Hiya All,
Transport Updates:
We’ve presently shipped 41 models and have made some strategic adjustments transferring ahead. I used to be hesitant to ship out the abroad models since there’s much more to get proper with paperwork for customs however glad to say that these have all gone out.
{Hardware} Updates:
We’re all the time making small enhancements to the Argos based mostly on our personal experiences and preliminary buyer suggestions.
Some springs would get a really skinny layer of corrosion as a result of free irons on the half after processing (that is regular). We’ve began passivating all springs in home utilizing citric acid in a sous vide setup. It is a quite simple course of that runs within the background whereas bettering the standard of the components that we’re delivery.
A part of the explanation this corrosion begins is from small droplets of water and steam that escape the air bleed valve within the piston meeting throughout fills. I’ve designed and ordered a really fundamental laser reduce sheet metallic splash guard that sits within the piston simply above the outlet for the bleed valve to assist comprise any mess. Two units of samples have simply completed being produced within the US and simply arrived for testing and rapid implementation.
I’ve added a small drill press to the store to assist modify the spring covers on our piston meeting. In a typical clevis model clamp up, one facet comprises a hat bushing whereas the opposite comprises an additional lengthy sleeve bushing such that when the {hardware} is assembled, all the pieces clamps on solely one of many two lugs within the clevis. This setup reduces slop because of the tolerance hole required for machining and meeting. Whereas this idea was integrated into the unique design, it someway didn’t make it into the most recent revision of components being manufactured final 12 months. Fortunately it is a very fast modification that’s carried out earlier than the piston meeting course of which is able to enhance the general really feel and person expertise of the machine.
Bottleneck Points:
I used to be coming throughout one too many non-recurring points together with leaking fittings, grounding points, or fitment lower than spec. I used to be additionally updating all piston assemblies to incorporate the most recent configurations, passivated springs, bleed valve orientation, and so on which was taking extra time than required.
First change:
My 2 meeting techs now carry out a really fundamental QC together with turning on machines with water to confirm all sensors are working and no leaks underneath stress.
Second change:
Our new tech introduced on to do sub assemblies has spent the previous week disassembling all present piston assemblies and constructing them as much as our present spec. We have now a elaborate new 3D printed jig to simplify the meeting course of by compressing the spring to permit fast alignment of all of the pins. This enables us to construct them a lot sooner than earlier than.
Third change:
Our new QC technician, Anthony, began final Wednesday.. Anthony is one other Mechanical Engineer with prior expertise utilizing lever machines. He’s picked up the QC course of extraordinarily rapidly and understands precisely what clients are searching for in these machines. Whereas I’ll nonetheless overview all of his work earlier than packaging, it actually makes a distinction having somebody who can focus and specialize on this essential a part of the method.
Over the following two weeks we should always get a a lot better concept of what our improved ship fee is with our new staffing and tasking association. We proceed to prepare the store and discover small methods to enhance effectivity every week so the purpose will all the time be to search out the present bottleneck and determine how we are able to forestall it with adjustments to an earlier stage within the course of.
Steam valve needles have all been packaged however I’ve dropped the ball and never created delivery labels for them. William has simply created all of those as we speak so I’ll get them printed and despatched out tomorrow with a video on learn how to set up.
Air Bleed Valve Enchancment:
We proceed to iterate on the air bleed valve to enhance person expertise and cut back pri-infusion variations from shot to shot.
Piston Meeting Jig
Piston meeting rack.
Sincerely,
Ross & William
