Just popping by!
over 2 years ago – Fri, Oct 08, 2021 at 11:40:14 AM

Hey everyone!

Was planning on doing a video update rather than typing another 'hi - bye' post, but have just noticed we're taking a beating in the comments here so don't really want to put it off til over the weekend!

Current status is we're cutting through the Quad boxes as we speak, hopefully we'll have those done and in their finish/oiling stage by the end of the month before kicking up the XL's. The goal right now is to have everything done for Xmas.

We've been taking some extra steps with the finish on the smaller boxes, hence the delay in shipping those. The white puddling effect mentioned in a previous update was occurring so we've had to figure that out before we get stuck into the bigger boxes. Seems to be under control now, and is caused by there being excess oil left in the holes and corners after wiping clean, a simple issue but when you have chunky fingers, getting into those areas efficiently isn't the best! Now we know why lots of other dice vaults just use oversized holes :)

Outside of that things are moving. The majority of wood we need is becoming available again so we're getting that through in batches. The main issue with supply is that the planks we need all need to be over 180mm in width for efficient use on the CNC, and getting the supplier to cherry pick these isn't very productive. We've got enough coming through to keep the CNC operating though, so far so good.

I think we've mentioned somewhere previously that we've got another project planned for Kickstarter - even taking into account the poor run of events and learning experience with this one. That project won't launch until this project is fulfilled so believe me when I say we're more eager to get this project fulfilled than you guys are. Evidently we're not rushing though!

Coming up we'll finally have the first dispatch of boxes, and that will be the next update here. It's been promised a few times now so time to start holding to that! Will drop by again soon!

Shipping Addresses!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Aug 10, 2021 at 09:46:07 AM

Hey everyone! Hope you're safe and well!

We're now getting to the point of prepping the first mini wave of items shipping out. This includes the single boxes and double boxes. I'd also advise backers of the Quad pledge to jump on this as well as it won't be too long until those are getting closer to shipping! Likewise if you've ordered a mix of items either on the kickstarter or in the pledge manager.

Obviously with the time that's passed, we're hearing a lot from people that have moved address. To make sure we're shipping to the correct location, please send us an email to [email protected]. 

Make sure to include:

• Your name
• Backer number
• Your old postal/zip code
• New full address

We'll do one more update/call for this before shipping those out in about a weeks time.

As always, your patience in much appreciated! - Dan.

Oil, UKGE and Shipping Addresses!
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Jul 20, 2021 at 02:26:59 PM

Hey Everyone

Missed plenty of notifications on here, I do need to start dropping by more often!

Progress has been trickling along as usual. Had a few bumps, mainly on the finish with some woods. We're getting a curdled finish where the oil has pooled a little when drying. Nothing too destructive but we'll not be sending them this way. It looks worse than it is and just requires a little extra sanding and a re-oil to finish up, but when those parts are inside the dice slots it becomes trickier, especially with fat fingers. A little more care moving forward is preventing this from continuing though.

UK Games Expo 2021

UK Games Expo is on the horizon and we've had to halt production for a week to get 2 show tables made up, so not much will happen over the next week and a half. We wouldn't normally put a halt on production of other things for the tables, but Expo is the 1 show we attend, and with last years cancelling we didn't want to miss out again. Of course it would be ideal to promote and sell dice boxes there, but we'll not be doing this, not even promoting them. We really want to get the kickstarter done and dusted before inviting more people in, so just to reassure that you guys are the main priority. That said, if anyone here is attending UKGE then be sure to let us know, and if we can fully prep your order in time we'll bring it along for you to collect!

Change of Address

We've had a few messages informing us of a change of address for deliveries. Fully understood that this would be an issue based on the timescale of things so before anything gets shipped we'll make sure to check up on this.  I'm concerned that messages via kickstarter may fall to the void, so I'll set up an email shortly that you can send us your new details to if you're unable to update your address in kickstarter or pledge manager.

That's it for right now. Obviously the last guess-timate on an eta trickled by which is just annoying for everyone. We'll get UKGE done and dusted and then I'll be back onto this. We are still waiting on some packaging to arrive for boxing up which I know I've said more than once has been a huuuuge pain, but once I have this we can start packaging and labelling the singles and doubles which are pretty much ready to go following a final quality check. Hopefully will have solid news on shipping early Aug. Appreciate your patience as always. Dan.

Quick Update
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Jun 08, 2021 at 05:21:18 PM

Hey everyone!

Just thought I'd drop a quick 'hi' update on here as we've had a few enquiries coming through. I prefer to post more productive updates on here rather than 'things are coming' style updates, but I'm aware it's been a while since the last one.

Dice boxes - so I hit a slight snag with the numbers, bascially the numbers I had were much lower than what we need to produce. I think this is a Kickstarter/Backerkit thing, along with my own lack of experience with each of them. After going through each customers order individually I now have a reliable list of who's ordered what, who's paid and who wants theirs sending to the moon because they apparently have no address. With that, production had a bit of a flipperty flop so we've been making the numbers up with the singles and doubles to start getting these batches into the finishing stages and ready to go. The Quad and Quad-XL orders are still underway - again with more numbers than we had realised - but as before they're holding up so we can make sure shipping is running smoothly again before going in with the big deliveries.

We've had a few queries based on our table production - our main line of work here is making bespoke tabletop gaming tables - which is certainly no secret! We just want to throw out there that our table production isn't overshadowing the dice box production. The original plan following the funding being successful was booking out the whole of November to have a full workshop dedicated to the production of the dice boxes hence the original eta of December, but then of course that got completely torn to pieces with the UK's favourite game of "shall we go into lockdown this month". Our table schedule was in even worse shape following the original lockdown in the UK in late March. The Gamer Series of tables we've just launched was scheduled to launch last March/April before lockdown occurred, and we just spent a bit of time recently modifying a few features, but no we haven't spent time away from the dice boxes to create a whole new table design.

The dice boxes have been running side by side with the tables, and the new run of play has been to machine as many boxes up as possible in the day/throughout the week and then work on the finishing out of hours, so we've been putting most time into the dices boxes in overtime. It's not the speediest process, but any progress is progress.

We do have a packed out week this week, so I expect next week to be our first step out of the pit as we start getting this first wave ready. I'll be sure to update next week with more info and a ray of hope that things are actually going to happen. They really are, seriously though...

Thanks all! -Dan

The long grind and a light at the end of the tunnel!
about 3 years ago – Tue, Apr 13, 2021 at 03:32:27 AM

Hey everyone, we hope you're all doing great! Apologies once again for the slow updates on here, the majority of our focus has been in working through the project so coming away from that to make time for videos and such felt criminal, but at the same time it's tough to look like progress is being made if there's no signs of it!

CNC time lapse:

All in all things have been going well. We've had a little bit of down time thanks to some broken belts, but nothing too major. 

The main purpose of this update was to show that things have actually been happening behind the scenes. I've been grabbing snippets of footage whenever it occurred to do so, and have finally gotten all of that transferred, converted and edited. Fun times, especially when apple and windows devices really don't want to play together :) 

The making process:

We're currently looking at shipping our first items within the next 2 weeks. We're sending out the smaller single sets first so that we can test the shipping process post Brexit. We were advised by a post office worker than until recently, even shipping packages within the UK was a nightmare, but it sounds like the dust is finally settling. These will be heading to locations in and out of the UK so it's a good chance to test the waters. Once we know those are landing then the double dice sets will be going out. All being well, we'll then be scheduling the larger boxes. We're only doing it this way as if things start going missing then it's less of a hit for us to fix, so we're sorry to you guys at the back!

Between now and then it'll be more of the same so we'll update again when those units head out the door and hopefully it'll then be smooth sailing until fulfilment is done! On that note, please make sure you've finalised everything including your delivery address as we still do have a few buyers missing info!

Thanks everyone, we'll speak soon!

-Dan