Finalizing Orders, Engravings and Shipments.
about 3 years ago – Tue, Feb 23, 2021 at 10:52:53 PM

It's been a bit since we last spoke. It was last mentioned that I was working on making sure that addresses were correct and that everyone was getting what they want.  With the extended lifespan of the project, lives and situations change. One of the expected predicaments of this would be the need to change up some of the orders to reflect current events. I've learned of wonderful news that has instigated a change, and I've heard of tragedies that have catalyzed the same change. They're all important and wanted to ensure that each person was taken care of in regards to this. 

In the last few months, I've been working on the engraving end of the project, though not initially part, I wanted to make sure that it was up to snuff. This specific thing was actually one of the major hurdles that I created for myself when the project first ended. With that offering, I agreed to something that was out of my capability and still is to some degree. The level of accuracy that I had envisioned is not obtainable by the equipment that I have in my possession. I've spent a great deal of time trying to work some technological angle to making these engravings what they should be, I've toyed with the idea of learning how to engrave by hand. I realized quickly that I didn't have time for that, so I went back to the CNC mill that I have. I've struggled with consistency for whatever reason, and I'm likely that reason. I'll own that. 

I realized the other day that I have access to a fiber laser, which will engrave all the different materials that we're using. With some production mistakes in hand, I tested them with different fonts and power to speed ratios on the laser to get a nice finish. I found the proper settings an afternoon, and I am currently finalizing the font selections for engraving. I figure 10 options are plenty for our needs and will be posting a listing of fonts available. I will be in contact with those options with the folks who requested the engraving and getting it finalized and finished. I've included some photos of the testing for your viewing pleasure. 

I'm sure the folks without engravings are at the very least mildly perturbed by this point, and that's not without good reason. 

As I've spoken with my financier about the needed funds to get everything shipped, it became evident to me that I needed to put for the evidence of the project winding down to obtain the loan for the shipping. Yes, this financier is family and they're just as anxious to see this finish as I am, but with a little of their coaching, it'll be done. There are others, who preordered long after the campaign was complete who will be contacted to further the project along. 

I know that there's a few of you have some deadlines for getting this, and soon. I know I've missed a couple and I'm very sorry. If you'll kindly reach out to me and let me know, I'll be in contact with you in the morning. 

Continued Outreach
over 3 years ago – Thu, Nov 19, 2020 at 01:12:25 AM

Running short and sweet tonight.

Got all the addresses figured for the most part, working through the last small handful.

I’ll have a list this weekend with the backer numbers of the folks who’ve been shipped.

In the mean time, enjoy this wonderful photo a buddy of mine took.

October!
over 3 years ago – Mon, Oct 19, 2020 at 11:16:37 PM

Alright, had time get away from me just a little, but I'm still here working on what needs to be done! Things are going well, I'm still trying to catch up with people's messages, updating addresses, and ensuring that I'm in sync with all of your new or maintained locations.

I haven't locked the addresses yet, mostly because I cannot change them afterward, and still have some work to do to ensure everyone is up to date. I should be getting that finished up here in the next week and that email will go out that reminds everyone that they have 48hrs to ensure their info is correct. 

I think I might have gotten just a little carried away when I jumped back into Kickstarter to get you all fulfilled. Not to worry though, it's mostly finding a small investor, ie. family member, to front me a few bucks to make sure I have money for shipping. One of the mistakes I have the most shame for was not maintaining savings from the project to ensure postage wasn't an issue in the future. My apologies for that choice I actively made. I will have this resolved in the next week and a half. 

While that means I haven't shipped anything at the moment, there will be a large volume of packages sent out at the end of the month. I suspect all of the USA based backers should have theirs prior to Christmas, prior to Thanksgiving if USPS holds up. 

I wanted to add some information that I don't think I ever passed on to you. This information was gathered years ago, when the project had just freshly finished in 2017, and I had purchased all the materials for production. I had access, at the time, to an X-ray Fluorescent Spectrometer (XRF) and got to learn a lot with it. Out of curiosity, I took the 14k Gold Balls that I had purchased for this project to work to test the purity, to ease my own qualms about their authenticity. Here are the photos of the gold itself, the XRF, and the chemical analysis of the gold. The XRF is able to determine the purity of particular metals using x-rays and was particularly helpful in testing that purity. 14k gold is traditionally 58.5% Gold, with the remaining percentage composed of other metals to add strength to the alloy. In our case, Copper, Zinc, and Silver. The results also show a margin of error on percentages, putting the gold right where it should be. I tested the silver too but neglected to gather images of that test, as I had reached out to a professional minting production facility to purchase the silver from them. 

It's also a good time for the Orionid Meteor Shower for you folks in the northern hemisphere. Should peak Wednesday morning I believe. Get out and see the stars if you can. I find them very soothing.

Shipping Addresses
over 3 years ago – Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 03:32:20 PM

Backerkit Pulls Through

It's with great pleasure and happiness that this quick little update is to mention that Backerkit has reopened your accounts to allow for you, the backer, to update your address. 

With that said, head over to https://www.backerkit.com/for-backers and log into your account there and update your address, that way you and I are in sync for shipping.  IF you have the same address and don't need to change anything, no worries you're done! If you've already received your coin, you shouldn't need to either, but there may be a couple odd outliers that need taken care of. If you haven't received your coin and cannot adjust your address, please message me directly.

Lastly, I'll leave this update period open for a week, meaning that come September 30th, I will send the formal reminder through Backerkit. This email will inform you that you have 48 hours to make the final adjustments to your address. That means that this update period should lock everything next Friday, the 2nd of October.

If you have any other concerns, feel free to message me. I'll be tackling those this coming Friday and Saturday. I know many of you already have, I'll get to you as well. I just have to have formal 'Office Hours' essentially to make sure I stay organized.

Thanks, and have a great Wednesday, I'll talk to you all very soon.

Ground Control to Major Tom
over 3 years ago – Tue, Sep 22, 2020 at 10:39:55 AM

Reach out and touch Space.

A good day to all of you out there on planet Earth. I hope the air is clear and birds are singing where you are. 

I wanted to thank those of you who have reached out to me to confirm your address or address other concerns that you had in regards to your pledge reward. I will be personally ensuring that you and I are on the same page so you are getting precisely what you're expecting. 

It was also brought to my attention that this request like this is a bit of a party foul according to KS. My apologies, it might strike you all as odd, but I'm a little rusty in the subject of Kickstarter. I'm working to fix that. I will be working to find a way to have Kickstarter or Backerkit provide a quick survey to allow you to change this personally. If anyone out here happens to know how to accomplish this, message me and let's make this easier on all of us. If not, I'll be doing this the old fashioned personal interaction... over the internet... sort of way. 

Questions

I did get a couple questions I'd like to address here, since I feel the information would be good for all of you to have. 

First, "How many orders will ship on your biweekly schedule?". 

The goal is currently 20 orders per week, bringing our total to 40 orders shipping biweekly. Remember, it's a goal, which could have some variable based on the size of each order, but I'll be adjusting my scheduled time to compensate for the larger orders. One other caveat is that there was a number of coins damaged in production, more on that later.

Second, "Will you be going in order of Backer Order Number?"

Correct, to an extent. I intend to go down that line and get the orders out, but like stated on the 17th, I will NOT send the rewards out until I've confirmed everything with you. If that means that you're near the bottom of the numbering, and confirm completely and quickly, you'll likely jump a few spots ahead of those who have not confirmed, and vice versa. 

Delays?! Really...?

I'll be completely honest with you, there might be one little thing that holds us up, but I'm actively working to remove it from possibility. I do need to order a number of coins from the mint to ensure that I have stock to replace coins damaged in production. I did enlist some help to produce them, but there was a certain lack of attention to detail that rendered a number of coins useless. I will be taking inventory of what I have and discussing with the mint about an order to ensure we are stocked with what is necessary. This will happen at a more reasonable hour later today, and will have an answer for that by Friday. 

THANK YOU

Lastly, I wanted to thank the number of you that reached out and provided words of encouragement and support. It really means a great deal to me, and stokes the desire I have to finish this project and attempt to take it further. It was all completely unexpected, thank you. It's easy to be cynical, especially when you're your own worst critic.