Video: puck rake v2 (or: how to over-optimize making something)
Here's the back-story on this product, which you won't hear revealed in the video.
Several years ago, I decided to work on my own-design puck grooming tool.
I started with a used wine cork, used acupuncture needles of varying thicknesses, drilled holes in the cork, and tried various patterns. I publicly posted what I'd learned, such (for instance) that too-thick needles made your coffee works. 0.35mm and 0.4mm needles worked best for me.
Stephane Ribes then ran with these results and did some proper research, finding 0.4mm to work best, with the absolutely best results being 0.4 needles and the “hog” afterwards. His research results are on our website. https://decentespresso.com/doc/puck_preparation/
I then spent quite a lot of time making this “super simple” to make. Just a small piece of turned wood, four holes. A bit of water to slide the needle in, let it try and the wood closes up on the needle and holds it in place. No glue, nicely repairable. Japanese wire cutters to cut the sharp needle ends in such a way that no sharp snags remain.
And then the bad times came, once I tried to actually get someone to make this.
One after another, each company we tasked with making these, just ruined it. The holes wouldn't be straight, the shape was not good. Everything they could screw up, they did.
It turned out, I'd over optimized this. By making it so simple, so cheap to make, no supplier could make any profit making this for me. So, they all did a bad job. We went through 8 suppliers, and finally one modified my design a bit (with teflon sleeves in the holes) to make it. But still, they didn't do an amazing job with the shape we'd made, causing it to be a clumsy looking instead of the elegance I'd looked for.
So…. we totally redesigned our puck rake. Instead of being wood, and thus needing skill to make, we switched to a stainless steel core, and used a robot (CNC) to make the part exactly as we wanted it. Same thing for the wood: have a robot do it.
Naturally, this made the thing much more expensive to make, but whatever: we weren't going to sell millions of these things, and didn't need to cost optimize the manufacturing.
So, that's what this video will show you: we're now selling a v2 puck rake, that looks and performs as I'd wanted it to. It's no longer made by human hands, except for the final assembly.
And I learned something: make sure your supplier can make good money from you, or they won't do a quality job.
-john
https://decentespresso.com/rake
AI Summary:
The video introduces version 2 of a puck rake, showing how it differs from version 1. Key improvements include design changes, higher-quality materials, and enhanced precision.
Key Points:
- Version 1: Simple wood with plastic tubes and needles.
- Version 2: Sleeker shape, higher-quality, denser wood, and a stainless steel core.
- Design Changes: Needles now arranged in a square pattern, rather than a triangle.
- Increased Heft: Version 2 is about twice as heavy as version 1.
- Improved Precision: Stainless steel core allows for more precise needle placement.
Conclusion:
The v2 puck rake is an evolutionary improvement over v1, offering better materials, design, and functionality, making it a more effective tool for espresso preparation.
#puckrake #rake #videos #documentation
Updated 2023/11/22