Project Update #31: Delay Details #2

Posted by Rinnovated Design ♥ Like
Hey Backers,

After reading the comments on the last update it was apparent that many of you would like more information regarding the recently announced 4 month delay. We’re more than happy to give you an in depth look at where we stand and where we’re coming from...
We’ve found that delays come in a few different forms, so we’re going to break them down into 3 categories.
1. Expected Work

These are things we knew had to be done, or chose to take on in order to make a better product. In this case we simply underestimated the time it would take to accomplish these tasks, and that results in a delay. Below is a list containing a few of the more prominent ones:
Developing the best mirror arrangement
We explored many completely different mirror arrangements, and even got a bunch of them to print successfully. Who knew there was so many ways to make a 100 dollar printer! Finding the best way meant exploring a lot of roads that eventually lead to dead ends.
Creating and Testing Build Instructions
We greatly underestimated the amount of work involved in creating comprehensive build instructions for The Peachy Printer. Due to changes in the printer design, we also had to do this process multiple times.
The Development of Snapfit
We came up with Snapfit shortly after creating the first set of build instructions. We decided to hold off on shipping the first beta kits so that we could take the time to fully implement Snapfit. Due to all of the new features we added to the printer since PP18, the assembly time had grown dramatically. With the addition of Snapfit, we were able to reduce the build time by approximately 6 hours! Although implementing Snapfit resulted in a 3 week delay in beta shipping, at the very least it will save about 3 years (6 hours*5000 backers /24 hours per day /365 days per year = 3.42 years) of backer time that would have been spent holding and glueing parts. That doesn’t factor in all the time and resources wasted if a part was glued incorrectly.
Developing a Damping System
We knew from very early on that vibrations during a print would cause large defects or even failures. This meant that a good dampening system was essential for the Peachy Printer to produce quality prints on a consistent basis. We’ve since explored and tested many different approaches to this issue. While we’ve come up with a system that dampens vibrations well, it still causes memory. We are still working to develop a better damping system with less memory.
Developing User Friendly Software
In order for the Peachy Printer to be as easy to use as it is affordable, great software is necessary. Packaging for multiple OS’s, making and improving a GUI, adding tools and functionality, and simplifying the printing process are some of the things that we didn’t accurately estimate time for.
Enhancing the Drip System Design
While the drip system was one of the doors to a lower priced printer, there were many improvements to be made in order to make our drip system a reliable one. Things like clogging valves, inconstant drip rates and sizes, air bubbles, salinity levels and many other factors had to be dealt with.
Creating a Flexible and Effective Calibration Process
No two Peachy kits will be built exactly alike. It’s also a very hack-friendly printer. Coming up with a calibration process that’s as flexible as the Peachy Printer was no small challenge. Whether you’ve got a huge or tiny build volume, or decide to use different lasers, apertures, or mirrors, the calibration process remains the same!
2. Unexpected Work

These are issues we did not foresee. They were necessary to deal with and resulted in a more functional printer, however they also lead to a setback in our timeline. Below is a quick list containing a few of the most notable ones:
- Finding that most types of thread cause memory, making it hard to predictably position the laser.
- Finding that oil damping also causes memory.
- Finding that we had to redesign the entire printer with orthogonal mirrors in order to avoid a lot of warping.
- Finding that many sound cards are AC coupled requiring us to design a circuit that demodulates an AM signal and write modulation software.
- Finding that many sound cards have different frequency responses that affect their ability to do amplitude modulation.
- Finding that using power from USB ports often affects the sound signal coming from the sound card.
- Finding that we need to calibrate for how drip size changes with drip speed.
- Finding that normal valves are extremely sensitive to clogging when set to very slow drip speeds.
- Finding very odd behaviours caused by the power regulator that comes with each laser and deciding we must engineer our own specialty laser current limiting circuitry.
- Finding that acrylic plastic was no longer suitable for use after implementing snap fit due to it’s hard and brittle characteristics.
- Finding out that the optimum wire size for coils is simply far too small to handle and breaks often.
- Finding that making coils with very fine wire required us to make our own coil winding machine.
- Finding that a diode on the circuit had a lot more impedance than we originally thought, causing the circuit to not work well.
- Finding a way to simplify the process of tuning the circuit from one that involves 7 tuning knobs to one that only uses 2.
- Finding an inexpensive way for the user to know their circuit is tuned.
- Finding a way to turn the laser on and off with just an AM signal.
- Finding that there is often a difference in ground voltage between the sound card and USB power.
- Finding that turning the laser on and off causes a positional offset in each mirror, and implementing various things to reducing that offset.
- Exploring FM and discovering that it has ill effects and expenses.
3. External Issues

Below is a list of issues caused by external factors that resulted in a delay at Peachy:
- Due to communication issues we were unable to source a coil manufacturer in time for our beta shipment. As a result we decided to produce enough coils for the beta kits on our own winding machine.
- Our shipment of beta circuits took 40 days longer than expected to arrive.
- Our laser cutter took 50 days longer than expected to arrive.
All of the issues listed above have attributed to the current 4 month delay. Thanks to the amazing amount of support we received during the campaign, we have the resources to solve all of these issues. Unfortunately in doing so we’ve taken more time than originally estimated, however as a result you will see a much better product than we would’ve been able to provide had we only reached our original fundraising goal of $50,000. Now let’s take a look at what still needs to be done...
Moving forwards

Below is a list of areas that need further testing and issues that we are still working to solve in order to reach first viable product:
- Memory caused by the dampening system (we’re working on a new magnetic damping system that may have very little memory)
- Resin Shrinkage
- Software usability
- Large prints
- Adding calibration processes for things like laser spot size at wide deletions, refraction, reflection, various non linearities, and offsets.
We hope that we’ve been able to provide you with a better understanding of where we currently stand, and why we are taking more time to further develop the Peachy Printer. If you'd like to read more about these issues, many of them have been discussed at3Dprintboard. Thank you for your support.
Until next time,
The Peachy Printer Team.