Production update 12
5 months ago
– Thu, Nov 16, 2023 at 08:30:35 AM
Hello everyone,
I hope you're all well. I just wanted to drop a very brief update and keep you in the loop.
Final assembly of all products has been marching on. At the last count about 70% - 75% of products have finished on the production line. There are still a few days required to complete everything so final assembly will probably be going over to next week. The MINIM knife SKUs and scissors are getting very close to completion. The pliers are the most labour intensive from an assembly point-of-view and this line will be completed next week now.
I will update you again very soon.
All the best
Douglas
Production Update 11
6 months ago
– Fri, Nov 03, 2023 at 04:01:52 PM
Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well,
I want to quickly update you on where we are at, I know it has been a long time coming and I apologise for that. I was hoping the next update from me would be nothing but good news. It's been a much more complicated project then anticipated with a lot of setbacks and unforeseen hurdles and delays. It's been frustrating for me and I know it's been frustrating for you so please accept my apologies.
Some Bad news
We had another unexpected delay on the MINIM knives last month. These were supposed to be completed in the first week of October but some issues with re-machining surfaces took more time than they were supposed to. I was hoping it would be such a small delay that by the time I updated you again they would be on their way to you and it would hardly be noticed. Unfortunately it was a delay that has dragged into November. The entire batch will be finished next week.
Some good news
The good news is that everything will be finished around the 15th of November. That's right, everything (pliers, MINIM knives and scissors) finished in roughly two weeks from now. They will then be shipped to us in the UK (usually this takes about 4 or 5 days) then sorted and shipped out to you guys.
I have been slowly shipping all other add-on products and STOW cases but separating all of the orders and shipping them individually like this is very time consuming so please bear with me while i pick through everything. Some of you will have received products, others will still be waiting.
Summary
Unless there is some unforeseen incident, all production will be completed by the middle of this month (November). They will then be shipped out as quickly as we can manage.
Once again all I can do is apologise for the massive delays throughout this project. Thank you to those who have been patient, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you.
Speak soon
All the best
Douglas
Production update 10
8 months ago
– Thu, Sep 07, 2023 at 10:05:03 AM
Hello everyone,
I hope you have all had a great summer and getting back into your stride after holidays.
Thank you for your continued patience while we move things through production. I know it's been a really long wait and way beyond what was originally intended and communicated. It's been a slow and steady march to the end but we are making good progress and the quality of the finished products will be good.
I'll update you here on progress and developments since the last update:
MINIM. The MINIM knives in both handle materials (G10 and 6Al4V) with LC200N blades are coming along really well and it looks like we will be finishing the first full production run at the start of October. If all goes to plan we will be shipping these out as soon as we have them in hand around about 5 - 10 days after the run is completed. You can expect those to be with you next month.
PL01 and SC01. As previously mentioned, the scissors and pliers were always going to have the longest lead time as these are quite complicated and reliant on very tightly controlled tolerances. They require many more production steps then our other products and our manufacturers needed time on the first run to figure out several procedures and methods. They are coming along but will not be ready at the same time as the MINIM knives unfortunately. It looks like they will be a month behind the MINIM run. I'm pushing to get them completed earlier than that but i think it's best to expect them to arrive about a month later than the MINIM.
STOW and add on. We have started shipping out the first parts of your orders based on products that we now have in stock. Anyone who pre-ordered the STOW case, Monoscale in either 440C or LC200N, the re-designed P01 tool and any other tools/items that were added on during and after the campaign should start receiving packages if some of you haven't already.
I'm sorry that some of you will essentially be receiving 3 shipments from us. I really tried to get it all coming together at the same time but i think in light of the massive delays i just want to start shipping products out to you as they are ready to go.
To summarize: STOW cases, LC200N Monoscale and add ons are shipping now. MINIM knives should be shipping next month (October). Pliers and scissors should be shipping November.
I will post an update once the MINIM knife production run comes to an end and then we will just have the pliers and scissors left to complete.
Thanks again for your patience and support.
Speak soon
All the best
Douglas + Windeler team
Production Update 09
9 months ago
– Wed, Jul 19, 2023 at 02:43:02 AM
Hello Everyone,
I hope you are all well.
Firstly I want to offer a big apology for not updating you last month and therefore leaving you hanging. I know that’s frustrating, I’m really sorry. I have been absolutely slammed over here juggling everything, working all hours I can, doing late nights (sometimes even all-nighters). It’s a lot, there’s a lot going on apart from the new Kickstarter items. I am also aware that I don’t have any big news so was hoping to have something more interesting to report on the next update.
The current situation is that the three remaning products (MINIM, Pliers, Scissors) are signed off, in production and in the hands of our manufacturing partners. At this stage we don’t have a lot of info or input as it’s in their pipeline of work along with a lot of other project they carry out for other companies. They are very busy team in high demand and the cost to us is often speed but the upside is quality and attention to detail. I know that they are making progress but having to fit Windeler production in and around much bigger projects they currently have on so it’s sometimes slow going and occasionally has to stop and start again. Unfortunately we are still small-fry compared to some. I will get more information and clearer finish dates soon but just to set expectations, it might still be a couple of months from now until full completion. I know this is not what you want to hear and I’m really sorry but it is all moving ahead slowly but surely.
Some good news! We do have our new STOW cases in hand and ready to ship as well as the Monoscale knife in LC200N which we have been testing and running through it’s paces. This is a really special combination of materials by the way (Ti + LC200N) and feels and performs fantastically. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it was to get my hands on a batch of LC220N! That is a behind-the-scenes story i won't bore you with. For those that ordered either of these items we are able to fulfil them right away. From our point-of-view it is more ideal to wait until we have all the new products In hand and fulfil everything together in one go. However, I totally understand if you guys want those products mentioned above right away. If this is the case, please send me a direct message and I’ll ship them out. If I don’t hear anything I will ship everything at the same time once we have all products with us in the UK.
I will get more clarity on actual completion dates soon and will pass this on once I have it.
As always, I really appreciate your patience and support. We are working very hard to deliver the best products we can to you.
All the best
Douglas + Windeler team
Production update 08
11 months ago
– Fri, May 19, 2023 at 10:06:26 AM
Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well.
It's a pretty quick update as there isn't a huge amount of stuff to show you this time. No images or videos, just a general round-up as it's been a while since the last one.
Things are progressing well but we had to spend a bit of time experimenting and testing the correct heat treatment procedure for LC200N as we have never worked with this material before and it's quite specialised so thought it best to run tests first based on the material guidelines and then check and double check results. All is looking good now with good hardness (59/60 HRC) and general strength being achieved and we are confident we now have this procedure nailed and can repeat it consistently. We have run off a batch of LC200N Monoscale knives (this was an add-on) first just so we are working with a known blade and can assess in production. This batch of Monoscale LC200N knives are almost completely finished now. The MINIM knife blades and handles have started being cut ready for detailed machining and heat treatment and final assembly.
After closer inspection and further testing the SC01 scissors can be improved slightly with a few minor tweaks and detail changes from the last samples. Some minor dimensional changes, nothing major and it probably won't make a huge difference but hopefully it will just increase robustness. These are in the production cycle with the MINIM parts. So all going ahead as planned. Obviously slightly slower than is ideal but nonetheless going ahead.
The PL01 pliers are also in the same production cycle with minor tweaks to the original design. We might need to double check the mechanism is repeatable in production to high enough tolerance before running off the full batch but this won't take long to assess.
The STOW cases have already gone through production as they were relatively straightforward. Those should be completely finished late next week.
We have designed an entirely new set of packaging to go with some of these items (for examples the STOW cases) and all of that is also in production as we speak with finished dates for that looking like the very start of June.
I still can't give precise shipping times on this update as there are a couple of unknowns but as soon as I can stand by it I will post more details.
Very soon we will start getting boxes of products from our manufacturing partners and will be able to start shipping items out to you but this might end up being as and when they come rather than all at once. I'm hoping that won't be the case but rather than keep you all waiting any longer I think it's best to do it this way.
I will update with more details as soon as I have them for you. I really appreciate your patience.
Have a great weekend.
All the best
Douglas + Windeler team
