SKB75 / SKB65 / SKB60 - GB CONCLUDED

[depletedvespene]

Patience and stoicism are the main virtues of the mech enthusiast, my padawan.

[Shihatsu]

I know. But knowing is COMPLETELY different from feeling. And acting. And stuff. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


:D:D

[PlastikSchnittstelle]

No update jet.
I already called and mailed them so often when I was waiting for the first and later second batch of samples. Also the last quote took them quite a while. Back then I remember calling them a few times and be like: "do you have the quote for me?", "when will you have it?", "BUT I NEED THAT QUOTE ASAP!" I don't wanna do that anymore and it didn't help anyway. They are very busy, and the surface treatment for the aluminium parts is done by another company while the surface treatment of the plates by jet another. If they haven't sent me the quote by the end of next week I'll call them.

[Esrelith]

Can you update the PDF? I'd just like to make sure my payment went through.

[PlastikSchnittstelle]

Can you update the PDF? I'd just like to make sure my payment went through.

it did, don't worry. one hhkb for you.
i will upload an updated version next week.

[Esrelith]

I thought I messaged on reddit you to change it to a WKL. Is it too late to change that?

[PlastikSchnittstelle]

damn, indeed you did!
changed it to WKL. so far no problem because it is in the range of the extras I ordered.

[Esrelith]

Awesome, thanks!

[Omikron]

Hallo, any updates?

[PlastikSchnittstelle]

Called them today,
nothing new jet. They are very busy, they said they probably need another week for the quote.
Meanwhile I'll start sourcing screws and packaging.

[PlastikSchnittstelle]

Until I her from the manufacturer, here are some pictures of the WKL version with the just arrived SA Pulse set:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyb ... ras_still/

[Omikron]

Hello, almost 2 weeks, no updates. Could you please tell me the name of the company that is manufacturing these for you?
I might give them a visit soon. You said they were very busy which sounds wacky for a business. Did they postpone your order or did you not submit it to them yet?

[PlastikSchnittstelle]

Haha, you're funny!
I already mentioned that I submitted the order (ups sorry, i think i only posted that on gh).
I tried to negotiate regarding the time they need but we are at a time of the year that is not favorable for a production run. Approaching teh end of the year many factories shut down. The company that does the anodizing for example will empty their big basins for cleaning.
So the bad news is that I will get the finished parts in February.
Had really hoped it would be faster.

[LightningXI]

Dang, that's a long time. Almost over a year in moving from start to finish O_O

Still hoping the process runs smoothly and we get our boards sooner rather than later! Thanks for the update.

[PlastikSchnittstelle]

I'm aware of this unexpected timeframe since over a week now but I didn't had the balls to tell you right away. It really made my stomach ache. But in terms of production itself there is nothing to worry about. The last prototypes proved all details are fine.

Just some more context:
It's not like these factories have nothing to do and the people there are not just sitting there, wating for an order so they can immediately start. They have a lot of orders in the pipeline. Production itself does not really take very long. Production is also split up into different stages. First the lasercutting. Then the parts might wait some time before the bending is done. Thene some more time will pass until they are passed on to another factory that does the bead-blasting and after that the anodizing. The treatment of the steel plates is done by jet another factory. There is alway wait between the stages. All together just takes some time. Really unfortunate is the time of the year now.

[depletedvespene]

Hey, on the plus side, if the cases are made AFTER the basins have been cleaned, there should be LESS to worry about regarding anodizing defects, right?

[Menuhin]

I'm aware of this unexpected timeframe since over a week now but I didn't had the balls to tell you right away. It really made my stomach ache. But in terms of production itself there is nothing to worry about. The last prototypes proved all details are fine.

So we are looking at finished parts sent to you in Feb 2019, and then checking and QC (very important!) before packaging and shipment - i.e. around March 2019 I hope!
Well, we understand.
Please eat some boulette meat balls and drink some glühwein and then lebkuchen to ease your stomachache!

[PlastikSchnittstelle]

Hey, on the plus side, if the cases are made AFTER the basins have been cleaned, there should be LESS to worry about regarding anodizing defects, right?

Well I should say "YES, TRUE" in order to get something positive out of it, but the truth is probaly that this won't make any difference. Defects are not allowed anyway, so it doesn't matter if they do it before the cleaning or after, they have to deliver a good product regardless.

[PlastikSchnittstelle]

So we are looking at finished parts sent to you in Feb 2019, and then checking and QC (very important!) before packaging and shipment - i.e. around March 2019 I hope!
Well, we understand.
Please eat some boulette meat balls and drink some glühwein and then lebkuchen to ease your stomachache!

Thanks for your understanding and cheering up.
I can really need a little brake from it. This project is with me for such a long time now, it took all my free time, tbo it took more than just my free time. Last week was really strange since there were no more orders to process and I didn't post anything (actually I didn't even check if there were any posts I should answer). It really made me feel some kind of empty in the evenings. Started watching some netflix again - didn't had the time for this since quite some time now.

[LightningXI]

Be proud of your work, PlastikSchnittstelle. It's come forward and really made it thus far.

The prototypes have turned out well, and things are moving forward. Give yourself a break, too!

I'm confident it'll all do well in time as long as you stay dedicated to your work and keep yourself grounded to what you know how to do best, including taking care of yourself.

[Omikron]

Haha, you're funny!
I already mentioned that I submitted the order (ups sorry, i think i only posted that on gh).
I tried to negotiate regarding the time they need but we are at a time of the year that is not favorable for a production run. Approaching teh end of the year many factories shut down. The company that does the anodizing for example will empty their big basins for cleaning.
So the bad news is that I will get the finished parts in February.
Had really hoped it would be faster.

I don't think you understand what funny means.

First - I'm asking the name of the company since I have my own project going and I'm searching for a facility to produce certain metallic parts. As I see it - my project can "fill the bin" of their quota to start production earlier. Even though if things work differently, which I think won't, you still didn't give the name of the company that does the metal work. So I ask for the second time - can you provide the company contact info?

Second - avoiding feedback when you're running a public project is the worst thing you can do, remember this - when people don't get clear honest response even if it is bad (delay, project cancellation etc.) people will suspect that you are hiding something and they will end up with unpleasant conclusions. I wonder how long would it take for you to tell us that the project will ship at least at february/march if I wouldn't ask?

Third - don't presume that people follow your activities, people can't read your mind to know that you did something on GH or reddit or wherever else. If you did something - make it consistent and provide same info on every platform.

Fourth - I'm sorry to hear that this project takes your personal time and affecting other aspects of your life way more than you expected but it gives you ultimate experience and it makes you more qualified. It is how you manage to deal with the problems that defines you, not the frequency or complexity of the problems.

[PlastikSchnittstelle]

First - I will certainly not give you my contacts to firms that have, over a long period of time, proven to be valuable for me. Start your own research and network, there are literally thousands of factories like this in Germany.
Nice that you have your own project, let me tell you how orders work: first come first serve. Not any new order will influence the timeline of one that came before. There is no "bin to fill" (???) or any reason that will make them prioritize this order over the ones that are before it in the pipeline.

Second - avoiding feedback, hiding something? really? have you followed the GB thread? here and on GH? do you live in an alternate universe?

Third - your are right with this.

Fourth - true, I see it the same way.

[Omikron]

First - let me tell you how quotas work - "Bin to fill" means if there is not enough orders in the bin - equipment won't be started for any projects until quota will be reached, unless you are willing to pay all the fees. For example it costs about 8000 Euro to setup a plastic extruder for abs keycaps, each time. Or a cargo container won't ship until it's full, or somebody pays for all the empty space.

Adding more orders makes it viable to configure and start up machinery or to order materials. This is a typical form of operation for small cnc/milling/laser cutting etc. workshops. Adding order doesn't grant priority (most of the times) but it fills the quota and starts production of other orders - hence a win/win situation. I don't think you understand that I'm trying to help. You sound like I'm trying to steal your billion euro business with the wording about established network of reliable firms, it's no more than a workshop that cuts aluminium, and kicks you around with "we're too busy/it's end of the year/we need to perform maintenance this week" responses, so relax. From my experience such responses either come from a friend or a relative that is handling your business. Which is always bad for business, since what are you going to do? Ruin your family/friendship or a business?

Based on your responses the companies that are handling this project will be 4 month late at the best case scenario and you mentioned that you have a "contacts to firms that have, over a long period of time, proven to be valuable for me" and "there are literally thousands of factories like this in Germany" which in given situation sounds like:

A) your so called network is really small and unreliable despite thousands of choices available
B) you either don't want to or can't find a solution and just "followed the stream"
C) you response about contacts sounds like fear, as if I could harm somebody you know/love. Who is probably handling this project for you. I hope I'm wrong, but if I am not - I have bad news for you.

Second - I certainly live in the universe where I follow this thread and not the other ones. I don't even know or care where they are at this point. Why should I follow 2 others when this is the main one? Imagine that you go to your bank for an update regarding your investment status and they tell you that the update is in another bank and you should find it elsewhere. Or you go to your employer to get salary that is a month late and your employer tells you that actually salary will be given probably after 3 additional month. And he didn't want to tell you because it made him feel bad about this situation. Sounds just like your responses. What if somebody was counting on you and your project, like a gift for Christmas for example? This is exactly why you should keep people informed.

It all may sound unpleasant but it seems that nobody else has the heart to tell you this. I know that we are just random people from the internet to you but be aware that it is you and your reputation at stake.

Besides why else would you contact me privately offering me a refund? I don't remember asking for one. Is there a problem? Are you not sure you can fulfill your obligations? Are you going to abandon this project?

[Ampt]

He offered you a refund because you're clearly unhappy with the performance of the group buy. If that's all it cost me to get you off my back, I'd pay up too.

[PlastikSchnittstelle]

@Omikron:
I'm not even going to read through your bs and waste my time. you just got a refund. have fun annoying other people somewhere else. goodbuy!

[Omikron]

You are a coward Christopher.

[Anakey]

Omikron why don't you just let the GB organiser do things the way that he wants to and just go with it, you seem to be deliberately attacking him just because the manufacturer can't immediately start making the product. You know nothing of the relationship the GB organiser has with his project and can't seem to accept the delay which is completely out of the OP's hands and which is actually perfectly acceptable in this hobby, look at many other case GB or even keycap sets for that matter some have almost a year before they will ship. Before you start attacking those that run GB perhaps you had better have a go at running one yourself first with a concept that is just as novel as the OP and see how many pitfalls and delays that will happen.

[seebart]

Well not everyone will be happy all the time.

[Omikron]

Omikron why don't you just let the GB organiser do things the way that he wants to and just go with it, you seem to be deliberately attacking him just because the manufacturer can't immediately start making the product. You know nothing of the relationship the GB organiser has with his project and can't seem to accept the delay which is completely out of the OP's hands and which is actually perfectly acceptable in this hobby, look at many other case GB or even keycap sets for that matter some have almost a year before they will ship. Before you start attacking those that run GB perhaps you had better have a go at running one yourself first with a concept that is just as novel as the OP and see how many pitfalls and delays that will happen.

First of all, I'm not attacking anyone. I asked for a response and instead of it GB organizer canceled my order even though I didn't ask for a refund. More to that he deleted one of my countries of residence from the list, hoping to shut me up. It is not the delay that is important - it is feedback.

[seebart]

Well that does not sound optimal...