Final, Final Tweaks Before Production
about 4 years ago – Sun, Apr 19, 2020 at 12:07:13 AM

another update

Wow, 2019 was great.  We would all love to "be back to normal," but we are not going to fight this reality, as much of it is out of our control.  GoSun has adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and maintained momentum with Flatware despite many unforeseen challenges.  Without getting into great detail, we had another delay that we have overcome and we have a clear path for production.  

In addition to obvious COVID-19 delays, over the past month, we've made a last-minute change to Flatware's spring mechanism to ensure proper function for many years to come. One metal to do it all, has now become two metals, with each being used for their unique material property strengths. With this latest production plan, we should be completed with production in mid May and planning delivery in late May to early June.  

Please know that your patience and understanding is appreciated.  We want you to be 100% happy with your Flatware and we will not ship an inferior product to save a month's time.  

free food and masks deal

We know these are not easy times, so we partnered up with a food storage company to serve your next five meals or save them (up to 15 years) to have a better sense of security. Plus, GoSun will send you five face masks with every solar oven purchased during this Free Food Flash Sale ending 4/20/20. 

GoSun's new sanitation product launch

Since we cannot stop the innovation, we've decided to launch a new sanitation/purification product as soon as possible on Indiegogo. Starting at around $130, the portable product will provide purified water, a kitchen sink and a hot shower.  You never know where your next hand washing may be a life saver.  Sign up for updates about the GoSun Flow here.

the detailed timeline

Remember, GoSun has always delivered.  This is GoSun's 7th unique product launched via crowdfunding, please know that you are in good hands.   We will add this timeline with each update to help you understand where we are.  

Current status in the manufacturing process:

DONE: Final Design 1) With final tweaks were made in November, and we have been opening molds for most of this month (Nov.-Dec. 2019)

DONE: First Molds 2) First Setback: The first set of molds were cut and used to make samples in early December but they were a bit too soft to handle the tough 301 stainless steel. So, we cut a second set of tools (Dec. 2019)

DONE: Second Molds 3) Tools are ready, we've produced several samples, sent them off for metal finishing and testing (Late Dec.- early Jan. 2019)

DONE: Sample Testing 4) During the initial production sample testing, we typically find areas of improvement and minor changes are brought into the final production tooling (Throughout Jan.and Feb. and into March, 2020). Add in CNY, metal tweaks, COVID-19 and this phase was a lot, lot longer than anticipated.  We are finally close to production.

STILL HERE: Production Tweaks 5) Final production tweaks (a bit more than expected with metal and spring changes) are made and final production samples are produced and tested to meet standards (this took much of March and into April, 2020 with the COVID-19 slowdown). 

Production Run 6) Production, finishing, assembly and packaging happens fast once everything is fine tuned (May 2020)

Delivery 7) Logistics and fulfillment to get GoSun Flatware sent out to you (late May, early June)

Thanks again for your support!

Thanks,

Patrick and the GoSun Team

Progress with Flatware and Future Offerings
about 4 years ago – Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 02:09:06 AM

steady progress

Wow, what a different world with the COVD-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges, we are making progress and we have a plan for execution.  The final production samples are currently being tested and reviewed.  Assuming everyone on the team is happy to proceed, we will be procuring the material and heading into production at the end of the month.  With this plan, we should be completed with production at the end of April and planning delivery in early May.  

The final results from the metal choices have resulted in a heat treated stainless steel grade 420.  420 has a lot of significance to some, especially in the knife and surgical industries.  It check all our boxes, even though it isn't the 301 rocket ship material.  In short, the 301 was too hard and could not viably be heat treated when compared to the 420.

GoSun is open and growing

Despite the downturn, GoSun is hitting record sales as our products meet critical needs and keep families entertained during isolation. We don't know how long we will be able to stay open or maintain inventory. Our team is doing everything we can to maintain (highly sterilized) operations, innovate and serve our customers. 

This week, we extended our investment opportunity on StartEngine after the demand oversubscribed our previous offering.   If you have interest in owning a portion of our crowdfunded company, investments start for as little as $500.  We consider the Kickstarter community as early investors and we will continue to keep you aware of our latest and greatest offerings.  

new water product launch

Since we cannot stop the innovation and we are a crowdfunded company, there's a chance GoSun will launch a new sanitation/purification product around the same time your Flatware is being delivered. Starting at around $130, the portable product will provide purified water, a kitchen sink and a hot shower.  Sign up for updates here.

the detailed timeline

Remember, GoSun has always delivered.  This is GoSun's 7th unique product launched via crowdfunding, please know that you are in good hands.   We will add this timeline with each update to help you understand where we are.  A surprisingly complex little product, we have come a long way with Flatware.

Current status in the manufacturing process:

DONE: Final Design 1) With final tweaks were made in November, and we have been opening molds for most of this month (Nov.-Dec. 2019)

DONE: First Molds 2) First Setback: The first set of molds were cut and used to make samples in early December but they were a bit too soft to handle the tough 301 stainless steel. So, we cut a second set of tools (Dec. 2019)

DONE: Second Molds 3) Tools are ready, we've produced several samples, sent them off for metal finishing and testing (Late Dec.- early Jan. 2019)

DONE: Sample Testing 4) During the initial production sample testing, we typically find areas of improvement and minor changes are brought into the final production tooling (Throughout Jan.and Feb. and into March, 2020). Add in CNY, metal tweaks and the Coronavirus and this phase was a lot longer than anticipated.  We are finally close to production. 

HERE NOW: Production Tweaks 5) Final production tweaks (a bit more than expected with metal changes) are being made and final production samples are produced and tested to meet standards (this will take the rest of March 2020)

Production Run 6) Production, finishing, assembly and packaging happens fast once everything is fine tuned (April 2020)

Delivery 7) Logistics and fulfillment to get GoSun Flatware sent out to you (early May)

Thanks again for your support!

Thanks,

Patrick and the GoSun Team

Coronavirus Delay
about 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 25, 2020 at 11:36:46 PM

Hello Bright Backers,

Thanks again for helping us develop a future free of single-use plastic.  And, thanks for your patience.  

Delivery Update:

We are back at work on your GoSun Flatware, after more than a month of delays and hair pulling/hair graying.  

Due to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), the supply of materials, engineering and labor has been seriously affected. The Chinese government has demanded that all factories delay the start of work, which extended the Chinese New Year (was on Jan. 25th) until now.  Since we still have some engineering problems in the production of Flatware, we have further delays, likely consuming March and putting delivery into April. 

Before shipping your product, we are making sure everything works as intended to ensure your Flatware is great, not just good enough.  To pass our inspection, it must be:

• as thin as we can make it without compromising strength
• strong enough to cut and flex like a typical utensil
• able to slide/glide in and out of the sheath with ease
• feeling good in a variety of hands and mouths
• long lasting/durable  
• safe/hygienic

See more details about the delivery schedule at the bottom of this update. 

Please complete the BackerKit Survey

Most of you have completed this, but we are still missing critical entries from hundreds of backers.  Go to this link to fill out the Survey:  https://gosun-flatware.backerkit.com/

If you lost your survey email, or never received one, go to the survey recovery page! You can enter your Kickstarter email address to receive another survey link.

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Again, we will overcome these challenges.

GoSun has always delivered.  This is GoSun's 7th unique product launched via crowdfunding, please rest and know that you are in good hands.  We will add this timeline with each update to help you understand where we are. 

Current status in the manufacturing process:

DONE: Final Design 1) With final tweaks were made in November, and we have been opening molds for most of this month (Nov.-Dec. 2019)

DONE: First Molds 2) First Setback: The first set of molds were cut and used to make samples in early December but they were a bit too soft to handle the tough 301 stainless steel. So, we cut a second set of tools (Dec. 2019)

DONE: Second Molds 3) Tools are ready, we've produced several samples, sent them off for metal finishing and testing (Late Dec.- early Jan. 2019)

WE ARE HERE: Sample Testing 4) During the initial production sample testing, we typically find areas of improvement and minor changes are brought into the final production tooling (Throughout Jan.and Feb. and into March, 2020). Since the samples are not meeting our standards, the improvements are more than minor tweaks.  Add in CNY and the Coronavirus and this phase is longer than anticipated.  We are learning, tweaking and testing rapidly. 

NOT HERE YET: Production Tweaks 5) Final production tweaks (now more than expected with metal changes) are made and final production samples are produced and tested to meet standards (we should allow this to absorb most of March 2020)

Production Run 6) Production, finishing, assembly and packaging happens fast once everything is fine tuned (April 2020)

Delivery 7) Logistics and fulfillment to get GoSun Flatware sent out to you (unclear, earliest late April, into May)

Thanks again for your support!

Thanks,

Patrick and the GoSun Team

Steel is steel, but we are steel human
over 4 years ago – Fri, Jan 31, 2020 at 12:28:19 AM

Hello again backers,

We cannot wait to start cranking through mass production of GoSun Flatware and then get them shipped out to you.  There have been some minor breakthroughs since our previous update, but we wanted to reach out early rather than later, to let you know we will definitely be delayed on delivery into March.  We are doing everything we can to maintain progress and build a high quality, long lasting product.  

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GoSun has a strong presence with manufacturing partners in Asia, since our first product that utilizes solar evacuated tubes, only made in China.  Unfortunately, our partners there are off on the New Year Holiday and now, they are dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak.  Together, with the fact that we did not get everything 100% correct the first time (not sure that has ever happened, to anyone on the cutting edge) we are seeing delays effect our proposed ship date in February.  Stay tuned for future updates.

Heat Treatment

As some of you may have noticed in our previous update, the curvature on the utensil's main surfaces was not ideal.  This was due to the very hard 301 stainless steel bouncing back after the 60 ton press attempted the smash.  It surprised just about every engineer on the project (although most would not admit this :) so we are dealing with another material or process change to get this right.  

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Pictured here are rough samples made of 420 stainless steel (tough, but softer than 301) that were first cut, pressed into shape and then heat treated for hardness.  Resulting into a better shape, but bad discoloration from the heat. So, we are now trying to find a vacuum chamber to perform the heating in the absence of oxidation to avoid darkening and we are also exploring our polishing options. 

There is so much to know about metal materials and treatments. Flatware is putting this to the test because it requires a unique combination of anti-corrosion, strength and spring.  We are lucky to draw from some of the best, most experienced engineers on the subject.  If you'd like to learn more, this video is a great explainer on how heat is used to significantly affect hardness in steel. 

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Thanks to this wildly successful Kickstarter (YOU!!), we have enough money to invest in getting this done correctly.  Although crowdfunding failure rates (Creators unable to make delivery) are higher when campaigns are wildly successful...don't worry....  

Again, we will overcome these challenges.

GoSun has always delivered.  This is GoSun's 7th unique product launched via crowdfunding, please rest and know that you are in good hands.

Where we are in the manufacturing process:

DONE: Final Design 1) With final tweaks were made in November, and we have been opening molds for most of this month (Nov-Dec 2019)

DONE: First Molds 2) First Setback: The first set of molds were cut and used to make samples in early December but they were a bit too soft to handle the tough 301 stainless steel. So, we cut a second set of tools (Dec 2019)

DONE: Second Molds 3) Tools are ready, we've produced several samples, sent them off for metal finishing and testing (Late Dec 2019)

WE ARE HERE: Sample Testing 4) During the initial production sample testing, we typically find areas of improvement and minor changes are brought into the final production tooling (Throughout Jan 2020)

BEGINNING: Production Tweaks 5) Final production tweaks (now more than expected with metal changes) are made and final production samples are produced and tested to meet standards (End of Feb 2020)

Production Run 6) Production, finishing, assembly and packaging happens fast once everything is fine tuned (Early March 2020)

Delivery 7) Logistics and fulfillment to get GoSun Flatware sent out to you (into Mid or Late March)

Thanks again for your support!

Patrick and the GoSun Team

Steady Progress
over 4 years ago – Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 01:45:00 AM

Hello Brave Backers,

We are happy to provide an update on Flatware's progress.  In short, we are still learning and tweaking to get everything right before stamping out your very own set of innovative, reusable utensils.  Depending on how smoothly this final tweaking phase goes, will determine the delivery timeline.  We are close to hitting out goals, but please stay tuned.  

 .

This is a true innovation and with cutting edge innovation comes some unknowns.  We all want this invention in our pockets, but GoSun is not going to rush out a product that does not perform flawlessly.  To elaborate a bit deeper, GoSun Flatware was designed using the best available stainless steel for its qualities of strength (Flatware is thin sheet metal), elasticity (spring) and formability (ability to be shaped).  

Did you know there are over 150 grades of Stainless Steel?  GoSun's design and engineering team could talk for days about each of these qualities and the complexity of bringing them together into your fork, knife and spoon.  Instead of boring you with details about metal fatigue, deformation, fracture, etc. I'll just say that Flatware is slightly more problematic than anticipated but, 

We will overcome these challenges.  

GoSun has always delivered.  This is GoSun's 7th unique product launched via crowdfunding, please rest and know that you are in good hands. 

 .

Where we are in the manufacturing process:

DONE: Final Design 1) With final tweaks were made in November, and we have been opening molds for most of this month (Nov-Dec 2019)

DONE: First Molds 2) First Setback: The first set of molds were cut and used to make samples in early December but they were a bit too soft to handle the tough 301 stainless steel. So, we cut a second set of tools (Dec 2019)

DONE: Second Molds 3) Tools are ready, we've produced several samples, sent them off for metal finishing and testing (Late Dec 2019)

WE ARE HERE: Sample Testing 4) During the initial production sample testing, we typically find areas of improvement and minor changes are brought into the final production tooling (Early Jan 2020)

BEGINNING: Production Tweaks 5) Final production tweaks are made and final production samples are produced and tested to meet standards (Mid Feb 2020)

Production Run 6) Production, finishing, assembly and packaging happens fast once everything is fine tuned (Late Feb 2020)

Delivery 7) Logistics and fulfillment to get GoSun Flatware sent out to you (Possibly late Feb, more likely into March)

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Open Box Sale

If you want to try one of our other products, we are selling some leftovers from the Holidays.  These will pair nicely with your highly resourceful Flatware. 

Thanks again for your support!

Patrick and the GoSun team