Production Update Week ending 06/08/2018
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jun 08, 2018 at 07:39:42 PM

Everyone,

I just want to give you an update on my progress.  Since this was the date that I gave myself as a goal to be finished.

News

The friend that had stabilized and was improving, passed away.  Went to his funeral last week over the holiday.

Production

All supporters of the active campaign have had their items shipped except for 3:

Artisan Box - in finishing and waiting to dry to put more coats on the box, Jesse - special order box, & David.

I have 4 Artisan boxes in finishing now and because of the wood type it is taking longer to dry between coats due to the special wood.

Wave 3.15 - Has shipped

Wave 3.23 - Has been made in the shop and they are now in finishing.

Wave 3.33 - I am starting to make next week "in shop".

Wave. 3.41 - I am combining with 3.33 to make the rest all at once and then put into a final finishing stage.  Hopefully, I will be able to put into the finishing stage in about a week.

I have about 14 more boxes to make to finish all of the orders.  It will be a long week but most of the trackers are done or in finishing so that helps.

Here is a quick picture of 2 of the artisan boxes both Bolivian Rosewood.  Just checked them and they are still tacky.  >.<

Blessing to all my supporters.... 

May Glittergold fill your pots with lots and lots of gold!

Production Update Week ending 05/18/2018
almost 6 years ago – Sat, May 19, 2018 at 05:48:54 PM

Everyone,

News

It has been a couple of rough weeks lately.  Production came to a halt due to some sickness and personal tragedy.  I do not say this as an excuse but to explain my lack of production.  I was both emotionally and physically drained.  I am happy to say that most of this week things are getting back to normal and production is back up and running.  Praise be to Glittergold!  Here is an example of what happened the not this last week but the week before.

*Equipment failure.  *A friend passed.  *A different friend had a heart attack with 6 bypass operation, now he is on life support with a 20% chance to live.  *Two boards of expensive wood was stolen off my porch when it was delivered.  I was at the hospital and it was taken in a two hour window.  *Wife and I had some type of infection in the lungs that knocked us both out for awhile.  *Outside cat had her first litter (Molly's sister)... She is not as friendly as Molly so we have not been able to catch her to get her fixed.  The kittens got stuck on her tail and we had to cut them off to save them. So lots of complications...  We "saved" 5 kittens.  There were 3 black and white, 2 black kittens.  The 2 black kittens were weak due to being on the mother's tail for about 15 hours before we could get them off, the others were able to get off sooner.  They all died within 24 hours after we saved them.  I don't know what happened, the mother was suckling them and 90 mins later when I checked on them, they were dead.  There were more difficulties but those were the major ones.  See picture below.  Some of my safety equipment broke but I was not hurt other than just a few cuts and bruises.  Yes that red is blood.  Damn Goblins!

On a happier note...

This week I was able to recover the stolen boards.  A person walking a dog found them and let me know where they were.  The day that it happened I was telling everyone in the neighborhood to just return the boards and I would look the other way, and if they did not... when I catch them there was going to be trouble!  I have had a few items taken over the past few months.  So, I am getting security cameras and iRing for my house now.  Also, I got word on Thursday that my friend has stabilized and improving.  He is still on life support but they are talking about trying to wean him off some of the machines.  I plan on visiting him today.

Production

Wave 2.221 has been made and is in finishing.  These should go out sometime late next week.

Wave 3.15 is about 50% made in the shop.  Should go into finishing end of next week.

Wave 3.23 will be charge when I finishing making wave 3.15, then I will start making those orders.

I now have about 40 orders from the post campaign in total.  I will get them done over the next month.  Don't know if I am going to make the June 8th goal for completing everyone's order but I will do my best.

Thanks to all my supporters!

Everyone has been great!  Thank you again for your understanding and patience in getting your order completed.  I can see the finish line now and hope to be able to sprint the rest of the way.  Special thanks to Mike E and Julie K for understanding about having their wood taken.  So glad it has been recovered!

And as usual...

Production Update Week ending 04/27/2018
almost 6 years ago – Sat, Apr 28, 2018 at 07:04:53 PM

Everyone,

News

The last two weeks have been very busy.  This marks the end of the first month since I laid down the deadline for myself.  So I have 6 weeks at the most to get everything shipped...  It has been lots of late nights and early days but I have made a lot of progress on the rewards.  Today, I will produce the Wave 3 list... See below.  Also I have sent out the surveys on the Artisan boxes that were order after campaign for each of you to fill out.  I will also send you an email to explain what I need.  I have a family event planned which will keep me out of the shop until Tuesday but then it is back to the salt mines.  Wait! I thought only Dwarfs had to go into the mines, not Gnomes!  Where is Glittergold when you really need him?

Production

How do you know that you failed your intelligence roll in real life?  When you know that you are tired and working late and you look up to see this...

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I was able to correct my error before there were any issues but you should have seen my face when I looked up and saw this.  I slowly took out my phone and took a picture and walked very slowly and carefully over to the stack of boxes!

Wave 3.170 has been shipped and you should have received your reward by now.  Only one exception which is Brett B, his trackers are in this finishing wave. 

Wave 3.186 and Wave 3.203 ended up being combined and went into finishing at the same time.  >.< This caused a huge finishing project and I hope to never do that again.  Each cycle (total of 10 cycles) takes about 4.5 to 6 hours to do.  I have 8 done now and only have 2 cycles left before those rewards are completed and ready to ship out.  See picture:

 But here is a pic that I took this morning..  So you can see it is almost done (looks done now but I still put one more coat on for good measure and shine).

 These rewards will be finished up on Tuesday 5/1 and get to the postal service on Wednesday Morning 5/2, so be on the lookout for your tracking number Wednesday 5/2 and make sure your address is correct!  If I have to reship I will have to charge for shipping again (if you did not provide the correct address). 

I have also been working on the last Artisan Box from the live campaign.  He picked Bolivian Rosewood.  Here is the pic of the front of his box (unsealed).

 It has a lot of character and will start looking great next week when it goes into finishing.  I will provide a pic next update, so keep a look out for the pics.

Wave 2.220 (last wave with backers from the live campaign) is currently in the "making stage" and will go into finishing by next Friday.  Then it is to work on the post campaign order...

Post Campaign Orders

I will start charging your cards soon so make sure that everything goes smoothly.  Keep those goblins at bay!  If you have a concern or need me to push you down the list just message me and I will do it.  I have 3 Artisan Boxes in the Post Campaign (PC) Orders.  Thank you and I look forward to working with you on personalizing your special box!  I have not included you in the list due to your specialized order.  Keep a lookout for an email from me today on taking the survey so I can start planning.  It will take longer to complete your order due to many factors but I will be in communication with each of you shortly.

Here is the list of the backers with your post backer #.  Just look for your initials and see the zip code for the shipping address.  This should be enough for everyone to be able to get their backer number and know which wave they are in.

Backers that have received their rewards

I wanted to thank everyone for their patience in this campaign.  Hopefully you have received your reward and are very happy with it.  If you like your reward it would be great to leave a comment and/or rate me on Facebook.  Search Gnomeworks and you will see my page.  Special thanks to Aaron G for letting me know about his box and providing the following pic of the box in action!  I love it... 

Did you know that the top of the rolling tray can hold those spell cards?  That is why it is there.  :-)  Moonbeam is always nice.  I put my concentration spell card in that slot to remind me that it is active.  Also thanks to Paul Saint, Todd Beaubien, and Ryan Gregg for posting a comment on how you like your reward so that everyone can see!

Julie K. you gave me the best pat on the back.  The day you got your reward you ordered an Artisan Box.  I was looking at the address and thought I just shipped to that city...  When I looked it up you were a returning customer.  I look forward to working with you on the Artisan Box!

Until next time...

Production Update Week ending 04/13/2018
about 6 years ago – Tue, Apr 17, 2018 at 12:47:42 AM

Backers,

News

I been in a great mood, things have been very productive this last week!  Also, my health has not failed me even though I have been working crazy hours.  I got three backers to comment about getting their box, and they are all happy!  Thanks Milo, Menai, and Chris... it is so nice to hear how much you like my work.  My favorite statement was "Beautiful work of art"...  Just remember that it is for a practical and fun purpose... (playing D&D).  It is one thing to be pretty but useful and pretty is MUCH better!  If the box helps make your playing experience better and more enjoyable then I have done my job.  Everyone that has given private and public feedback, THANK YOU!  After you have used the box for awhile, I would love to hear from you on how useful my box really is... Maybe, I will do a survey in the coming months. 

Last update I miss quoted the deadline for fulfillment, I was too tired (like now, 2am here).  I said May 20th was the deadline I had set for myself but the important date (update) was March 27th.  That is when I started to look at all the remaining rewards and orders that still needed to be made.  I said that it would be between 2 to 2.5 months to get all current reward and orders produced and shipped.  So... May 27th would be the 2 month mark.  Don't misunderstand me, I will do my best to complete everything early (if possible).  Still late in my eyes due to my original date of "February shipping" but much better than many of the manufacturing projects that I have backed from Kickstarter.  I see it this way...  I will have all of the rewards (from live Kickstarter backers) shipped by ~ May 7th.  I would love to say April 30th so that it would only be a two month delay but that is not realistic without Molly actually learning how to sand and finish my boxes.  She is always using the excuse that she can't hold the sandpaper and the box without scratching up the product.  She also said something about "no thumbs" and she was there to be "eye candy" only. 

As I rap up the backlog and starting to look at what to do next.  I know that no matter what I will be making product for orders that continue to come in but I have not decided if I am going to do another Kickstarter this year, I do have some other designs rolling around in my head.  So we will see..?  Please "Like" Gnomeworks on Facebook, (I am too old to really understand what that means).  I have been told it is important for any business.

OOH, I get to play this Saturday and I am so looking forward to it.  \o/

Production

Lots of stuff is happening.  I am pushing hard to become more efficient and produce more per week.  It has been long days and nights to get these rewards completed and I feel good about the progress that I have made over the past month.  I had a few Goblin raids with equipment this week, but with Glittergold's help, I was able to defeat them soundly.  Here are some of the pics from last week and today.

 I will be working on an Artisan Box (Bolivian Rosewood), I received the board a few weeks back and planed it today so I can start making it this week!  I searched and searched and finally I got a lovely board!  See for yourself.

Wave 2.203 - I am working on the "making" stage now.  I am working on producing these rewards this week.

Wave 2.221 - Should be working on the "making" stage sometime next week.  You are the last wave of supporters that pledged during the live Kickstarter Campaign.  So it looks like all rewards will be made by April 30th and then they have to be prepped for Finishing.  Should be able to ship out 7 to 10 days after then come out of the "making" stage.  Then it is the start of the three waves of post campaign orders.

Wave 3 (Post Campaign Orders)

I will be producing a list so you can see which wave you are in.  I will only show initials and maybe the main item ordered and possibly the country (International) or state your address is in...  I don't know yet... but it will be public so I will be careful not to give any personal information.  Once you know which wave you are in you can continue to track where in the process your product is.  The orders that have the Artisan box in them I am having to move you to a different area so I can send you out the survey that is associated with the product/reward.  In the future when I have more time, I will make a survey in another program and send it out that way (another to do)... >.<

Thanks for your support and patience in getting your rewards...

Production Update Week ending 04/06/2018
about 6 years ago – Mon, Apr 09, 2018 at 08:56:56 AM

Everyone,

News

Plotting along, sanding, finishing, cutting and etc...  Went out of town for Easter to visit family and had my 12 year wedding anniversary this last weekend.  So actually had some personal time since the last update on 3/27.  I feel good about my production deadline with the 6 waves left to complete all rewards and orders.  Each wave constitutes about 80 to 100 labor hours so it is still a daunting task ahead with long work days, but I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel (hope it is not a lynch mob!).  I came to my attention this week that someone was less than happy with their reward.  I wanted to let everyone know what my policy is if you do not like your reward.  Please contact me through email, [email protected] with pictures of the product, if damaged in shipping, please include the pictures of the box for the insurance claim.  I will contact you with the RMA and where to send it back to me.  Then I will remake your reward and send it back out to you.  The second time, I will include detailed pictures of your reward for your approval before sending it out.  First one out of over 100 boxes that was not totally positive, so hopefully it is the only one, but don't hesitate to contact me if you are not happy.  Thanks again for your support with my products!

Production

Here is where I am on the production...

Wave 2.151 Shipped - the African Mahogany boxes waiting on trackers (in wave 2.170)

Wave 2.170 in Finishing - took longer than expected due to the large amount of trackers in this wave.  See Picture...

 Wave 2.186 - Currently making these rewards this week.

Still have 2 waves to make to complete the backers that pledged during the campaign and then 3 waves to complete post campaign orders.

Still on track to have everything completed by the 2.5 month deadline I set for myself.  May 20th is the actual deadline from myself.  The Artisan boxes and Jasse's box may take a little longer due to production concerns.

The head gnome says back to work!