Project update #12 - Production Started

New Boards (again)

There were few small upgrades carried out, to increase resistance against electrostatic discharge - those sparks we often generate from material of our clothes or shoes. Mainly in countries with dry air, this represents a substantial hazard for electronics. Also, inputs are now better protected against over-voltage. This includes pickups 3.5mm jack and all four hackable CV signals (that are by default wired to IR sensors, but can be overridden).

It was important to verify these changes once again, as it would be too dangerous to have the revised board manufactured in hundreds quantities without first testing on smaller batch. Turnaround was very quick this time - they were back before I managed to prepare all the required design files for the factory (such as layout blueprints and files for pick & place machine).

Now, it is just a matter of time, before the panelized versions are ready for assembly - it may take 2-3 weeks, plus there will be few days needed to assemble them. We should have them at the very end of April.

Boxes

Guys in the wood workshop kindly took few pictures of the process, in which they turn raw wood into our lovely boxes.

First, wood is cut to smaller panels.

Slits for connectors are cut out.

Mortises are carved to hold compartment divisor and to accommodate sliding door.

And all is ready for gluing.

This is how the box looks with engraved logo, and how it looks after varnishing.

You might have noticed, that among samples shown previously (in update #9), there was one with finger joints. Although it looked good, we chosen to not use it in the end - such joint weakens the wood near the corners and the whole lid might be accidentally ripped off. It only works well with raised sides, as shown on that sample, but these are not practical as they obstruct access to connectors, and more importantly, making it much harder for fingers to get close enough to the sensors.

So, this is now exactly how the final product will look like. If your reward is "finish-it-yourself" kit, you may of course paint it differently, or just lacquer it and keep the appearance of natural wood, it looks great already. And if you backed a finished one, there will be options of varnish to choose from (maybe 2-3 shades, we are currently testing them to see which work well with the logo engraving, to not decrease its contrast too much).

Hope you like it! :)