Bob Malcomb’s inventing journey started typically enough – with a pink slip from his day job. He started Inexpensive Prototypes, a business that helps other inventors make working models of their products.
ID: How did you start Inexpensive Prototypes?
Bob: I had a lot of inventions I wanted to make but never had the time. Then I got laid off.
ID: How did you start making things for others?
Bob: I needed money to make my ideas so I placed an ad in Inventors Digest magazine, offering to make other peoples’ inventions. I had met a lot of creative people out there who didn’t know how to weld, machine, do electronics or make plastic molds.
ID: What happened ?
Bob: I started getting emails from all over. A lot of them just wanted information. They didn’t know where to start. A good starting point is a prototype, or at least a good illustration to show potential customers. I do 3-D computer models for $150, but that’s usually more than most people want to pay. A color drawing in WORD costs $30 a page. It became my most popular product.
ID: Drawing in WORD, as in the Microsoft Word.doc format?
Bob: Yes few inventors have programs like AutoCAD, but everyone has WORD on their PC. Hit INSERTàSHAPES then pick your shape. You can stack them, color them. WORD is powerful.
ID: Who was your best inventor?
Bob: A beautiful young art teacher. Her brain was just exploding with ideas and they were good. I made her a hot glue gun that waxed eye brows and a device for trees that caught and collected fruit in a basket, keeping the fruit from bruising and keeping the deer from eating it.
ID: How do you handle secrecy?
Bob: I send customers a signed secrecy agreement. Our Inventors Club jokes about the little old man who attended meetings, clutching a sack. He never told anyone what was in it. He was sure someone wanted to steal it. He died clutching the sack. Most people are a lot more in love with their ideas than anyone else will ever be. For this article I got permission to talk about some of the inventions.
ID: Do tell.
Bob: We made this robot metal detector. You tell it the radius and place it in the center. It goes around and around and spray paints all the spots where it detects something. You come back with a hand shovel and a small hand wand and check the painted spots.
ID: Seems like it would be good for police or military, geologists or treasure hunters.
Bob: That’s my biggest problem. After I get one working, now what? One of the most enjoyable inventions I was involved with is a backpack carrier. Everyone loves the concept, but the actual execution is hell. With this device the 50 pound weight is off your shoulders. It takes about a 5 pound tug on your belt to move it forward. You almost forget you have a backpack. In an emergency you can actually put a person in it and carry them out all by yourself.
ID: What’s the hardest part of making prototypes?
Bob: I have a mechanical engineering degree. When I see something that won’t work, I try to tell customers in a positive way. One fella wanted a folding chair that blew air on you through the chair tubes using a fan. I told him it wouldn’t work, but I built a prototype anyway. It worked with an air compressor. He didn’t like the idea and refused to pay.
ID: What’s the most fun prototype you ever built?
Bob: I took an electric bike and converted it into solar powered tricycle. The kids along the street offered to pay to drive it – ha!
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Feel free to contact Bob at [email protected] or [email protected].
Editor’s note: This article appears in the May 2011 print edition.
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