There were some posts about a Circuit Bending store a recently on the benders list and LiveJournal I believe, but nothing that caught my attention at the time. Today I discovered the eBay auction by Bent-Tronics and followed the link to the store. Interesting idea that could possibly work. I always wanted to open up a bending store but never got around to it. I honestly think that there is a market for that, prices seemed fairly reasonable, however the inventory is somewhat limited. Gonna have to keep an eye on that one and see how it does.
www.Bent-Tronics.com
There were some posts about a Circuit Bending store a recently on the benders list and LiveJournal I believe, but nothing that caught my attention at the time. Today I discovered the eBay auction by Bent-Tronics and followed the link to the store. Interesting idea that could possibly work. I always wanted to open up a bending store but never got around to it. I honestly think that there is a market for that, prices seemed fairly reasonable, however the inventory is somewhat limited. Gonna have to keep an eye on that one and see how it does. www.Bent-Tronics.com
14 Comments:
At 11/29/2005 04:23:32 PM, josh said…
be weary. i suspect, but don't by any means accuse, this person of buying large volumes of stuff from chinese junk places like futurlec.
as usual, shop smart.
...shop s-mart :-)
At 11/29/2005 04:53:16 PM, bsom said…
Cheap Chinese crap, or not, those Joysticks look tasty to me. I might order a few and run them around a bit and see if they can withstand.
At 11/30/2005 09:49:41 AM, James said…
"Cheap Chinese crap, or not, those Joysticks look tasty to me. I might order a few and run them around a bit and see if they can withstand."
i second that emotion. those joysticks look great. anyone know where to but those in bulk?
At 11/30/2005 10:38:19 AM, josh said…
you can buy them from digikey for nearly half the price. like i said...
At 11/30/2005 04:39:24 PM, bsom said…
Just thumbing through my Digi-Key catalog and I don;t see them. A quick search on their website only turned up some 'micro' joysticks with very short sticks. I guess you could make your own stick to go on the top. What I liked most about these joysticks was the actual stick, which seems to be missing from the Digi-Key variety. I love machined aluminum...
At 11/30/2005 04:42:17 PM, bsom said…
I found the manufacturer of the ones Digi-Key sells:
http://www.ctscorp.com/components/pointing_devices.asp
While these may be more reliable, they don't have nearly the WOW factor the Bent-Tronics joysticks have.
At 12/01/2005 07:34:11 AM, deltasleep said…
I don't claim to speak for everyone on this...but for me at least, the alluring part of the circuit bending idea is that *I* can make something out of nothing. The making itself is so fun...why would you buy from someone else?
It just makes me wonder if selling items made by benders is a healthy thing for the circuit bending ethic, or if it will burn it out.
Even if what you make is crap in circuit bending, its almost always, even if just by accident, sound pretty unique.
At 12/01/2005 07:40:34 AM, bsom said…
Although I agree with your statement, I think you may have missed what we were talking about. Bent-Tronics isn't selling completed items, but supplies for the circuitbender. Kind of like Home Depot or DIY Universe is for a handyman.
At 12/01/2005 11:48:21 AM, josh said…
i'll meet you half way on that one, they do lack the sexy handles. though i can't imagine it would be terribly hard to come up with handles for them. in fact, it appears as though that's what they're made for.
i did some other searching around and found some serious joystick manufacturers. check these out:
http://www.feteriscomponents.nl/uk/uk-typeoverzicht-joystick.htm
At 12/01/2005 04:14:54 PM, bsom said…
Those are some mighty sexy joysticks. Think they cost $9.99/each? :-) I tried to find a price for some of their "low cost" line, but couldn't sniff one out. I ordered one of the joysticks from Bent-Tronics. I'll update when it arrives.
At 12/01/2005 06:20:20 PM, Master said…
The guy ( bent-Tronics.com ) is selling them for $7.95 on eBay, probably just trying to generate more buzz for the store.
At 12/01/2005 06:27:24 PM, bsom said…
Crap! If I waited 24 hours I could have gotten them $2 cheaper! :-)
At 12/05/2005 11:32:10 PM, bsom said…
My joystick arrived with a free knob that JR at Bent-tronics wanted to get my opinion on (should I sell them at the store?)
Also, there was a handwritten note on my receipt (personal touch!)
He also sent me an email with some questions, asking where I heard of the store, if shipping was fair, what types of items should he carry, etc.
Good transaction so far, but I haven't had a chance to test the joystick. The two pots on the joystick are labled "Japan" and "Alps". Apparently, not cheap Chinese crap, but cheap Japanese crap. :-)
At 12/09/2005 09:50:20 PM, Anonymous said…
josh said...
"you can buy them from digikey for nearly half the price. like i said... "
Those are miniature PCB mounted, not the same as the bigger Bent-Tronics ones.
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