Kickstarter

About 3 weeks ago we shipped out the first bulk batch of Ramos clocks! We're still a bit of a ways from getting all the clocks out, but this was definitely a good start. 

The first batch of LED Ramos clocks taught us a great deal about everything that goes into each Ramos clock from start to finish. We're now pretty good at making boxes, and turning our shop into a shipping department. 

All the trivial things like shipping labels, tape, customs forms, etc. stop being so trivial when you have to ship out hundreds of packages! In the end we gained a good deal of knowledge on organizing shipments which will help speed things up in the future. 

Final assembly of such a big batch was also a challenge. Taking the oh-so delicate wooden housings and installing all the electronics with sharp and heavy metal tools was very nerve racking. One slight movement of the hand, and a clock is ruined. 

With all this new-found experience we've been hard at work preparing our next batch. One of the biggest things we've learned with the first batch was that it was simply too large. Dealing with so many at once proved to be inefficient, and hurt our yield in the end. Because of this, we have broken up the rest of the clocks we need to make in more manageable batches.

This new approach coupled with the experience gained with every process is going well. The first batch of Nixies is moving along nicely, and is 3 weeks from finishing.  We're busy making all the parts and going through all the factory processes. 

Now that we know how long it takes to make the clocks, and how to size the batches, we have a schedule as to when we will fulfill all the rewards. Here's the breakdown.

The rewards will be shipped out in batches on a monthly basis. This means that it will take us 5 months before every backer has received their Ramos. We can't tell you exactly which batch you'll be in, but it's going to depend on when you pledged (the list in which we received the pledges will be honored) along with your wood selection. Domestic shipments will be sent through UPS and international shipments via USPS. You will receive an email with a tracking number notifying you that your reward has shipped.

We're sorry about blowing past our time estimates and won't hesitate to admit that we had no idea how much work goes into each and every Ramos clock. We committed ourselves to make a quality product and we take the time with each and every Ramos to create a hand-crafted clock that is worth your time and money.

With that said, there are currently many Ramos clocks out in the wild that have delivered over a thousand alarms collectively! Many LED Ramos backers have received their clocks and have been using it for weeks. We love feedback, so feel free to tell us how it's going. Also feel free to send up pictures of your clock on facebook or twitter.

Another cool thing is that we have been honored to donate Nixie Ramos SN:0001 to the US National Watch and Clock Museum! They're having an exhibit on alarm clocks starting on the 26th of April that the Ramos will be a part of, so if you're close you should check it out!

Alright, with that we'll get back to making clocks. Thanks so much for making all this possible!

-Paul and Mike

PS. As always you can check us out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

P.P.S. Here's the user manual of the LED Ramos 99% of which applies to the Nixie Ramos. 

Hi! 

Since we last spoke, we've been pushing through two big batches of clocks through our factory. The first one is LED Ramos bigbatch#1. 

They're coming out awesome. It's taken us long, but we're happy that we didn't have to compromise quality. There are a few processes left before this batch of LED Ramos clocks gets shipped. We expect this to happen within 2 weeks. Because this was the first batch, as hard as we tried we still had quite a few mess-ups along the way. Unfortunately this means that we won't be able to cover all the LEDs with this batch. We're starting up another LED batch that will take care of everyone else.

The other cool thing that we're moving pretty far along with the Nixies! While doing the LEDs we also started working on a large batch of Nixies that will cover everyone. Below is a shelf with CNC cut parts for hundreds of Nixies. These Nixies are still a couple of months out from being shipped. The extra LEDs will then get made after we finish these.At that point we will be Ramos Clock Masters, and ready to dive into the delicate Customs. 

We've also been doing lots of electronics assembly, soldering thousands of electrical joints and crimping connectors. 

We've also been assembling the hundreds of defuse panels. The good thing about all the electronics work is that we're doing all of them at once, meaning we're covering every backer. This will make the future batches much quicker.

Thank you so much for waiting so long for this! The good thing is that everything is going good so far. As of today, the 20 early bird ramos clocks have been running for more than 30,000 hours combined. This has given us a chance to find a couple of issues and fix them before we push out a much much larger batch. It's taken so much time and effort to get here and we really want to make sure that everything goes right before we ship. The last thing we want is to miss something really silly at the last minute that would overshadow the year+ of our work and your patience. 

Thank you again! The next update will be a shipping notification :). Also, please check us out on facebook where we'll be posting all the latest on the first big batch shipment! https://www.facebook.com/ramosclock

Best regards from the Ramos Factory!

-Paul and Mike

We don't like keeping you in the dark about this project. Unfortunately, updates take a fair amount of time and effort to put together. This becomes especially taxing when you're being pushed to the limit by the 20 other things happening at the time. We use twitter as a quick and easy way to post on what we're doing, but we understand that not everyone uses twitter. 

So, instead of a longer and usually more thought out update, here's a quick one. Right now we are almost done with all the LED Ramos clocks. We have pushed a batch of 200 clocks through about 90% of the factory processes we've spent 6 months designing. We are currently tweaking those processes to get ready for the 400+ Nixies. 

With experience gained from the LEDs, we know what works and what doesn't. We're currently tweaking the G-codes for the CNC machine to make the cuts just right. Below you can see 1 Nixie panel that holds 4 Nixies. We're going to be cutting over a 100 of these starting in a couple of days. 

We're buying tools we realized we need. We have a new HVLP spray system and a new table saw is coming in next week. Thousands, and thousands of nuts and bults arrived and are ready for assembly.

On the electronics front, our assembler delivered the first batch 80 LED Ramos electronics sets. The rest, along with all the Nixies are due in a couple of weeks. Final details like the packaging are getting wrapped up (boxes are NOT as simple as I thought.)

We're getting close!

-Paul and Mike

Lots has happened since we last spoke. Due to hurricane Sandy, Hoboken (where we're based) saw unprecedented flooding that knocked power out for a week. Thankfully the workshop and our apartments didn't flood out but unfortunately thousands of people around us where affected in much worse ways. 

Aside from that, we have been hard at work making Ramos clocks. There are many steps that each Ramos must take to go from raw materials to finished product. It starts with precise cuts on our CNC machine followed by hand assembly of individual parts.

After that, a familiar form takes shape. This form is still far off from a finished clock. It undergoes trimming, rounding, and squaring to prep it for its next transformation. The top gets glued on, and at that point, it is called a shell. 

Each shell gets hand sanded until every surface feels smooth and just right. 

After inspection, each sanded shell gets a thorough coating of shellac. This seals the wood and provides a hard, moisture resistant barrier to protect against checking. 

Following one more quick sanding, the shells get sent to our spray booth. In there, they receive 3 coats of clear coat for a scratch resistant and shiny finish.

After a shift of spraying, you'll get enough finished Ramos housings that you can pose in front of.

Final assembly comes next. The wooden housing won't do much without working electronics, so careful assembly followed by testing is required. A scratch here will send the polished housing back many painful steps!

And after all that work, plus some other stuff, you get this. 

Those are the first LED Ramos units that we have shipped out to our early bird pledgers in time for Christmas. In the past week we did what needed to be done, and got these first units out the door. Because of you, we can now say that the Ramos is a finished product. 

Now, we just need sit down and make more clocks. We're looking forward to the day when every backer gets their reward, and we will work tirelessly till that day comes. Unfortunately, we don't have exact dates for you guys, and if there is anything we have learned, making eager estimates that don't get realized is not worth it. We can say that we're about a month away to start shipping in volume and will continue shipping batches as we make them. We're still waiting on some final things, and have been working with our electronics assembler in Long Island who will be shipping us all the completed electronics assemblies in a couple of weeks. 

Thank you so much for helping us get here. If it wasn't for you, this would have never been much more than a hobbyist's pet project. Your faith in us drives us to work countless hours every day, and we won't let you down. Thanks and we wish you all happy holidays with your friends and family!

-Paul and Mike

Hi! It's been a while since we last posted. This is mainly because we've been very busy getting both LED and Nixie Ramos compliant with safety and electrical guidelines. Since we last spoke, we also finished the development of the Nixie Ramos. Here's what the final production units looks like (this is the dark version). 

 Here's a shot of the Nixie Ramos getting tested for radiated emissions at a lab in Massachusetts. 

We are very happy to get to this point, as it means that we're nearing the final stretch of this project. During lab compliance testing, we have also been running a beta testing program and have logged hundreds of hours Ramos clock use. We have also been cutting Ramos clock housings around the clock.

So what does this all mean schedule wise? We've made it our goal to work our butts off to start shipping before Christmas. The circuit boards will take a month to manufacture and get to our assembler. Our assembler, who takes the bare circuit boards and solders all the components on them will take up to another month to get them done. In the mean-time we'll continue working as hard as we can making all the wooden housings. Unfortunately there is no way we'll be able to ship all the units out before the holidays and this projection does not account for any unforeseen delays, but we'll try as hard as we can to get your Ramos in your hands as soon as possible. 

Thanks so much for helping us get to this point!

-Paul