How do cloners get the designs?

[MiscoDatt]

Recently I’ve been following a few new high end atties in their development and have been amazed that the clones come out almost at the same time as the reviewers get their samples.

This leads me to wonder how the cloners get the blueprints?
I’m sure it’s not the reviewers as there wouldn’t be time to get them out fast enough so it leaves me wondering if the modders have something to do with this?

 

[rew]

So they sell their own blueprint off? Don't know, but would be interested to know.

 

[Rob]

In the past, there were people that purchased a new item which was then promptly shipped out to the Cloners. This occurred far more when the item was UK Made by a small single handed operation.
Other designs have been sent abroad to be manufactured as the costs have been so much lower, the manufacturing facility then simply runs "Their" version alongside the original.

It's been around for a very long time in just about every industry you care to name.

 

[Mr Ripple]

I'm pretty sure it would be simple to use a 3D scanner/printer to obtain the specifications then programme the measurements into a milling machine.

 

[nwhornet]

As @Rob says, a lot of gear is sent to manufacturers for cost purposes. Vandy Vape don't seem to learn though, a good few of their atties have appeared on the likes of FT as "styled" before the original is available or on pre order.

 

[MiscoDatt]

In the past, there were people that purchased a new item which was then promptly shipped out to the Cloners. This occurred far more when the item was UK Made by a small single handed operation.
Other designs have been sent abroad to be manufactured as the costs have been so much lower, the manufacturing facility then simply runs "Their" version alongside the original.

It's been around for a very long time in just about every industry you care to name.

Now this makes more sense if production is done in the east. I’m guessing the modder gets a price for allowing the cloners to make their own?

It lead me to wonder if independents who manufacture in-house might sell plans to increase revenue? I know that sounds paradoxical but it must be tempting? Set up costs could be covered by China allowing for some loss to clones but knowing there’s still a strong market for originals to keep business ticking over.

 

[Vapaneezer Scrooge]

I'm far from a CAD / CAM expert but I've reverse engineered quite a few items for 3D printing, a skilled operator could knock up a model ready for CAM in a few hours, you can even replicate it's behaviour in CAD (airflow, rotation, threads &fitting tolerances).

 

[Vapaneezer Scrooge]

Also Copyright in China is near none existent, they even clone big brand cars, I imagine most of the manufacturers take from each other in one way or another, often improving into the bargain, the Vandy Vape Mesh and The Wotofo Profile is a good example.

 

[Rob]

At least nowadays we are seeing decent quality items coming out of China in the form of original designs
The quality of Clones has increased Ten Fold over recent years......... It needed to!!
The instances that I had in mind were far from simple and in 2 cases, actually bordering on theft, but copyright law being what it is and the flagrant abuse of said law used to be appalling. As I say, things are VERY different these days.

 

[vapesmarter]

Recently I’ve been following a few new high end atties in their development and have been amazed that the clones come out almost at the same time as the reviewers get their samples.

This leads me to wonder how the cloners get the blueprints?
I’m sure it’s not the reviewers as there wouldn’t be time to get them out fast enough so it leaves me wondering if the modders have something to do with this?

there's a thing

I've seen mods that have been made that were cloned on more than one occasion I've seen "witness marks"

"witness marks" come on stu your talking cobblers?

ok, imagine you make 3 thousand mods you sell 2500 what are you going to do with the 500? scrap them say oh dear I made a slip-up

you repack them, make a slight alteration and sell them at cost as "clones"

you shift the gear no one loses out

the witness mark is a mark left by the machine an extra cut or a slight spin it's small tiny like the rifling on a barrel it's unique

the opposite is true also you have extra you sell the extra parts to a cloaner to assemble you take a cut from those sales as you have made the money back already

china although some people hate the cloans are not by no league of the imagination stupid