Kickstarter

Hello backers!

I am excited to say that we are making progress and have completed another reward level. All $125 level rewards have shipped. The final tracking confirmation e-mails for that level were sent today. Your tracking number may not show any status until tomorrow, as they were picked up by FedEx today.

LIMITED RED REWARDS:

We received the first run of red sets. A total of 40 brewers are done and ready to ship. We only have enough mugs to ship 20 of them. The first 20 will ship on Friday! E-mails with tracking confirmation number for those will be sent on Friday.

WHY IS IT TAKING LONGER?

I want to take the time to explain why it is taking longer than I initially communicated. When I got quotes on production and shipping, the ceramic studio said they could cast and make about 80 brewers per week. When full production started, it looked like we were going to be closer to 60 per week. Every time I pick up an order I ask how the progress is going and how many they are making. I check in to see how molding, prep, glaze and packing are all doing. Over the past few months, we have all been learning how to make these and how long it really takes. There are some steps along the way that really slow down the process. The biggest bottleneck is the glazing. There is currently one person on staff that does the glaze really well, and they only work on our sets 2 days a week. Since there are multiple parts and the glazing takes a few coats, it takes them all day to make about 16-20 sets. For me this was an eye opener as to why it was taking so long. I did some math and based on when we started to ship the sets, we ship around 35 sets per week. This is a bummer, as there are enough molds to do about 70-100 per week fairly easily. But it is the labor of prep and glaze that is really time consuming.

PROGRESS UPDATE AND TIME PROJECTIONS:

$25 – All 9 SHIPPED

$45 – ALL 430 SHIPPED

$65 – ALL 42 SHIPPED

$125 – ALL 378 SHIPPED AS OF JUNE 3

$150 – 138 SHIPPED 96 Sets needed to ship

$200 - 40 READY TO SHIP 145 Sets needed to ship

Based on the average of 30 sets per week we have 7 weeks left.

WHERE AM I IN SHIPPING LINE?

Now that we are near the very end of shipping all the rewards, we can tell you how long it will be until we can ship yours. Based on the current average ship rate and your place in line, we can give a close estimate as to when yours will be ready. Please send us an e-mail to info@ablebrewing.com if you would like to find out.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

It means a lot to me that you backed my project and made the Kone Brewing System a reality. Your words of encouragement and e-mails saying how much you enjoy your filter and brewer make my day and keep me going. We are getting close to the end of this journey and I am honored that you chose to be a part of it.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Happy Brewing,

Keith

Hello!

We have been really busy putting together and shipping all your rewards. This is our highest priority. As soon as we receive any finished sets, they are packaged and shipped.

White brewers: Only 200 more to ship! 

Limited Red: Yours are being made now!

Red: The long process of fine tuning the red has come to an end. Initially, the studio was making a custom red glaze. This would help them with inventory and costs. After weeks of trial and error, I have decided to go with a stock red instead. That means the red is officially in production. The only negative is that the red glaze is very expensive. They will be beautiful.

I'll post another update here next week with some photos of a red set.

This journey is getting close to being finished. I thank you all for hanging in there. Your support has made this all possible.

-Keith

Just a quick update that we have now shipped 50% of all the rewards on the $125 and $150 levels for the white glaze KBS.

Limited Red:

While the ceramic studio figures out the red they are still making white sets. The red is being custom made in house. The mug turned out great but applying the glaze to the full set is a bit more tricky than they thought. I think based on the progress those should be in full production in about 2 weeks.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at info@ablebrewing.com or message on kickstarter.

Thanks!

Keith

Hello!

I went to the ceramic studio yesterday to pick up more brewers. Everyone was hard at work on the sets. I took the opportunity to walk around and see the progress, so I could relay some more info to you. Here are some questions I asked.

How many people are making the KBS?

There are two people that are trained on the clean-up and assembly stage (scrapping, handle attachment and sponge wiping). Two different people are trained to glaze. And a final person does quality control and packing.

How long does it take to make the KBS?

The studio has timed the man hours needed and it is one hour. This means that beginning with pouring the slip into the mold, and ending with packing the brewer, it takes a full hour of hands-on labor to make each KBS.

How many are you making per week?

Right now due to the weather conditions they can do 3 casting per week. Each casting is 20 sets -- so 60 total per week. Once the weather changes here in Portland their goal is to get back to the original goal of 80-100 sets per week. The cool weather makes the curing time longer, so they need to leave the slip in the molds longer. If they dont do this, the ceramic can warp and the brewer won't fit together correctly.

How challenging is our project vs others?

Most items don't require such a precise inner wall diameter. The main focus on the majority of items produces is the outer appearance and finish. With the Brewing System it is tricky as there are 4 pieces that all need to fit into one another. Since ceramic is a manual process with lots of hand work, imperfections and variances are to be expected. But with our set those variances need to be monitored closely or the whole set won't work. Because of this reason, they have had to train specific people to only work on our project.

Here are some photos I took of the carts full of cleaned sets ready to be glazed and fired.

I hope this information helps you understand the process a bit more. Once again your patience and support is greatly appreciated.

-Keith

Hello backers!

Progress!

We have made a lot of progress and have shipped 200 white brewers! Here are a few photos you have shared with us.

We will continue shipping the brewers as quickly as they can be made. The ceramic studio has about 4-6 people working on these every day. A lot of love and care has gone into these by so many people. I am so glad they are making it to you finally. Thank you so much for the support.

The limited red color has proven to be a bit more tricky than the studio thought. If the glaze is not done just right then the red looks patchy and not uniform. Here is a photo of a mug that turned out great.

Once they get the red glaze process down we will transition into shipping the limited sets. Until then we will continue to ship white sets.

Shipping info and tracking: Once we ship your reward we will send you an e-mail with a tracking number.

Questions or Comments: Please get in touch with us at info@ablebrewing.com 

Thanks again!

-Keith