On Inventors, Inventions, Tips & Tricks
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There are three kinds of inventors:
       There are the idealists, dreaming of over-unity power, perpetual motion, antigravity and the like-
       and they are happy,
       There are the realists who are so immersed in details, systems and methods that they often re-invent the wheel
       and don't even notice - and they are happy.
       Then there are the pragmatists who spend all their time and money out in their workshops making prototypes
       that seldom work - and they are happy.

How to rate an idea:
          Out of five points for strong <...> week:
          1. How strongly will people 'want' your idea?
          2. How novel have you proved it to be?
          3. How direct will its path to buyers be?
          4. How low-cost and available are the skills needed for development?
          5. How able and willing to help are inventor support groups?
          6. How well can you (not could you) "sell" the idea to a stranger in a lift?
          7. How sure are you of getting the money you need?
          8. How much alpha and beta testing have you done with X prototypes?
          9. How well have you protected your idea?
        10. How well have you diarised/documented all your steps?

         Scoring:  45+/-  "GO FOR GOLD!"
                       35 +/- "Don't hold your breath too long."
                       25+/-  "Make improvements or stir your pot and put out another idea."

• Get as much publicity as possible. But be clear which message you want to put out!
• Never judge an invention before someone has tried it out.
• Comments like "We don't need that!" are normal, even for very good inventions.
• Read about inventions and inventors to become aware of their high failure rate.
• If someone gives you business advice, check his/her credentials. Many people just like to sound clever.
• Most of your ideas which you think are new have been around already for a long time.
• But some ideas that seem very straightforward have never been thought of.
• Many of your ideas, even if they are new and original, are not worth a cent. Accept it and enjoy them.
• Everything is a prototype until you have sold at least ten items.
• Take feedback from customers very seriously.
• Get feedback from independent people as well as from other inventors!
• Think NLP: try to please touch, ear and eye!
• Before you test a prototype on someone, make it look as close to the finished product as possible. It pays.
• In each step of the prototype cycle, make as many improvements as possible. Testers get bored otherwise.
• Paying pieceworkers (homeworkers paid per piece) is often a good way to keep production costs low.
• Don't be too shy to ask good money for a good product.
• A one-off payment for a license is much less hassle than a contract for royalties you might never get. This might be the  preferrable option especially for inventions of minor value.
• Patenting is extremely expensive and can take years. If you do not get the patent, you have spilled the beans. Confidentiality agreements are free, immediately binding and more practical, because nobody can copy your idea.
• Patenting is not recommended by international experts for inventors or small companies, because you might have to go to another country to fight it, sue a company for several years, easily spending a million dollars. Do you have that? And what if you do not succeed? If you try to patent anyway, be clear about its (and your) limitations.
• Games, puzzles and books are automatically protected by copyright once you go public.

      - If you are not sure whether to buy an expensive tool, ask someone and/or try it out at
             someone's workshop who has this tool.
      - When using an electric scroll saw, I clamp a large disk made of customboard onto the saw's metal table
             to have a bigger working area. And it's warmer for the hands.
      -  A drop&pull saw is safer than a circular saw built into a table.
      -  Hole bores for drills have an additional drill bit in the centre. Do not use this central drill bit if you drill
            O-rings from acrylic etc. Drill with hole bore first, then drill central hole.
      - If you need bending a piece often, produce a jig.
      - Fingers not only get hurt easily, the skin gets easily damaged. Jeweller supply shops have leather gloves
            for single fingers.
      - Jeweller supply shops offer a lot of tools you cannot find in any other shop.
      - If you give tools to people who work from home, ask for a bond.
      - It often pays not to buy the cheapest tool brand (safer, less noise, maintenance, weight etc). On the other hand,
             the cheapest may be good enough if you need a tool only occasionally.
      - Many tools rust quickly. Keep them oiled and in a dry place.
      - Electronical gadgets have to be used regularly to keep them going, because the heat produced from running them
        eliminates the humidity inside the gagdet.
      - There is special oil (e.g. CRC) available to get rusty mechanical parts going again.
      - Regular hoovering of the workshop and its machines not only keeps the place clean,
            it also reduces clogging up of machines and is more healthy. Get a drum type hoover!

• "Inventor's Desktop Companion"
• "License Your Million Dollar Idea" by Harvey Rees
• "Kiwi Ingenuity" by Bob Riley
• "Inventions from the Shed" by Jim Hopkins & Julie Riley
• "How to write a book and sell a million copies"
• "Write and Be Published" by Anna Rogers
• "The Evolution of Useful Things" by Henry Petroski
• "Invention by Design" by Henry Petroski