drain system using 20x24 film would not be fast or cheap or easy!
Market Size:
While we don’t have any solidly defensible data, everyone will agree that the market for anything larger than 8x10 is small and gets exponentially smaller as you approach 20x24, which is the largest “common” size we’re aware of (ignoring litho, x-ray films and custom sizes). We doubt we’d sell more than a few dozen units a year.
Frankly, we believe that the biggest aspect of this market is “momentum”. The few photographers shooting ULF already have complete darkrooms and a well established workflow. There’s little reason for them to change what works.
So, like most things in life, it really comes down to economics. Now since some of you won’t be quiet until we throw out a number, here’s an educated guess: an SP-16x20 system would probably have to retail for between $1000 and $2000 each. (The actual price would depend on how many we ran during the first production run.)
Wow! You may wonder why you can buy a really nice flat screen TV for a lot less. Well, it comes down to volume. The TV market is projected to be worth over 400 BILLION US dollars in 2025. Thus, for any given TV model, they build thousands per day. This means that their development costs are amortized out over hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of units. In addition, they buy material by the rail car and can afford to build custom manufacturing equipment.
In contract, the development cost for an extra large tray system would have to be shared by a few dozen units a year! Now, give us a Purchase Order for 10,000 SP-16x20s and we’ll get that price down to $99! (Note that we’d require a significant, nonrefundable deposit along with the PO.)
Currently, the largest system we offer the SP-8x20. It consists of two SP-8x10s cut down and “Frankensteined” together using a 3D printed splice. This was a special request from Tim Layton, (https://timlaytonfineart.com/) It works very well and we’ve sold a few additional units.
Unfortunately, unless there’s a major shift in the market, developing anything larger just doesn’t make “cents”.