2019/2020 - Update From RevoHQ' -

General announcements
Rachel K
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Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 4:06 pm
Location: Cumbria

Re: 2019/2020 - Update From RevoHQ' -

Post by Rachel K »

Hi All,

It has been a while since we last gave an update regarding the new puzzle (Salmon) so we would like to let everyone know what is happening. No one has seen the puzzle in person except for the HQ team and we are working tirelessly to ensure that this puzzle will be fantastic for you.

The Salmon has around 39 parts, much more than our Silver with 16 parts. Some of the parts require precision machining to 0.01mm to ensure we have a reliable working puzzle.

We have had to work very hard to ensure there are no parts of the maze that can be cheated as well as ensuring all elements are functional and reliable.

This has undergone many versions to find the ultimate version. Then we have had to find a reliable way to manufacture on a consistent basis.

We have tried different clamping techniques as well as trying different tools to achieve our goal. This has been an expensive learning curve as some of the cutters we have used are around £30-£40 each.

We are now getting the result we have wanted!

The Salmon has always been targeted as our best puzzle ever and high expectation has been driven by our customers. We aim to deliver this as our showpiece. The result will be a very high quality £300 puzzle that will justify the development and the very long wait for some of our customers.

We have however not just focus on the Salmon, but also planning for the future.

We have had two major issues that we needed to address for some time. Due to our puzzles being multi-levels, the small steps are sometimes cheatable due to the nickel plating process. This adds material and rounds off edges.

There is electroless plating, that adds minimal material but makes the surface dull (matt) and is not in keeping with our quality finish. Mazes that are unplated are smoother and have crisp edges making the maze usable as we intended. But they tarnish quickly making your hands black.

Another issue is that our engineers are a production shop, so small runs cost them much more due to setup costs, which is passed onto us and then onto you. For each design, we have to make a minimum of 100 units and that makes them expensive.

So to produce the Lime, for example, will be very high cost. Our Silver was developed and would have cost much higher if it was not incorporated into large production run at Christmas.

So with these two problems, we have a solution. The new V3 Maze!

The new V3 mazes will soon take over the older mazes because the clever design allows us to run the mazes here. Our machine has one problem, it has no “Y” Axis. This makes the 7 side flats difficult to machine in one operation and has to be done as a second process on our milling machine.

We have designed a new maze body to allow us to machine just the maze in brass. This then fits into a two-part stainless steel body that ends up with a complete maze!

Now we can make small runs of mazes as and when we like, so have commissioned our engineers to make 200 new V3 Maze bodies. In the future, we are just getting the Sleeve and Maze Body plus pins from our engineers.

We are making 100 Lime as the first run and then some Salmon before going onto the Aqua, Blue, Green, Titanium, Gunmetal, Indigo, Mint and Copper. The Bronze and Orange will be made by our engineers. (Silver will be discontinued until 2029 when we will have another 100 made).

Two more new puzzles, the Grey and Turquoise are coming for Christmas. (Level to be agreed).

We can then supply mazes to go with the V3 body.

We NOW have 200 V3 Bodies here. We are ready to finally ship the V1 Salmon (once independent testing takes place), Lime, HM Black Merc and Mini’s will be run in August before all attention will switch to our R2 Solar Puzzles in September.

While we have been quiet in terms of updates, much has been going on in the background. In between everything, we have also been shipping our current stock for customers.

We will soon put up pictures of our V3 (Shane and Ali have seen actual pictures of design and stock) with a Blue Maze to show the benefits of our new design.

Keep you posted…

Best, Revo Production Team!
CzMeteo
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:46 am

Re: 2019/2020 - Update From RevoHQ' -

Post by CzMeteo »

Thank you for the extensive update!

I am very interested in this new V3 design. I am hoping the photos can shed more light on the changes. As I see it, the sleeve of the puzzle will be made from stainless steel, vs. the old anodized aluminum? And the core will still be made of brass, but will be machined differently? And does this solve the electroplating problem?

Wow, new puzzles, Gray and Turquoise! I hope we do see these in less than a year. Hopefully they are spaced out too, so we aren't given three new puzzles all at once.
Rachel K
Posts: 714
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 4:06 pm
Location: Cumbria

Re: 2019/2020 - Update From RevoHQ' -

Post by Rachel K »

The V3 is essentially a new production design of our existing and potentially new mazes. These will be made of stainless steel instead of the nickel-plated brass however the actual maze is still made of brass.

The sleeve will still be made of aluminum and anodized but we may incorporate a slight change to make them identifiable as a V3 maze interior.

We will be showing the concept with a Blue maze as this is open and in the public domain however, all mazes will be made this way in the future.

Anybody who has seen the Gold maze will understand what we have done.

We appreciate a lot was said in the update to show that we are very busy trying to ensure new puzzles can be brought out on time and can be bought straight from the website.

Note: the Salmon that have been pre-ordered are going to be V1 (the original design). We will, however, make some V3 if some people would prefer them after seeing pictures.

Please note anybody wanting special numbers etc we'll automatically reserve for those numbers, if you have any questions please email me rachel@revohq.co.uk.
Coloradobluesguy
Posts: 128
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2017 2:04 am
Location: Denver, Colorado

Re: 2019/2020 - Update From RevoHQ' -

Post by Coloradobluesguy »

I can’t wait
AQ-01128-SOLVED
BU-07001-SOLVED
TQ-00223-In Progress
GR-07001-SOLVED
Mint MT-0150-Solved
BR07001-In Progress
Indigo-Ordered/Arrived
Gunmetal-Ordered/Arrived
Copper-Ordered/Arrived
Silver-
Handmade
Lime
Mini
Red-0032
Gold-
Titanium
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ghxost
Posts: 579
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2018 8:53 pm

Re: 2019/2020 - Update From RevoHQ' -

Post by ghxost »

Cannot wait to see but I think I'd prefer a v3 salmon vs an unplated one as I originally wanted. Seems it may solve the plating "issues"
Seeking:
Black extreme (not merc), Red (extreme), Ruby, Peach
Ramisi5, devil isis, devil copernisis (or other harder variants)
CzMeteo
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:46 am

Re: 2019/2020 - Update From RevoHQ' -

Post by CzMeteo »

If I may voice my opinion, I don't think the V3 puzzles should have a different sleeve. If I am envisioning this correctly, the puzzle will still appear identical to V1 when it is sealed.
Spoiler:
Similar to the Gold puzzle, it appears unchanged from the closed position. But in reality the engraved maze is milled on a different metal and sandwiched between the brass ends.
I greatly appreciate how all of the puzzles thus far are uniform in size and shape. It makes for a great lineup when all of the puzzles are put together, and there is no confusion that the puzzle in front of you is a Revomaze.

I would like the puzzles of this style in the future to match the originals, so we can keep building the family.

The core is changing, not the sleeve. If anything, the core should change, not the sleeve. I think this could be considered more of a V1.1 rather than V3. Regardless of names, perhaps you can etch "V3" on the edge of the sleeve or core as an identifying mark.

I think it would be a real shame to have the design of all future puzzles suddenly change, ruining the aesthetic of our puzzle displays.
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ghxost
Posts: 579
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2018 8:53 pm

Re: 2019/2020 - Update From RevoHQ' -

Post by ghxost »

It says a slight change to the sleeve

Hopefully they had just those thoughts in mind already, just an identifier
Seeking:
Black extreme (not merc), Red (extreme), Ruby, Peach
Ramisi5, devil isis, devil copernisis (or other harder variants)
maximos92
Posts: 183
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2015 6:01 pm
Location: Germany

Re: 2019/2020 - Update From RevoHQ' -

Post by maximos92 »

So when can we pre-order the lime? :D
Open: AQ01402|BUMarbles|GRMarbles|MT01059|BR01870|R00052|OR00210|TI00284|GMMarbles|CU00004|Mini
Closed: OBS Black V2|IN00262|Silver|Handmade
Ordered: Salmon
WTB: Black|Lime
Rachel K
Posts: 714
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 4:06 pm
Location: Cumbria

Re: 2019/2020 - Update From RevoHQ' -

Post by Rachel K »

Hello! If you are interested in V1 Lime, please get in touch with me on Facebook or email, I don't mind, we can go from there! :) we have a list of people who would like to be added to the list so if you would like to be added, please get in contact for more information.

The same applies to Salmon, if you are thinking about a V3 design rather than V1, that is some important information that we need to know, once pictures of V3 have been released, it may change your mind on what you would prefer.

- Rachel
Rachel K
Posts: 714
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 4:06 pm
Location: Cumbria

Re: 2019/2020 - Update From RevoHQ' -

Post by Rachel K »

V3 Photos! :D

The principle behind the new V3.

We are able to now machine the maze on its own in brass to fit on the new stainless steel body. We hope that you like it!

The Lime will be the first to be used in this way followed by the rest at a later date. The sleeve is currently the same as the existing sleeves, we are only thinking about adding a small change to make it recognizable as a V3. We will do a vote before finalizing it so we can hear your feedback. :)

~ Rachel
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