July Update - Quick Update & One-Piece T-Bar Inbound
over 5 years ago – Sat, Aug 04, 2018 at 02:12:43 AM

Dear Backers,

We’ve been hard at work to get your Model T razors shipped out to you over the last month, and we’ve been thrilled to see more positive reviews coming in as more backers receive their razors. We have just a brief update for you this month, with a more substantial update, including final shipping timelines, that we forecast will be ready for publishing at the end of August.

As mentioned in the last update, we were implementing a number of engineering changes as well as moving all T-Bar production to the One-Piece T-Bar. We’re taking extra care with these One-Piece T-Bars to ensure they arrive in perfect condition, so we produced shipping trays for this critical parts that will protect them all the way into the assembly stage. 

The new parts are en-route for assembly (in the new shipping trays) and once they arrive in the next week and we confirm in assembly that the most recent production has been successful, we’ll issue the order for the final production of One-Piece T-Bars in all three finishes.

We intend to continue shipping through August, including European and International shipments for the White Chrome Model T units. We intend to further accelerate the assembly and shipping process when the inbound batch of One-Piece T-Bars reaches us shortly. We’ll be able to provide a full shipping timeline in an update that we forecast will be ready for posting in the final days of August.

We hope this update provides some clarity in the meantime before we provide a substantial final timeline update in the final days of August.

As always, thank you for all of your ongoing support and please let us know if you have any questions,

The Rockwell Razors Team

June Update - Production Moving Forward
almost 6 years ago – Thu, Jul 05, 2018 at 01:32:22 AM

Dear Backers,

We are happy to share with you this month’s Model T update and some good news regarding production.

Before the update, however, we would like to address an important issue. At Rockwell, we believe that it is important to treat you, the backer, right. We understand that many of you have been frustrated by the long time this complex Kickstarter product launch has been taking. We regret the unexpected delay, and sincerely apologize for any frustration caused, but be assured that we are totally committed to making the best possible product and to delivering an excellent Model T razor to all our backers. It took over two years to deliver the now universally-loved Rockwell 6S, so we know what it takes to deliver a product that our customers will love and we have the patience to do it right. In addition, Rockwell has a fantastic collection of products and is a sustainable business outside of the Model T campaign, so you can be assured of our ability to deliver the Model T to all of our backers.

Increasingly, over the last few months, Gareth has received personal threats and harassing messages which are abusive and unacceptable. If you are unhappy with the campaign and wish to have your money back, we have repeatedly made clear that you can easily opt out and we will offer a refund. Personal threats and harassment do not move the project forward, or help in any way.

On to the update:

In our last update, we told you that a major production consistency improvement would hinge on moving from a Two-Piece T-Bar to a One-Piece T-Bar. We ran a production of One-Piece T-Bars to confirm the manufacturing could hold tolerance and that it would in fact improve the assembly and overall quality of the product. We now have positive indication that a One-Piece T-Bar can in fact be manufactured and are switching all of the production to the One-Piece T-Bar. As more razors go out, we continue to receive more feedback. All feedback is useful, and feedback that indicates any kind of issue that we can address lets us see if it is possible to make the product better. An issue we recently heard from one reviewer is that he believes that at some higher settings (R4 and higher), there is too much play with the blade which could cause chatter. Although we have not been able to replicate this issue in our testing, we looked again at how could we tighten up the current design to provide more support for the blade in the head and eliminate any possible looseness that would result in blade chatter.

We found that we do have some room to tighten the blade in the head and that this could address the issue. We requested and have tested two additional engineering changes to accomplish this tightening. First, we evaluated a small increase to the thickness of the T-Bar head and arms. This increase holds the blade tighter, eliminating play. Second, we thickened the thrust plates that move the blade and also found that this minor change improves the stability of the razor in the head. These changes required only minor mold changes.

The razors on the left side of each photo are from before we modified the molds to thicken the T-Bar and the Thrust Plate. The razors on the right side are from after the change. As a result, the Thrust Plate fits more snugly in the housing (see top picture) and the blade sits more snugly (see bottom picture).

Therefore, moving forward, we plan to implement these engineering changes as well as move all production to the One-Piece T-Bar. A production of new parts is en route and we will use it to confirm that these changes work in an additional mass production. We expect to a start shipping Model T Razors with these new parts in late-July. Then, once we’ve confirmed the new parts work in mass production, we will manufacture remaining new parts in all finishes.

As always, thank you for all of your ongoing support,

The Rockwell Razors Team

May Update - One-Piece T-Bar & Shipping Progress
almost 6 years ago – Sat, Jun 02, 2018 at 01:47:51 AM

Dear Backers,

We’re thrilled to be sharing the progress we’ve made over the last month in correcting the concerns we identified in our last update. We’re working diligently on getting the One-Piece T-Bar solution up and running, so we’ll address that in this update but otherwise endeavour to keep the update short and sweet!

Assembly and shipping has continued this past month, and we’re certainly seeing that our additional care with the current 2-piece T-Bar assemblies is paying dividends through backers reporting exceptional shaves, with razors exhibiting fantastic blade gaps and symmetry.

One-Piece T-Bar

After a test production of the One-Piece T-Bar that met the required tolerances, we’re optimistic about the results of our One-Piece T-Bar test mass production, which we expect to have results on in early June. Pictures of the successful test production of the One-Piece T-Bar are below!

As mentioned last month, in parallel we are producing a new batch of two-piece T-Bar Heads with a larger diameter in the critical point - this is a design that works and that our manufacturing partner can produce reliably. Once that production is complete, we’re expecting to be able to ramp up the assembly speed for the remaining Model T razors. 

Through June, we will continue to ship White Chrome razors that meet the specifications outlined in the April Update. We’re still expecting that the updated Two-Piece T-Bar and brand new One-Piece T-Bar productions will complete in July and we can fulfill Kickstarter pledges towards the end of August, 2018. We can’t wait to read or watch your reviews as you continue to receive your pledge rewards, and we’re thrilled that so many backers have specifically mentioned that the Model T was absolutely worth the wait!

As always, thank you for all your ongoing support,

The Rockwell Razors Team

April Update - Shipping Updates & Final Adjustments
almost 6 years ago – Fri, May 04, 2018 at 11:25:47 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

March Update - Shipping Continues & Price Increase
about 6 years ago – Thu, Apr 05, 2018 at 12:25:42 AM

Dear Backers,

We’re thrilled to announce that the Model T has started to be received by backers, and the reviews are rolling in - it’s official, the Model T is a hit! Here’s an excerpt from one of the reviews:

The Razor itself feels fantastic to hold – a bit heavier than my 6C, with a longer handle. [...] I popped in a blade and played around a bit with the settings and you could visibly see the blade gap closing in and opening up as I adjusted between 1 to 6. [...] Just had my first shave with the Model T and Rockwell blades. Have to say, I’m totally convinced. Started off on the 1 setting and it was very smooth. Barely felt like there was any blade contact with my skin, but it still passed through my hair much more efficiently than the #1 plate on my 6C. [...] Already looking forward to my next shave.

You can read the full review on Reddit here! We’ll be including even more reviews in next month’s update once even more Model T razors have been shipped out and received. If you’ve received your razor already and want to pass along your feedback, please feel free to do so in the comments below!

Shipping Progress

We’re continuing to ship through April, so keep an eye for that email requesting any last-minute address changes!

Pricing Update

This is the announcement we’ve most been looking forward to making. We really appreciate the patience and support our backers have shown over the past 2 years of this project. Many of you are aware of the challenges we at Rockwell Razors faced bringing the first adjustable twist-to-open in decades to market. We’re extremely proud to be the first company to bring an adjustable twist-to-open razor to market that isn’t a multimillion dollar corporation with an extensive team of full-time engineers and their own production facilities. That being said, it’s come to our attention over the process of manufacturing and assembling the Rockwell Model T that we drastically underestimated the costs required to complete each Model T unit. Of course, we're standing by our backers’ pledges between $79 and $99 for a Model T razor, 100 Rockwell Blades, a Rockwell Blade Safe, and a Rockwell Leather Sheath. However, the pre-order price and regular retail price for just the Model T, effective May 1st, will be $195. That means that you, our backers, will be getting $214 of value for just your pledge of between $79 and $99. We can’t think of a better way to say thank you for all your patience, and we hope this helps make the short remaining wait a little more bearable!

It’s also worth pointing out - if you have any friends who are still waiting to pre-order their Rockwell Model T, they have until April 31 to reserve their razor at the current price at rockwellrazors.com - after that, the price doubles!

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We're looking forward to updating you with our shipping progress in the April update, and please don't hesitate to reach out to [email protected] with any questions in the meantime!

Sincerely,

Gareth
Co-Founder, Rockwell Razors