1 chainsaw, 3 planner blades and 1 circular saw disc died in the struggle, the hardwood was indeed too hard. RIP
What is currently going on
This is not happening until further notice. The chainsaw has died and I'm not sure if it will ever breathe life again. Not something that I want to happen considering I have already spent $300 on materials and loads of research and organisation time into making this. But it is what it is. Don't save your money is all I'm sayingI have made the decision to postpone the group buy until January.
Primary reason: Working 6 days on 1 off to get things done before christmas, and been making the most of daylight i.e. 5 am wakeups, 7pm work finishes.
What does this mean:
- Can avoid the christmas time postage insanity (higher chance that things get lost in the mail)
- I can put together a well documented and well photographed BOS of the wrist rests being made and their journey from tree to desk
- I get more time, so due to being only one man I was going to limit the group buy to 50 wrist rests, this may change, the maximum will most likely be raised to 100
This will be taking place. There is no doubt about that, I've already spent well over $300 for this group buy. I am out here in the wilderness for three months, and we are coming up on the first month. I also have other projects that I need to get out of the way so its in my best interests to ship these out.
I think that's it, thanks for understanding.
I have made minor edits to the points below, mainly just cutting out what was not relevant anymoreI have unlimited supply to rosewood. I also have wood working tools. I'm going back to this unlimited supply of rosewood and wood working tools in around December/late November. So I was thinking, "hey, why not just cut a heap up for people." I'll make a few closer to the date for people to check out if people actually want any.
Expanding upon this...
OPTIONSAnything to do with price is in AUDFinishes- Flame finished ~ I have seen this done on lighter woods although I cannot find a picture that I find sufficient enough to reflect the result on rosewood. I too am curious about how this will turn out. + $2
Below are the possible coatings that can be applied.
Raw ~ It's too damn hot here and the wood cracks too much.- Carnauba Wax ~ I'm using this wax because it has more of a durable finish. + $2
- Instead using a Tung Nut Based Oil ~ Again this is for more of a durable finish, its described as a kitchen timber oil, so it should be able to get a little more wear out of it. Matt finish + $2
- French polish ~ Basically shellac w/ a bit of varnish. This should allow for more of a durable finish + $2
Waxed with Beeswax (Australian beeswax, not that its any more premium. Beeswax is beeswax) + $2Oiled using Tung oil + $2Shellac coating (I will make a fresh mix of shellac and denatured alcohol) + $2Varnish (this has been crossed out as it tends to conjure a lot more than shellac, especially this time of year in Australia. It is approaching the wet season and I do not want to have a bunch of wrist rests turn out bad for people because the humidity kicked up and ruined the finish. I'm sorry about this. But the shellac should have a very similar finish)
SizesEach wrist rest will be made entirely by hand. I am literally cutting down the tree, or grabbing some older more dry timber (depending on whether or not it has been all used), cutting it to size, planing it, and sanding it buy hand.
Because of this there is no limitation to size.
You can have it however you want. Examples of what I mean are listed below
- Height
- Depth (8cm seems appropriate)
- Length
- Radius of the edge
- Radius of the bottom edges ~ have a look at the image below for what I mean
- Angled or not
This is not my photo, its just a representation of rounded bottom edges
Default Sizes are as follows, these are based off Royal Glam's wristrests:Thickness: 1.9 cm
60% Wrist Rest: 29 x 8 cm ~ 308 grams
80% Wrist Rest: 35.5 x 8 cm ~ 377 grams
100% Wrist Rest: 44 x 8 cm ~ 468 grams
I can also make middle pieces for plank/atomic or whatever else you want. All I ask is for you to provide specifications.
I also realise that there will be many people will have the same keyboard (i.e. 60%'s: KBParadise V60, Poker 2/3 (is there a diffidence in dimensions? I do not own one of these), HHKB)
So to make people's lives easier, I will gather the dimensions of the more popular choices and have them available to simply select. I do not own every keyboard in the world so
please can people post some dimensions for me so I can put them in form. When taking these measurement make sure to measure from the front of your keyboard. The manufacturer's details are of no use to me, they take them from the longest and highest point of the case, I can guarantee if put 3cm for thickness you will end up with very expensive shipping and a obscurely thick wrist rest More than one persons input would be nice. As they say cut once measure twice.
Pricing ~ What everyone is most concerned about$20 AUD ~ The base itself is consistent no matter what size you choose. The only additional expense is the finish you choose.
ShippingThe average density of rosewood is 0.7 g/cm3. To get a rough estimate of how heavy your order is going to be simply find the volume using height (cm) x depth (cm) x width (cm) and multiply by .7 to get the weight in grams. Add 60-70 grams for packaging.
The order will be insured, a cost which I will cover.
For the status of shipping for US users please see the end of this post. I bit here soon with estimated prices
For members outside of the United States you can calculate shipping here:
http://auspost.com.au/apps/postage-calculator.htmlPackagingWe all understand how rough the postal company is with packages, I will be experimenting to find the lightest packaging while keeping the content safe. Testing will be thorough.
Speaking of testingAnother thing I will be doing it testing the durability of each finish so again, people know what they are going to buy. Aesthetics are one thing but a resilient product is also going to be taken into consideration.
Sweat is going to be the biggest concern in the long run so I will be submitting the prototype wrist rests to a solution that I will concoct as close to sweat as I can. On top of that I will also be submitting the wrist rests to abrasion before and after the sweat test to try and see what long term use will do to it.
Freighting also carries effects such as extreme hot and cold environments so they will be submitted to those as well.
Timber is like leather. Upkeep can greatly increase the longevity of your product. This goes especially for wax users as it is a much more fragile finish. Its a very nice finish but it is fragile. It is recommended that wax is up kept once every 6 months. There is only so much I can do to create a good product.
Finally it will be covered by Jaffers Seal of Quality™ guarantee, if it splinters over a 3 year period I will make and ship you a new one (in the June - July/Chistmas period when the tools are available to build these) and send it to you free of charge.
The Process of BuildingI will have a full thread in the 'Making Things together' section detailing the entire process from start to finish. It will include many macro shots of the surface finishes so that people can get a look at what they can expect.
Rough outline of the process:
- Cut the timber to approximate shape
- Oven bake to cook out excess moisture
- Final shaping
- Surface finishing ~ sanding from low grit all the way to as high of a grit as I can get my hands on
- Application of the finish
- Buffing/polishing
This will go into much more detail in the build thread
Questions I expect to getQ: How will payment work?Paypal ONLY. You will have to submit your paypal email address and you will receive the invoice within 1 working day. ALL INVOICES MUST BE PAID WITHIN 3 WORKING DAYS OR THE ORDER WILL BE DISCARDED.
Q: Can I make a full case for a keyboard?No. Unfortunately I do not have access to a CNC machine to mill out all the grooves required for a case. I am making middle pieces for planck etc as I do have a jigsaw and a drill. However if you wish to get a piece of rosewood to take to a local machinist to have this done for you I will happily send you a piece.
Q: Why not use the manufacturer's specifications of each keyboard to find dimensions?Unfortunately keyboard manufacturer's do not give as thorough dimensions as they require us to do in engineering at university. For this reason I'd prefer you to give me the dimensions of the wrist rest you require so that it is flush fitting to your keyboard.
Q: How long will the group buy be open?Three weeks. It will start when I finish the prototypes and get the photos up for you guys to have a look at.
Q: Do you work with wood as a trade?No. There are many people on this forum that make they're money doing what I'm doing and the price you pay for they're product is justified as THEY MAKE A LIVING DOING IT. The time I am going to put into each one of these would not pass law for the hourly wage. That being said I have worked A LOT with wood over the years, and with the tools I'm using. I am proficient and have been paid to do what I am doing as side jobs in the past. Don't loose sleep over it.
Q: Why is it so cheap?I am a uni student and I understand that a lot of us also are in tight financial situations. So I want to give EVERYONE an affordable product that with the quality that I would expect from a more premium item. Hey, I want to give back to you guys
Q: Can there be a bulk order to the EU as there is one for the US?As it stands right now from this interest check alone there are about 70% of the orders for shipment to the US, there is not enough demand to warrant a EU bulk order. Sorry guys. I will try keep that shipping as light as I can.
Q: Shipping for US geekhackersAs the majority of shipping will be for the US an express bulk order will be sent. This will significantly decrease the cost that you will endure. Australia post is HARSH. They will be shipped in bulk and then redistributed to their respective owners. Each item will be prepackaged with shipping labels applied which I will purchase before hand as to minimize handling time. The cost of the bulk order will be divided to each person dependent upon the weight of the total order. I will take responsibility of the weight of the box they are put in and the packaging material to protect the orders. Its only fair that you pay for what you ordered.
Q: When will we receive the wrist rests?For all orders outside of the US I will begin work on your wrist rest the moment the invoice has been paid. For US orders work will begin at the end of the group buy period. At this time I will send out the US invoices so that shipping costs can be calculated correctly.
What does the timber actually look like?Below is as close of a picture I can get to the rosewood I will be working with. More details on it can be found here:
https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/forestry/using-wood-and-its-benefits/wood-properties-of-timber-trees/rose-mahogany[img width=640 height=424]http://i.imgur.com/iRTtb4K.jpg/img]
Yep thats a photo of the actual wood this time
What I want from YOU!- Feedback on any of the points I've made or if I've missed anything
- Keyboard dimensions and your opinion on what are the more popular keyboads so I can make them a simple one click option
Draft FormThe draft is up! I will stress again that this is not the actual order form and I just want feedback to clear up any confusion surrounding the possible options.
I am looking at getting prototypes done in the next two week and then the group buy will start!
http://goo.gl/forms/4sva4RfZE3Final SummaryWelp. That was a lot.
sorry for wall of text
First and foremost I don't want to be seen as "the guy who made those really ****ty wrist rests for cheap that one time". When I am dealing with YOUR money there isn't going to be any silly business, I've seen enough of the nightmare group buys and want ALL bases covered. I'm going to put in the work and make something that I would use as well and not just make some 'grab and run sheckles'.
Also I am going to be absolutely flat out with my other projects and with work so most of this will be done in my own personal time. This being said I am absolutely STOKED to be doing this, its going to be a lot of fun, I love making stuff. And I'm going to be making a lot more different stuff in the future as well!
I think I have just about hit everything I wanted to say in this thread, keep your eyes peeled for any updates.
Cheers, jaffers out ^:)
