almost there
Well-Known Member
Done, just give me your PayPal addressHey guys got some good news. I'm willing to trade out my spot to whoever wants it, all for the small tiny tidy sum of......
The Nomad From Morwood
- Thread starter Dan Morrison
- Start date
sixstringsmash
Well-Known Member
Some quick shots to tide everyone over. If yours is not pictured, It's because I am adding the custom touches to it.
More in the morning, I'm going to bed! ha.
Some things I changed that has caused the most recent delays:
1. I wasn't happy with just a wax coating on the sleeve. The lighter papers were too prone to stains and dirt from every day use. I tested a ton of finishes and landed on a protective matte acrylic, applied with a super special technique, that gives the paper much much better protection against every day handling. It still looks and feels the same as the bare paper, but ages better. The sleeve is much more water resistant as well.
2. The brushed finish on the bronze. The brushed looks great when it's new, but after a day, it will get scratched and look not so good until it ages. I changed to a random scratch pattern satin finish. This finish hides scratches from everyday use a lot better.
3. I changed some heater module design features to make them just all around better. More on that in the next post, once I get some more photos.
More in the morning, I'm going to bed! ha.
Some things I changed that has caused the most recent delays:
1. I wasn't happy with just a wax coating on the sleeve. The lighter papers were too prone to stains and dirt from every day use. I tested a ton of finishes and landed on a protective matte acrylic, applied with a super special technique, that gives the paper much much better protection against every day handling. It still looks and feels the same as the bare paper, but ages better. The sleeve is much more water resistant as well.
2. The brushed finish on the bronze. The brushed looks great when it's new, but after a day, it will get scratched and look not so good until it ages. I changed to a random scratch pattern satin finish. This finish hides scratches from everyday use a lot better.
3. I changed some heater module design features to make them just all around better. More on that in the next post, once I get some more photos.
vapen00b
Many vapes & accessories. Always happy to help
Holy fuck...! Drooling all over. Thanks for that massive wood porn @Dan Morrison
Gotta take a freezing cold shower now
Happy Easter everyone!
Gotta take a freezing cold shower now
Happy Easter everyone!
sixstringsmash
Well-Known Member
I was worried scrolling down that I wouldn't see my unit, but sure as heck that's mine on the last two pictures, the one with the huts! But Dan I have to tell you man, those look like absolute and utter shit.......
APRIL FOOLS
They look fantastic and I can't wait to get mine in hand, fantastic work with everything once again! Bravo!
APRIL FOOLS
They look fantastic and I can't wait to get mine in hand, fantastic work with everything once again! Bravo!
Mr. Me2
Well-Known Member
I should get a commission for that one ...Fanboy
Thanks!
The last hurdle in the Nomad project, the heater modules.
The original heaters had a solid center pin, made from brass, and the heater ribbon was silver soldered onto the outside of the pin.
When it came to making 50 of these, this method proved too unreliable, too difficult to set up accurately. I was afraid that this could lead to some joint failures.
So, instead I found a way to cut a 0.014" thick groove into the stainless pin to securely hold the ribbon wire for the silver soldering process. In testing, this gave a joint that was much much stronger.
I have the clamping jig setup with a handful, but after this I started doing 20 at a time.
Doesn't come across in the photo, but these grooves are seriously small! Feeding that paper-thin saw blade by hand was a butt-clenching task, that's for sure.
Here is the standard heater from the top view with PEEK insulator.
I finally had finished heater modules in hand, ready to go, with finished Nomads.. IT WAS TIME TO SHIP!
ohh, but wait, it's not that easy Dan. Turns out, the seemingly benign switch from brass center pin to stainless created a whole new problem that you didn't expect.
I'm guessing... since brass is a much better conductor of heat vs. stainless, it was able to wick heat away from the solder joint much faster... and as a result, even during extreme testing, the silver solder never melted.
But.. with the stainless pin, under extreme testing, the silver solder melts. shit.
I was using a low silver content, low melting but strong bonding, solder. This was for ease of manufacture, and it's also what I had on hand while making the prototype... it performed great in my many tester heaters... but all of them had brass pins.
So now I am making the switch to a hard silver brazing material, almost pure silver, triple the melting point. So that's what this week will be.
I have thought long and hard about the time delays... how is it possible that I could be so far off on my estimates for when these are going out?! I can't wrap my head around it...
No matter how detailed my planning is... it seems that each new task throws a new curve ball, and the time is eaten up..just...so...fast.
The transition from working prototype, to production model, proved to be way more complex than I originally thought.
I just can't bring myself to rush this... it's too far along now.
I know that people are waiting, still waiting... so much waiting! I just hope that the moment your Nomad comes, when you hold it and use it.. the wait will be worth it.
Nearing the end of this first batch, all I can think about is how great everyone here has been. I really couldn't have done it without your support!
Ha, I had some evil April fools ideas in my head, something something all the Nomads are broken... but decided that was just too mean.
So busy man. This month was just solid go time...
The last hurdle in the Nomad project, the heater modules.
The original heaters had a solid center pin, made from brass, and the heater ribbon was silver soldered onto the outside of the pin.
When it came to making 50 of these, this method proved too unreliable, too difficult to set up accurately. I was afraid that this could lead to some joint failures.
So, instead I found a way to cut a 0.014" thick groove into the stainless pin to securely hold the ribbon wire for the silver soldering process. In testing, this gave a joint that was much much stronger.
I have the clamping jig setup with a handful, but after this I started doing 20 at a time.
Doesn't come across in the photo, but these grooves are seriously small! Feeding that paper-thin saw blade by hand was a butt-clenching task, that's for sure.
Here is the standard heater from the top view with PEEK insulator.
I finally had finished heater modules in hand, ready to go, with finished Nomads.. IT WAS TIME TO SHIP!
ohh, but wait, it's not that easy Dan. Turns out, the seemingly benign switch from brass center pin to stainless created a whole new problem that you didn't expect.
I'm guessing... since brass is a much better conductor of heat vs. stainless, it was able to wick heat away from the solder joint much faster... and as a result, even during extreme testing, the silver solder never melted.
But.. with the stainless pin, under extreme testing, the silver solder melts. shit.
I was using a low silver content, low melting but strong bonding, solder. This was for ease of manufacture, and it's also what I had on hand while making the prototype... it performed great in my many tester heaters... but all of them had brass pins.
So now I am making the switch to a hard silver brazing material, almost pure silver, triple the melting point. So that's what this week will be.
I have thought long and hard about the time delays... how is it possible that I could be so far off on my estimates for when these are going out?! I can't wrap my head around it...
No matter how detailed my planning is... it seems that each new task throws a new curve ball, and the time is eaten up..just...so...fast.
The transition from working prototype, to production model, proved to be way more complex than I originally thought.
I just can't bring myself to rush this... it's too far along now.
I know that people are waiting, still waiting... so much waiting! I just hope that the moment your Nomad comes, when you hold it and use it.. the wait will be worth it.
Nearing the end of this first batch, all I can think about is how great everyone here has been. I really couldn't have done it without your support!
Shit Snacks
Milaana. Lana. LANA. LANAAAA! (TM2/TP80/BAK/FW9)
Thanks!
Ha, I had some evil April fools ideas in my head, something something all the Nomads are broken... but decided that was just too mean.
So busy man. This month was just solid go time...
The last hurdle in the Nomad project, the heater modules.
The original heaters had a solid center pin, made from brass, and the heater ribbon was silver soldered onto the outside of the pin.
When it came to making 50 of these, this method proved too unreliable, too difficult to set up accurately. I was afraid that this could lead to some joint failures.
So, instead I found a way to cut a 0.014" thick groove into the stainless pin to securely hold the ribbon wire for the silver soldering process. In testing, this gave a joint that was much much stronger.
I have the clamping jig setup with a handful, but after this I started doing 20 at a time.
Doesn't come across in the photo, but these grooves are seriously small! Feeding that paper-thin saw blade by hand was a butt-clenching task, that's for sure.
Here is the standard heater from the top view with PEEK insulator.
I finally had finished heater modules in hand, ready to go, with finished Nomads.. IT WAS TIME TO SHIP!
ohh, but wait, it's not that easy Dan. Turns out, the seemingly benign switch from brass center pin to stainless created a whole new problem that you didn't expect.
I'm guessing... since brass is a much better conductor of heat vs. stainless, it was able to wick heat away from the solder joint much faster... and as a result, even during extreme testing, the silver solder never melted.
But.. with the stainless pin, under extreme testing, the silver solder melts. shit.
I was using a low silver content, low melting but strong bonding, solder. This was for ease of manufacture, and it's also what I had on hand while making the prototype... it performed great in my many tester heaters... but all of them had brass pins.
So now I am making the switch to a hard silver brazing material, almost pure silver, triple the melting point. So that's what this week will be.
I have thought long and hard about the time delays... how is it possible that I could be so far off on my estimates for when these are going out?! I can't wrap my head around it...
No matter how detailed my planning is... it seems that each new task throws a new curve ball, and the time is eaten up..just...so...fast.
The transition from working prototype, to production model, proved to be way more complex than I originally thought.
I just can't bring myself to rush this... it's too far along now.
I know that people are waiting, still waiting... so much waiting! I just hope that the moment your Nomad comes, when you hold it and use it.. the wait will be worth it.
Nearing the end of this first batch, all I can think about is how great everyone here has been. I really couldn't have done it without your support!
WORTH IT! and not even surprising, I think most of us kinda knew you'd see delays you hadn't anticipated, as your original estimates seemed impossible to me. Always happy to be wrong, but this is also why most of us don't really care bc you are finding all the issues before we receive ours. Keep up the good work Dan, that light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer and closer. It is pretty great how the heater modules are totally separate so you can have otherwise finished Nomads without heaters!
Oh I think you maybe forgot to add the photo of module from top down though? Not a big deal of course. Also I was wondering, if the steel pin melted the sodder, how did the PEEK insulator hold up with that new more conductive steel pin? I presume fine though...
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Fat Freddy
FUCK CANCER TOO !
There's this idea in game development that each thing takes two weeks. Make a character, two weeks, make a level, two weeks. But then when you break each thing down into smaller pieces those pieces also take two weeks. Model the hands. Two weeks. Model the face. Two weeks. Texture, two weeks. Record the audio, two weeks, edit the audio, two weeks, etc, etc. So a project that you initially think is going to take a couple months is really going to take years.
I think this reality goes into almost any form of making where you're trying to instill quality in your work.
Did this take longer than you expected? Yeah. But goddamn the results speak for themselves. It's hard to look at these pictures and believe that they are actual, real vapes that you crafted by hand. They look absolutely stunning and the care you've put into each and every process shines through. You've made a vape where not only are none of them exactly the same but they're all unlike anything that came before them.
You've made something truly special and you should be proud of the results. The extra time it took doesn't matter when you compare it to what you've produced.
I think this reality goes into almost any form of making where you're trying to instill quality in your work.
Did this take longer than you expected? Yeah. But goddamn the results speak for themselves. It's hard to look at these pictures and believe that they are actual, real vapes that you crafted by hand. They look absolutely stunning and the care you've put into each and every process shines through. You've made a vape where not only are none of them exactly the same but they're all unlike anything that came before them.
You've made something truly special and you should be proud of the results. The extra time it took doesn't matter when you compare it to what you've produced.
Fat Freddy
FUCK CANCER TOO !
I'm curious @Dan Morrison ...does your inner artist ever get at odds with your inner production manager?
Who generally prevails? I'm guessing the artist....hence your continual striving for perfection. Hey?
And us, "patrons of the vapes", are all the luckier for it!
FF
.
Who generally prevails? I'm guessing the artist....hence your continual striving for perfection. Hey?
And us, "patrons of the vapes", are all the luckier for it!
FF
.
stickstones
Vapor concierge
Wow!
Take your time, Dan!
Take your time, Dan!
GreenHopper
20 going on 60
I have no doubt that the wait will be worth it.
Some vapes I buy because I want to experience the tech or the specific vape signature or there is a feature I think will work for me. The Nomad was a vape I bought because I haven't even received it yet and I already am attached to it. Just being involved with the process during the course of this thread has made this purchase a different experience.
This vape will never end up in the classifieds.
Those pics look amazing @Dan Morrison, each one has its own charm.
