Bolt Industries Pre Order Store

One last update. Plus a look at the next campaign. VFD clocks and mechanical keyboards!
over 2 years ago – Fri, Nov 12, 2021 at 01:50:08 AM

Hello Backers,

I just wanted to send out one last update to say thank you for a great campaign! 

I've heard from a handful of you that you've got your clocks up and running. This is great! If you have any questions about putting your clock together, please don't hesitate to send me an email. I'm happy to help out. I know I didn't get every single kit perfect, so please let me know if you're missing anything. I've got a pile of spare parts and mailers ready to go. 

Now that I've got this campaign fulfilled, I can shift my focus to the next one. I've nearly got all of the bugs worked out of the VFD clock. I'm considering having it manufactured with surface mount components instead of doing another soldering kit, because it was a LOT of work to pack up those component kits! I'm also tossing around the idea of finding a way to stuff the whole thing into a custom made cigar box so that you only see the VFD tubes and tuning fork on top of a beautiful wood box. I'd love to hear what you think!

That said, I've also been working on a Raspberry Pi Pico powered mechanical keyboard! I may just put the VFD clock on hold for a while and skip ahead to the keyboard for a change of pace. The keyboard will be a tenkeyless layout, with your choice of key switches, and your choice of key caps. None of the mainstream Mechanical keyboard firmware that I can find out there runs on the raspberry Pi Pico, so I'm working on writing a custom firmware for it. The firmware will be open source, so you can program any key to do just about anything! As of now the firmware is about 85% and the hardware is about 90%.

I hope to launch the next campaign early next year, so stay tuned!

Thanks,

Ian

Rewards are in the mail! Also a snag fulfilling Australia.
over 2 years ago – Sat, Oct 30, 2021 at 01:50:54 PM

Hello backers,

This morning I dropped 2 huge mail bags of kits off at the post office, and the rest will go out tomorrow! I just sent out tracking number emails to everyone. You can find assembly instructions on my web sight: www.boltind.com. If you wouldn't mind taking a moment to leave a comment on the project home page to let me know what you think, I'd really appreciate it. Knowing I've got happy backers really makes all the effort worthwhile. 

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any problems putting your kits together, I'm happy to lend a hand. You can send me a message, or leave a comment on the project homepage. 

I think each kit has about 100 pieces, and given the add-ons, each package was a little different. I'd be surprised if I got every single package correct. Please let me know if I missed anything, I've got plenty of spare components ready to go.

Lastly, I ran into a problem with Australia. Apparently they aren't accepting mail from the US at the moment. I'm assuming this is somehow Covid related, and they will probably resume accepting US mail sometime in the near future. If anyone over there has any more details, or if you have any ideas please let me know. I think if nothing else I'll just have to hang on to all the Australia rewards for a while. There was one backer in New Zealand who ran into the same problem who pointed this out to me. They were able to use a forwarding service. If you happen to be set up with one of these mail forwarding services, I can change your address and send your package there. 

Thanks,

Ian

Shipping next week! More pictures included.
over 2 years ago – Thu, Oct 21, 2021 at 11:11:28 AM

Hello backers, 

I'm excited to let you know that all of the kits have been packed and I'll be shipping next week! I've locked reward surveys and addresses. If you need to change anything please let me know. I'll be happy to make it happen before I dump everything in the mail. I've got to report to my real job for the rest of this week and the weekend. After that, printing postage and packing everything up will be my first priority. When I buy the postage you will get an email from BackerKit with your tracking number. I'll send out another update when I've dumped everything in the mail. 

Yesterday I assembled a few of the clocks for the fully assembled reward tier. I had a small panic attack when I plugged the first one in, and it didn't work correctly at all. It took me about 10 minutes of troubleshooting to realize that I'd soldered one of the 4017 counters in backwards. Oops! Watch out for polarity when you put your kit together. :) 

Thanks,

Ian

You can find assembly instructions here: https://www.boltind.com/?page_id=343

If you need to 3d print a base you can find the .stl on thingiverse here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4925845

Everything has arrived! Packing is underway. Pictures included.
over 2 years ago – Sun, Oct 10, 2021 at 09:27:11 PM

Hello backers,

I'm excited to report that everything has arrived, and I'm in the process of packing the kits, printing the backgrounds onto the PCB's, and 3d printing the bases. My mom has kindly volunteered to pack the kits for me, so that will make everything go a lot faster. I'm hoping to ve shipping in about 3 weeks. In the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions.

 I've locked orders, in the next week or so I'll be charging cards for add ons. Ill lock address about a week before I begin shipping. 

Thanks,

Ian

Update on components procurement and reward survey
over 2 years ago – Fri, Oct 01, 2021 at 03:02:16 PM

Hello backers, 

I'm excited to report that I've got all of the components for the clocks ordered, and they are beginning to arrive! Yesterday I got a box filled with about 10 lbs of IC's from Texas Instruments. 10 lbs of 14 pin DIP IC's is quite a sight. I'm looking forward to seeing the box of 17,000 5mm LED's. I'll send pictures when everything arrives. I should have all of the components within about a week, and then I'll begin assembling the component kits while printing the backgrounds onto the PCB's. The only thing I'm struggling to source is the 12pF capacitors for the crystal oscillator resonator circuit. I was able to purchase about half of what I need. The beautiful shiny blue 3KV ceramic capacitors seem to be in short supply.  I'm still trying to find some more of them. If nothing else I'll have to settle for boring brown capacitors. 

I'll be locking the reward surveys and charging credit cards for add-ons if you purchased any sometime in the next week or two, and I'll lock addresses as I get closer to mailing out rewards. If you need to change your address or your add-ons you still have some time to do so.

There's still about 12 of you that haven't completed your reward survey. If you need help finding the link, please let me know. I can't send your reward without your address. 

Please don't hesitate to reach out of you have any questions!

Thanks,

Ian