A Decongestant for the Mind
almost 7 years ago – Sun, Jun 18, 2017 at 09:08:32 PM

On June 21st, I will begin shipping all of the bamboo clocks in stages. You can see the schedule taking shape towards the bottom of this update. 

Also on June 21st, we will receive 5 of the newest editions of ThePresent and 5 of the First Editions of TODAY in steel and glass for final approval - yes - final - final - final approval. We believe and sincerely hope that we can approve these samples for production. It's like we're all being hiked up the slow side of a roller coaster, wondering together "This has to be the top right? We made it right?".

It's all this pesky "measure seven times before you cut" that requires the most time. The actual production of the components will only take a few days. Assembling the units will only take a couple of weeks.

I'm confident that we made it this time around, because, at this point, honestly, if anything is still a flaw, I'll have to accept it and just let go. Which means that the samples that are arriving this Wednesday truly are the final versions, whether they know it or not. So yes, I hope they are the best possible versions so far.

Now I'd like to introduce a new feature of the latest edition of ThePresent.

64 Seconds

The newest edition of ThePresent includes an indicator lamp. During normal operation, the green LED on the back of the clock, lights up once every 64 seconds. Use it if you like, to confirm that ThePresent is in fact, on.

It's kind of amazing how long one minute can feel with those extra 4 seconds. I made this video so you can see what I mean. Feels like some sort of unintentional mindfulness excercise. I'm not sure why the German engineers made it that way (64seconds) but I feel like it must have something to do with the  8-16-32-64-128 bit language. 

So the running time of this video is 00:01:25. 

• You will see two blinks in this time. 
• The first blink is seven seconds into the video. 
• The LED will blink again within 64 seconds.
• The music slowly gets louder as the blink approaches.

Shaping up the Shipping Schedule

As it stands now,

every bamboo-based desk and wall clock will be shipped by August 2nd.

Beginning with.......

All of the desk clock versions of TODAY.

• Shipping................June 21st to July 5th

Followed by all of the desk clock versions of ThePresent. 

• Shipping................July 5th to July 12th

Followed by all of the Open Faced Wall Clock of ThePresent. 

• Shipping................July 20th to July 26th

followed by the Open Faced Wall Clock of TODAY.

• Shipping................July 26th to August 2nd

Steel and Glass clocks are scheduled to begin shipping shortly thereafter.

A Decongestant for the Mind.

I found this sticker on the thinning 1969 plastic from the Environments album sleeve below. Now that I'm able to see a time coming soon when I'll have everything shipped, I'm looking forward to finding the voice of these timepieces - "A Decongestant for the Mind" isn't a bad start. 

I know that the Desk Clock version of TODAY is getting a lot of coverage here. I really like it but it's also the only one that 100% photo-ready. I'll be featuring each piece as it comes together, all in due time.

I do hope you are well.

Yes, I used the same song from the video above, below.

I'll check back in on Wednesday evening EST, June 21st. No really, I will - I'll do a quick update of the production ready samples and have some photos of shipping out some boxes!

Scott Thrift

One clock at a time.
almost 7 years ago – Sun, May 21, 2017 at 07:48:06 PM

I've been making clocks non-stop since the last update.

I started with the desk clocks because I had so many to make.

I have a few hundred of the 5" desk clocks left to make, before moving on to the 11" bamboo wall clocks. On Friday, May 19th I did my last pick up of all the remaining bamboo parts in upstate New York. This coming Friday I will finally have all of the 11" prints completed by Duggal.

There were hundreds of prints with minor errors that I could not accept and had to have redone, so it has taken longer than expected.

On April 25th all of the packaging arrived and is now in my office so no waiting anymore on that. I'm thrilled with the level of quality and hope you will be too.

Russell from RUX filmed this as the container of packaging arrived. It is a silly and slightly boring video but hopefully it gives you a sense of the scale of the project.

TIMING (cool, so, when do we get our rewards?)

BAMBOO

The bamboo clocks will be completed before the steel and glass is done. My broad estimate is that I will begin shipping the desk clocks by mid to late June but again, I will no longer stand by any exact dates. You will receive an address request from me and when you do, that guarantees that shipping will begin a week or two later.

Yes, I do have finished packaged clocks but I won't begin shipping until I can deliver all the bamboo inventory to my fulfillment partner at once. Otherwise I am setting myself up for intense confusion that may cause further delays.

I've tried to hire people to move the process along faster but so far, each time it has put me back a few days. So, to date, I've made every clock myself and intend on doing the same going forward. What I lose in time I gain in quality. I am taking my time to make time, so from my point of view it's all working out.

I am forever grateful for your patience and I'm highly aware every single day that the things you pledged for are long, long overdue. The only thing I can think of that would be worse than more waiting, would be to deliver something I'm not happy with. 

The most important thing to me is not that you receive the clocks rapidly but that you receive the clock that you entrusted me to create. Every time I make and pack a clock I am deeply satisfied with what will be delivered.

STEEL AND GLASS

The thing that has held us up so much is that I was unable to work with the steel vendor I used in the past. Knowing I was going to use the same vendors when I launched the project gave me the confidence to set such an early delivery time. 

There are many reasons why I could not move forward with the original vendor, most of which I would not be comfortable listing in an open forum like this - but the most basic reason is that they were unable to manufacture with Stainless Steel without recreating all new tooling. 

The new manufacturer that we landed on thought it would be a simple job and we believed them, but they unfortunately underestimated both the complexity of the job and our dedication to quality. There is zero tolerance in these pieces as they are designed. That means there is no "play" in the way each part lines up. It's four pieces of steel that have to line up to within 0.25 mm and cannot be scratched in any way during the manufacturing process.

What you are about to see is a review of the samples from late April. They got a lot right, which I do not point out in the following images (e.g. the glass is perfect, the radial brushing is wonderful). 

My job here was to show them what they were doing wrong. It's almost entirely cosmetic at this point which is a great sign (Even though it seems like a mess)

WARNING: This is not easy to look at but it gives you some insight into why the steel and glass is taking so long. 

That said, this was sent over to the factory on May 4th and we had someone from RUX (the firm that is managing the steel and glass production) stay with the factory for a week to explain in person how to correct the mistakes. At the end of all these photos you can see the latest version. 

Crazy right?

Their excuse was that it was a "Sample" so they did not do the proper etching. The "Sample" we were expecting was a "Finished" version that we could approve at every level.

Here is the good news.

Last week we got this from the factory.

So here is the other thing that has taken forever. 

There was a shortage in the grade of stainless steel I wanted. All of the prior samples were made with a form of stainless that had enough iron in it to rust without a significant amount of protection.

The reason the photo above looks so good is that it's using the grade of stainless I wanted. Most important perhaps is that the higher grade of stainless comes with a protective blue film layer that allows the manufacturer to work with the steel without a much more reduced risk for scratching. Furthermore, this grade of stainless is many more times resistant to oxidation than the sample version we were seeing.

In so many ways the delays we've experienced, while deeply frustrating (squeezing water from a stone, pulling teeth etc), the reality is that each delay has made a better timepiece.

I'm forming a relationship with this team and process and need to be able to count on them for many years to come to deliver the highest quality possible. What is happening now is setting the standard. 

Tomorrow during a conference call with factory, I will find out when they expect to complete production. My fingers are crossed that it won't be too much longer. 

If you don't hear from me, it's because I'm making clocks and I don't have anything new to say. I even went back and forth on revealing all this stuff as I don't want you to form a relationship with the clock where every time you see it you think - wow, that was tough to make - I would rather it have the intended effect of revealing a new perspective on time and now and life. 

If you ever have any questions at all or want a personal update - email me

[email protected]

p.s. if this is all too much and you want to request a refund, I understand. You can always email me directly for that and I will issue a refund, no questions asked.

Scott Thrift

Assembly Process: Desk Clock
about 7 years ago – Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 12:11:08 AM

Hello and thank you.

The best news is that the print was fully and finally approved, a week after my last update.

It looks extraordinary. I am so happy with it. 

Every time I see the print and place it on the clock face I am reminded that "this is what it looks like when you spend ten months getting the print quality right." Every time I look at it I feel a great sense of relief. The relief being a mixture of finally getting it right and the fact that the image itself is soothing to the eye. It has the quality of defocusing sight, to look without "looking." 

Duggal was thrilled to have me finally approve it of course. They provided an exceptional level of service. I've thanked them over and over for all the hard work and admitted that I've been asking them to print mist.

I had them print all 1000 5" prints first. 

They are done and at the studio.

They moved onto the 2000 11" prints this past week. 

The printing process only allows them to print 100 a day. It's actually four layers of UV prints. It's reverse printed with one layer, then a layer of white is added, then another layer of white. A final layer of the print itself seals in the richness and fog-like quality of the image. In addition to the time consumed with four prints in one, the printer has to be set at the slowest speed possible to make sure there are no distracting banding / lines.

With everything I need to complete the assembly of the first desk clock, I have begun to put them together with a great sense of joy. 

To show you what I'm doing every day, all day, I cut the process down into a video.

Desk Clock Assembly

1. Lock front piece into position. 

2. Scoring the face for maximum adhesion. 

3. Wiping off sawdust with wet cloth. 

4. Drying off dampness. 

5. Popping out center hole of print.

6. Wiping down print. 

7. Removing adhesion backing. 

8. Aligning print. 

9. Keeping alignment as print connects. 

10. Pressure activated adhesive bond.* 

11. Remove front piece. 

12. Place front piece face down. 

13. Prep new razor. 

14. Cut into film on adhesive side. 

15. Push down and turn to cut against edge. 

16. Remove excess print. 

17. Inspect edge quality. 

18. Lock front piece back into position. 

19. Use brass pin at angle to crush edge. 

20. Inspect edge quality / consistency 

21. Grab custom 24 Hour German movement. 

22. Grab and inspect straightness of small hand. 

23. Insert hand through back of front piece. 

24. Place movement into hand / front piece keyhole. 

25. Test movement with battery. 

26. Check for silent stepping movement of blue wheel. 

27. Place branded back piece into place. 

28. Insert brass screws into place. 

29. Tighten screws to create seamless connection point. 

30. Inspect full assembly. 

31. Insert brass pins. 

32. Confirm balance.

33. Move to Packaging Process

Can't do this yet as a semi-truck full of packaging is on its way across the US to NY.

*The adhesive quality of the print is pressure activated industrial grade 3M 467MP. It's rated to hold its bond without degradation between -40 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit!

Please forgive the brevity, gotta wrap this up and get back to the studio.

A smattering of finished clocks as I evolved the assembly process.

Building services are installing a window in my studio this week! Right on the other side of the stacks of clocks above. I'm so excited to have some natural light as I assemble going forward.

Thank you for your support and patience.

Scott Thrift

Zen and the Art of Timing
about 7 years ago – Sun, Mar 12, 2017 at 11:37:37 PM

Hello.

On Friday, March 10th, I left NYC early to drive up to Pawling, NY to grab the next 500 bamboo clock units. It was snowing the entire time and it was mesmerizing. On my way back I stopped by Duggal on 23rd st to pick up what I hope will be the print, that I can finally approve. 

Come along, listen to what I'm listening to during the drive and watch me unwrap and react to the print.

These are pictures of the prints that I see for the first time, in the video above.

Compression through Kickstarter may compromise image quality.... trust me when I say that in person, it looks sensational. And it only took 10 months to get here!

The week before, they got so close but ultimately it was too pink. Here is a reference for that version.

In this video, nothing happens. 

If you've been following along, you'll notice it is the Winter Version of a video I posted back when this was all green and sunny.

___________________________

Production Update

The 11" print is approved!

The glass has finally been approved!

The boxes (4000 boxes) have been made and are on their way here.

The steel rim finish and hole alignments have been approved.

The inner steel cup that fits each movement has been approved.

The steel battery back plate with embossed branding has been approved.

The cut out of each steel back has been approved.

The screw holes on the back of the steel are not aligned properly...

Bummer.

These are still samples, the full production will only happen when we have the final piece that will be replicated 2000 times. 

There is a small team of people working on this project and they are all well aware of the fact that the project is overdue. It's incredibly frustrating to specify something and see them not follow the instruction. 

We have solved dozens of problems and the screw hole misalignment will hopefully be the last. I bring this up because the first instinct is always to just fire the vendor and find someone else. However, that will be counterproductive as we would have to start all over again. So we have no choice but to stay the course, solve the problems and win.

Bamboo

All the bamboo clocks are moving along nicely and fitting together perfectly. One of the reasons I created the bamboo is to have a more elegant production and assembly process as compared to the steel and glass which has 17 parts. 

With the bamboo, I'm waiting on the prints to begin assembly, everything else I have. 

Shipping

As I state in the video, shipping, is the last thing on my mind right now. There are simply too many things left to concentrate on before I can entertain the joy that will be shipping. 

I've set aside capital to cover all shipping costs but beyond that, the team and I are totally focused on making the clock fit together perfectly, look great and be able to stand the test of time. Shipping is the easy part. I have a fulfillment agency here in NY already lined up, who is just waiting on the delivery of inventory.

"Cool, so, when do I get my clock?"

I've already put my foot in my mouth regarding a delivery date twice on this project. I still get half a dozen emails a day from people asking when it will ship. I've resorted to saying, "soon" and the slightly more frustrated, "when they are done." 

I am making a work of art. I am making that work of art 4000 times over and each one must meet my demand for quality. 

This, 

naturally, 

takes time, 

as you, 

may have,

noticed.

The fact is, I do not know exactly when they will ship and I cannot promise a date. 

That's the truth. 

All I can do is continue to update you on the progress and you will know as soon as I do when they are done and ready to ship. There is absolutely nothing I can do to make things go faster or more smoothly.

I have very little control over the steel and glass clocks and I have to have to have faith that the vendor will pull through. We've been incredibly demanding and they've fixed everything that we've honed in on so far. But yeah, it's embarrassing that they've made this misalignment mistake. 

Yet, in a way, the fact that it is a mistake means that we've been able to throw a total fit about it. This makes them pay close attention to that detail as well as all the others we've hit the ceiling over. So in a very real way, the mistake is actually a veiled form of progress. 

We will get it right.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your patience.

Scott Thrift

[email protected]

I know the main video is 11 minutes long but I address a lot of what's happening in the car. Also, I did not know that the frame was cutting off the top of my face. I really wish I had a camera person to help chronicle all the things that are happening every day. It's been all consuming and no one is more anxious and ready to get this project finished and shipped than I am.

The opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation.
about 7 years ago – Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 11:12:06 PM

Hello,

The following update is made for anyone who is curious about the iterative process of design as it relates to the creation of these timepieces. 

 Remember this glass test?

Here is the new Glass

With a new problem to solve!

One might take a look at the pictures above and think, 

"You fix one problem and create another."

While that is true, this is, in fact, incremental progress. The newest version of the glass will arrive this week and I'm 92% certain it will be the one we need. The beauty is that once the mold is approved, there will be little to no variation in the thousands of pieces of custom glass we are manufacturing.

"Why are you making new glass? I thought you had this all figured out already?"

A lot of the decisions over the past months have been made from the long-term perspective of future-proofing these objects.

As you may recall, I've stated that it's important to have safety glass as opposed to standard "shatter-prone" glass. Safety glass makes the clock safer in the home and much less likely to shatter in transit; an issue that happened on a large number of international orders. Having the opportunity to make so many clocks, again, made it possible to rethink a lot of the things that I was unhappy with in the first 3000 clocks.

Tempered "safety" Glass is great but it's also, on average, slightly thicker than the basic glass I used the first time around. 

So fixing the problem of shatter-prone glass has provoked an old problem. In a significant number of the clocks I made in the past, the hand would "catch" itself during the auto-set process. After popping the batteries in, the hand would get stuck every few seconds and then chug along. 

It was inelegant and something that always bothered me. 

The major factor creating this dragging effect is:

The hand is too close to the face. 

SOLUTION: We have now designed in a 2mm clearance between the face and the entire length of the hand.

Which creates another problem: 

The tip of the hand was now touching the glass.

SOLUTION: We are closing in on perfecting the glass to make room for the hand.

If you're following me here, we've instituted a 2mm clearance and introduced a thicker glass... the result is that the hand has been causing friction during trial runs.

This friction, between the tip of the hand and the inside of the glass, is why we have had to expand and stretch the glass in such subtle degrees. To completely make way for the tip of the hand, the center needs to be raised. However, we have to keep in mind that the convex shape must match the angle of the stainless steel rim perfectly.

The last round of 1000 clocks I produced in 2015, had the near fatal flaw of the rim and the glass not lining up. It was a batch that was riddled with tolerance issues and complications from several vendors who underperformed. 

The result was that each clock had to be fitted with pieces of sticky foam, hidden under the rim, during assembly, so that the glass would stay in place and not knock around in transit, in customers hands or on the wall.

Putting eight tiny pieces of square foam to hold the glass together on every clock build, was agonizing and is absolutely not sustainable. Don't worry, I'm not making the clocks in my apartment anymore!

I'm explaining this so you see how crucial it is that the glass is able to clear the raised hand, while at the same time fitting into the angle of the "capture rim" perfectly. 

Without these things lining up, the clock will not feel "solid" and "complete".

Those are two words that are hard to describe but have everything to do with your reaction as you hold the clock in your hands. If things are shaky and ill-fitting, then your response is likely to be one that dismisses the object as having a lower value. The reality behind that response is that the design was rushed and not well thought out and I'm not letting that happen.

When the hands come out of the injection mold, they are shiny to a degree of distraction.

So I make sure that I remove this glinting distraction in favor of a more subtle texture. 

First: I shuffle through all of them one at a time, tossing any that have irreversible bending issues. One out of 22 is the latest count of defective pieces.

Second: I lay them into boards that allow me to coat the long part of the hand with a matte finish that adheres to the plastic, removing the shine and protecting them from any chance of long-term yellowing.

Why are you making the hand out of plastic in the first place? Was that your first choice?

Actually, my first choice for the material of the hand was a shard of crystal.

I wanted crystal because I imagined how cool it would look to have light scatter in a prism effect across the face of the clock.

I went through the process of finding someone who could make the thin hand out of crystal and the lowest quote I found was $1,320.00 for each hand. A glass hand was my second choice and that was approx $850.00 per piece. With both of these versions, there was a very long wait time to get them made and an extremely high potential for breakage. Besides, of course, the fact that the clock would have to be around $4,800.00 retail.

We then looked into metal, but the way the hand is designed (where the hub of the hand sits beneath the clock face) presented a series of challenges with tolerances. We were told it by a handful of vendors that the tolerances and thinness of the hand design were not conducive to metal. I also decided on white and white metal would have to be steel that was powder coated. Powder coating anything leaves a layer of buildup that is unpredictable and would potentially cause friction during operation and or "chipping" during assembly. 

So we went with plastic made here in the USA. Plastic is able to hold so many forms but one of the few drawbacks is that it comes out shiny from the injection mold. When I spray the matte finish on the hand, I have to make sure to not hit the hub of the hand. 

Any residue from the matte, may build up and again, cause friction over time between the back of the clock face (which is metal) and the hub of the clock hand.

When it's not sprayed with matte finish, plastic is super smooth and almost guarantees no issues from long-term friction, between the hub and the back of the clock face.

Yesterday, I drove upstate to grab the first delivery of bamboo!

 Last night I moved the first stage of product into the assembly chamber!

After I organized the place last night, I put up TODAY.

In conclusion, like anything worthwhile, designing something special takes time, patience and persistence. Thank you so much for hanging in there with me. 

Unfortunately, I've lost a large number of backers by offering that refund and I still get three or four emails a day from backers who want to know where their clock is. I'm really doing everything I can, besides simply delivering something that isn't finished.

However, if you ordered the clock for a special occasion and would like me to make a personalized video for someone, send me an email to [email protected] and I will get to it. 

So far I've made over 50 different video gift cards and I am happy to make more, just let me know who it is for and give me some lead time to make it happen.

A screen shot of some of the videos: I introduce myself, explain why they are watching the video, what the clock is and why it takes time before it can give you time.

Thanks for being such a critical part of this journey.

In time,

Scott Thrift

[email protected]

Both ThePresent and Today are now available at their actual price.