Joel Townsan, founder of Flipout Screwdrivers, was working towards his electrical engineering degree when he decided to discontinue his studies to find an education outside of the classroom. Through designing and developing the Tantrum electric screwdriver, Townsan had to learn a variety of new skills, and his hard work has been recognized by Proto Labs as he became the latest winner of the company’s Cool Idea! Award. Moving forward, Townsan is seeking additional funding on Kickstarter.com.
Watch: Kickstarter of the Week: The Future of Electric Screwdrivers
Townsan was trying to replace a speaker in his car door and spent more than an hour trying to manipulate his tool in the small space. Frustrated, he visited several hardware stores and soon realized the lack of tools that effectively dealt with tight spaces. An engineering student at the time, as well as a member of his university’s robotics team, Townsan decided that he could build his own tool and solve the issue. “I started prototyping and never stopped,” he explains. “I took the tool through seven different phases of prototypes. It started out as one product and transitioned, got more user friendly, and compact, et cetera.”
The first prototype was created out of acrylic sheets and off-the-shelf parts and gears. After that, he started cannibalizing other products, like a Sonicare electric toothbrush, which served as the product enclose, for the second prototype.
After hiring a CAD designer to help him create a custom plastic enclosure, Townsan decided that it would be more cost effective to learn CAD himself. “Learning CAD is more or less a matter of sitting in front of a computer for hours on end and figuring out what works and what doesn’t,” he says.
As his ideas progressed, Townsan made the decision to drop out of college to focus his energy on developing the screwdriver.
The Tantrum electric screwdriver is complete with a low profile design and a patented gear system; it can be configured into 168 positions, giving it access to spaces inaccessible to traditional power tools.
The tool housing is constructed out of durable nylon and powder-coated aluminum, and the interior components are primarily made of stainless steel and alloy materials.
Specifications: 
- 7.2 V
- 120 RPM
- 60 to 80 in lbs of torque
- Magnetic Bit Holder
- Squeeze Trigger
- Forward / Reverse Switch
- Adjustable Torque
When Townsan was ready to start production, he teamed up with a local community college. Unfortunately, the students lacked the skills to machine the parts; and when he approached a local CNC company, it was too expensive. Fortunately, the company recommended Proto Labs as an alternative, and the rest is history.
Proto Labs launched the Cool Idea! Award to help product designers like Townsan bring their innovations to life by providing prototyping and short-run production services to the recipients. The award has provided him with the tooling and subsequent first production run of injection molded parts.
To back the Tantrum Electric Screwdriver, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/186685515/flipout-the-future-of-electric-screwdrivers?play=1&ref=search
To learn more about the Cool Idea! Award, visit https://www.protolabs.com/CoolIdea.aspx
