September 01, 2024
EEW Fold Update
I spent most of my time this month working on the EEW Fold. Basically it went like this. Change some 3D files on my computer. Print it with my 3D printer. Test it to see what else I can improve. Change it, print it, test it again, and repeat many more times. I don’t keep track of the exact number of prototypes, but I’m sure I’ve done more iterations on this product than any other. The folding mechanism makes a lot of the parts depend on other parts in non-obvious ways. For example when I adjusted the flyer design it caused problems with magnet placement on the bottom cover, which didn’t seem like they should be related. Also the folding mechanism gives more opportunity to figure out little improvements with more iterations. I’m pretty sure in the end it will just seem like this is a simple obvious design. If that’s the case and none of the details I’ve been working on these past several months are noticed, that is a mission accomplished for me. Overall, I’m very excited about the EEW Fold. I think there are a lot of advantages over the EEW 6.1. I’ve mentioned many of them before like quicker bobbin changes, faster speeds, less vibrations, and an RPM display. I’ll be going into more details in the future when I am testing molded versions.
I’m going to keep the Kickstarter target in December, but we might miss that. I’m pretty confident the design will be done well before December, but I plan to get the molds made which will take a few months and then I need the video and documentation for Kickstarter made using the molded version. I prefer using the molded version for Kickstarter over 3D printed versions because having molded parts in hand, even if they aren’t completely final. This makes it easier for me to predict when I’ll be able to ship it, and I like having a fairly accurate ship date estimate for my Kickstarter campaigns.
The Seasonality of Selling Fiber Tools
It’s September! I live in Massachusetts where September usually starts off pretty warm, by the time fall starts (officially September 22nd) the nights are usually cooler. This causes more people to start thinking about spinning, knitting, and other fiber crafts they set aside for the warmer months.
I’ve been selling fiber tools for about 15 years and have seen some trends in my sales. I wanted to give some concrete percentages of how my sales have done in different seasons, but after looking over my data it’s just too noisy for that information to be useful. The biggest issue is I often run out of stock on my top items and that causes sales to slow, but then there is a huge spike in sales when that item is in stock. Also I’m fortunate that this community has continued to grow and that leads to different demographic mixes year after year. This makes the data more difficult to compare year after year in an attempt to smooth out the issues from the inventory issues. After looking at my data in various graphs I’d estimate that during these summer months I see sales drop around 15-30%. Then in November/December I see sales increase by about 30-50%. For the rest of the year I’d say sales are pretty regular.
While other fiber businesses are going to be different, I suspect most yarn shops see similar seasonal trends.
Product Updates
Below are estimates and the dates may change.
- EEW Fold Kickstarter – December 2024
- EEW Nano 2.1 – Febuary 2025
– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel
www.DreamingRobots.com
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