Iris Universal Lens Mounts - who, where?

[goamules]

I have an iris lens mount that I love, and would like to know who made them? About when and where? Mine has no marks that I can find, but most of them look very similar, right down to the crinkle black finish. I'd like to know who and when they were made, and why they stopped. Does anyone know the history?

Thanks,
Garrett

[eddie]

the iris mount that is pictured in your 12 inch wolly ad is made in germany. i do not know the year.

i have one that was made in Italy. this one is far superior to the german one. the locking knob on the german clamps wear out and fail to work properly after time. it works on an eccentric. i am surprised that the germans made it like that. the italian one is much better.....but i have never seen another like it......

i will post a photo of my clamp ASAP....i have a guest sleeping in the toy room......eeeerrrrr! i mean guest room.

eddie

got it.

[Pete Roody]

maybe someone could copy this design and sell it. doesn't look that complicated to make.

the iris mount that is pictured in your 12 inch wolly ad is made in germany. i do not know the year.

i have one that was made in Italy. this one is far superior to the german one. the locking knob on the german clamps wear out and fail to work properly after time. it works on an eccentric. i am surprised that the germans made it like that. the italian one is much better.....but i have never seen another like it......

i will post a photo of my clamp ASAP....i have a guest sleeping in the toy room......eeeerrrrr! i mean guest room.

eddie

got it.

[Ernest Purdum]

Pete, as one who used to be in the business of making things our of metal, I wish I could agree that these would be easy to make, but I can't. The killer would be that different sizes are needed.

I don't think it is possible to identify the origin of an unmarked unit. As Eddie mentioned, Germany and particularly Italy were source countries. I think I remember one from France, also. They were also sold in Britain and the United States as though they originated there, but I think it likely that at least some of these came from Italy or Germany.

[eddie]

Pete, as one who used to be in the business of making things our of metal, I wish I could agree that these would be easy to make, but I can't. The killer would be that different sizes are needed.

I don't think it is possible to identify the origin of an unmarked unit. As Eddie mentioned, Germany and particularly Italy were source countries. I think I remember one from France, also. They were also sold in Britain and the United States as though they originated there, but I think it likely that at least some of these came from Italy or Germany.

but what is you only made the one size? the size that fits on a 6x6 board would be good? what would you guess the wholesale build cost might be for the unit i showed?

[Wimpler]

Eddie I have an identical one.

[Paul Ewins]

Even with just one size it looks expensive to make:
20 iris leaves with two pins attached per leaf.
1 cast and/or machined base with 20 holes drilled and 20 grooves machined in.
1 machined closing gear with 20 slots machined and teeth around one edge
1 machined top with 20 holes drilled.
1 closing gear with knob attached
1 tightening mechanism with knob attached

And that is probably simplifying it a bit. I'm not a machinist so I'm guessing that a lot of it could be done in a couple of runs on a CNC machine, but surely the leaves would have been stamped from sheets (big, expensive die) and you still need to attach the pins to them.

The economics might work when you are selling thousands, possibly hundreds, but I don't think the market is that big. Without going into it too far, the current sales might be one a week with a consequent price of around $300 for the larger size. If they were $200 then more might be sold but I still don't know that it would be enough.

I belong to a car club that caters to a rare Australian made car. From time to time we will get particular parts remade. The club contacts anyone likely to be interested to gauge actual demand. Then we work out the selling price based on a single batch that will satisfy the predicted demand. We go back to the people who expressed interest and get firm orders and deposits. Usually a few drop out and a few more are picked up and the club may hold a few extras as stock and the batch is done. With all the current and near future demand soaked up we may not do another batch for many years.

This single batch approach may work out but would require a retailer or manufacturer to underwrite it given that you are dealing with an international market. The big unknown is the demand in the Chinese market which might be enough to make it feasible.

[seawolf66]

Heck A CNC machine should be able to handle that problem !

[goamules]

Thanks all, the reason I was asking was I'm gathering preliminary data for possible manufacturing. I didn't realize there was an Italian make too. I need another sample because I am getting a mfg cost analysis done, as I have some overseas contacts that may be able to mfg them. So far, the problem seems to be scale, the mfg's want an order of as many as 1000. But even if I got just 500, I'd be stuck with about 450 of them!

Paul's idea of placing orders with deposit before mfg might work. I'm on a guitar board and they did just that, setting up a special guitar just for forum members. Developing....

[Sevo]

Count me in for one to three, depending on available sizes and price.

Sevo