Dear Backers,

Our team has been working on a multitude of details in preparation for production, including updating CAD and production drawings, custom components sourcing and vendor negotiation, packaging design, and final functional and validation testing. Because we promised bi-weekly updates, this particular one comes just before our final cosmetically-correct prototype arrives. However, there’s still a lot of areas of interest for this update.

Rewards Shipped! 

All backers who pledged for the Kanso Coffee Bean Storage Set or the Wood Coffee Scoops will be receiving their rewards soon, as they’ve were all packaged and shipped more than a week ago, or await pickup. We’ve started hearing from some that the product arrived in good condition and that they’re pleased so far. Soon the online Kanso Coffee store will be updated with spare parts for the Storage Set tubes and silicone sealing rings.

Hiku in Aluminum

Last update we announced that we had been testing our triple bearing shaft stabilization system which was used to produce the grind plots that were posted in December. This update we wanted to show a picture or two of Hiku in black anodized aluminum. This is the prototype that houses the triple bearing system and the very unit that produced the excellent particle size distribution plots.

As you can see, it’s almost production quality, with a matte finish and the same finely detailed ribbed texture that was shown in the videos. It does have the pleasing tactility and balance that we spoke of before, and the surface texture helps to provide a better grip.

The lid has its own texture around the rim for ease of removal and installation.

Grind Adjustment Mechanism Refinements

We mentioned last time that some tweaks were made to the mechanism resulting in better feel and less friction. That's hard to show in a video but one tangible improvement that we can show in a video is how rotation of the adjustment ring now results in no burr rotation. This is a small but significant refinement that contributes to the quality feel that Hiku needs to have.

Next Update and Summary

We expect to be able to show photographs of the Kanso exclusive 41mm conical burrset with Ti-N coating in the next update, along with more photographs of the final prototype (shipping to us this week) which incorporates all improvements we require prior to production. In this last week leading up to design freeze, we’ve been updating the drawings with custom part numbers and put them under formal version control.

Off-tool samples of various custom parts have started arriving and will continue to do so throughout February, March and April. Once all tooling orders are issued for the metal and plastic parts, we’ll turn our attention back to the wood knob, the packaging, and the mass production / delivery schedule.

Please feel free to comment or ask questions. As always, we’ll monitor the comments and ensure timely responses are posted.

Sincerely,

Amanda and team