there is updates on the discord channel.
pasted below in case you didn't know about it.
UPDATE - SHIPPING STATUS
Here is another update regarding the shipping status and more after this one. Almost 50% of the orders are shipped now. Running out of something packaging related is frequent, especially regarding void fill. Trying different solutions, new void fill recently arrived:
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UPDATE - BRASS PLATES
The pace of packing has increased since the start of April and it is at a good pace now. However, there is one issue that is still slowing down the shipping process significantly. Initially, when all the metal parts had arrived, I grabbed one plate from steel and one from brass and was relieved and happy to see that the switch fit is perfect. HOWEVER - it turned out that one plate was not representative for all plates. The steel plates are all perfect but after some time I noticed that the tolerances of the brass plates are off on some plates, resulting in a too tight switch fit. I generally aimed for a tight fit, but some are simply too tight. This means that I must test every brass plate before packing it. This may not sound too bad, but the tolerance varies not just from plate to plate but even per cutout within a single plate. That means determining if one particular brass plate is ok or not takes an awful lot of time. This process is taking too much time and that is why I will offer an alternative for all who ordered a brass plate from now on.
New brass plates aren't an option since the production cost went up and the additional steps of bead blasting and galvanization would take way too much time and effort. What I will offer as an alternative is a 304 stainless steel plate, blank and with a more complex contour cut. This cut is usually called a "leaf spring" design but I prefer to call it serpentine cut, since an actual leaf spring design is something else. [I had shown this type way back during the IC phase](
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=103257.msg2859341#msg2859341), but settled on a simpler design because the serpentine cut can lead to a high production error rate. However, after several prototypes, I'm more comfortable with this now and many are produced already. Here are some displayed in sunlight:
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So moving forward, everyone who's order contains a brass plate and is up for the next shipping batch will be asked to make a choice (no need to do anything, you will get an email). The choices will look like this:
a) get the original brass plate but wait until the end of shipping for when I will dedicate time purely for checking and sorting the brass plates.
b) get the 304 stainless steel plate now instead
c) get the standard steel plate instead (may be an unlikely choice but I'll include it anyway, may be having a black plate is most important to some)
I think this is an interesting alternative and I'm confident that this will help get shipping done quicker.
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UPDATE - EXTRAS
The problem with the brass plates does have an impact on the extras as well. Brass plates will simply not be offered for the extras, there you will be able to choose between the black standard steel plate and the new 304 stainless steel plate. Currently I am aiming for May 19th to open the shop again and start offering the extras.
Since the initial group buy order phase, shipping prices have increased significantly, sometimes more than doubled, depending on the region. Another factor that makes the prices appear different in some regions now is the fact that Shopify has changed how taxes are being managed. That is why in some regions the initial shop price may appear a slight bit cheaper compared to the original GB price, though after factoring in the new shipping prices, all will end up more expensive at checkout.
