folded keychain bottle opener: packaging

Ready to be mailed.

I sold my first folded keychain bottle opener (aka business card bottle opener)! But I ran into the problem of shipping. My original plan was to put it in a regular envelope. But I felt that without some support, the opener might tear the envelope and get lost in the mail. So I devised a simple package from a piece of cardboard.

Easy to remove.

To insert or remove the bottle opener, you simply bend the cardboard on the line and slide the opener in or out. The cardboard is slightly thicker than the opener so it is pressed down where the opener slides in. This also allows the opener to sit flush with the rest of the cardboard. When the opener is in the envelope, it stays flat and locked in the center.

The first piece I sent out was cut with a razor, but future ones will use a laser-cut piece. Ideally, the packaging could also be the mailer, but this worked and was very inexpensive to ship.

business card bottle opener: now for sale

The folded keychain bottle opener.

I have several of the business card bottle openers for sale now. They are listed as the "folded key chain bottle opener" and are available folded or unfolded. The finish is a rough brushed look with no writing. To purchase, use the shopping gadget found on the right column of this blog.

Instructions on how to fold:

You will need pliers and something to deburr edges--like a file or some sandpaper.

Push against the edge of a table to start the fold. Align the edge of the table with the center of the fold.

After starting the fold on the edge of a table, you can continue to fold it by hand.

Fold until it forms about a 30 degree angle. At this point, you will need to use pliers to squeeze these points in.

Continue folding by hand and squeezing the points until the two sides are parallel.

After folding, deburr the sharp edges to your liking and attach it to your keyring with a key inside. I like to keep the teeth of the keys pointing out to prevent them from catching the bottle when opening.

ENJOY!

business card: coming close to a final design

I did the final adjustments to the shape today.

Final shape?

I prefer the shape of the previous ones--I like the rectangle shape when it's folded--but the shape is useless unless it works properly.

Still square and plenty of space for text.

The unfolded shape is still square though which keeps with the plan.

business card: update

Update on the business cards. This time I cut out two different shapes. One that has the opening on the side and one that has the opening on the bottom.

Prototype 2 and 3. The one with the opener on the side didn't work quite right.

It works--but with some difficulty.

The one with the opening on the bottom was a little difficult to use, but it worked. The angle that you had to hold it in order to open a bottle wasn't stable and caused beer to splash on my desk.

I wanted to keep the flat shape square so that it wouldn't get lost in a stack of other business cards. I'd also like to avoid making it any bigger, so I'm going to try moving the opening to the folded side. Stay tuned!

business card: prototype

Here is my work-in-progress business card. The idea was to have a card that was useful in order to separate it amongst piles of other business cards.

First prototype business card.

My info will be on one side of the flat piece. It can then be folded with the info on the inside. The idea behind this was that people wouldn't want use this if there was another person's name and info on it; but once they used it to open a bottle, they would be able to look and remember who gave it to them. I also plan on having my email address near the edge so that it's only slightly visible.

On a key ring.

Once folded, it can be attached to a key ring with a key in between the folds. This way it won't look like its adding bulk to your key chain.

Water jet cut from a sheet of 316L stainless steel.

Unfortunately, the opening shape wasn't quite right, so it's back to the drawing board. The original plan was to have it powder-coated and laser-etched, but I have concerns on how the powder coat will look once folded. Plus, the look of raw metal has its appeal too.