Well here we are in November and I’d hoped to be putting Model #357 up for sale. Unfortunately, my machine shop has slipped pretty far behind schedule and they won’t be ready before year end. Best case, I receive the machined, bead-blasted, anodized parts before Christmas. I would still need to engrave, them, fill them with diabolical lock pins of various sizes and shapes, and package them.
So I think it’s realistic to be thinking late January / early February. I wish I had better news. I thrive on customer feedback and nothing is more rewarding than hearing comments (believe it or not, both positive and negative) about a new design. But it ain’t going to happen in 2021. 🙁
September 1st, 2022 UPDATE:
So my machine shop has completely abandoned the project and I’ll need to sue him to get my money back. A mystifying development given that earlier he had shipped me working prototypes and sent pictures of the pieces in production. Anyhow, life goes on and I will start over with requesting quotes from machine shops. Thanks for your boundless patience and I hope my next post will bring happier news!
June 19th, 2023 UPDATE:
I finally have some good news to report on Model #357. The parts came back from the machine shop, they function perfectly, and now the bottleneck is just yours truly. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I still have a ways to go before they’re ready for sale. I’m not a very good mechanical engineer and Model #357 has a lot of manual steps in their manufacture. Plus, I’m making 200 of them which is twice as many as for my first two puzzles. So this is a roundabout way of saying that it will still be a few months before they’re done. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not an on-coming train!
Really looking forward to your new puzzle! Good luck with the last steps.
Thanks for the encouragement! My machine shop has gone silent on me which is not a good sign but hope springs eternal. Worst case, I’ll have to find a new machine shop.
Hi John. Any good news to share? I’m excited for this next great puzzle!
Yes, I do have some good news: the production run has begun! My machine shop sent me a picture and it warms my heart to see his bench covered with #357 parts. They still need to be finished and anodized but now I don’t have to return to square one and start over with a new machine shop. Thanks for asking and I’ll post more when I have a better sense for when they’ll be available for sale.
That’s awesome! Glad to hear they’re making chips. I’m sure this one will be as great as the last two.
Hi, hope everything is going as planned and your new puzzle will be available soon. Very very interested in a copy. Good luck! Rob
Unfortunately it’s way way off plan. I’ll update my post with the gory details.
Hey John, sorry to hear the news about #357. I have really enjoyed your other puzzles and was looking forward to trying this one out. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and wait for the next update!
Thanks for being patient. I think it’s a pretty good design but of course I’m pretty biased!
Good luck with the final phase. Looking forward to it!
Thanks – getting there!
Happy New Year John.
Hope that things work out much better in 2023!
Yup, me too! The good news is that I found another machine shop and should know by the end of the month whether it’s going to work out. Thanks for the continuing interest and Happy New Year to you!
Any luck with the new machine shop? I’m definitely excited for this next challenge! 🙂
Your timing is perfect and the answer is yes! I have received the shipment of top and bottom pieces and they look fantastic. I’m now in the process of adding the ink infill, making the tokens, installing the internal locks (yes, it’s true, the puzzle has locks inside), laser marking the model number, and engraving the serial number. I do all of those steps by hand by myself and since I’m making 200 of these, progress is, um, s l o w. I’m still a few months away from finishing but it’s no longer a matter of if. It’s taken ridiculously long to reach this point and I’m psyched I’m finally able to give some good news – thanks for asking!
Great news! Thanks for the update.
Sure thing. Thanks for your continuing interest after all this time!
Based on the last update in June the #357 may be close at this point..? Hope it is going smoothly and almost ready 😉
I appreciate the support! I’m making progress, although slowly, and I will post about it later today.