Pika Update, Short and Sweet Version:
We are behind - but still on track to deliver on products promised to our backers.
We appreciate your investment of both money and patience. Everyone at Luke’s Lab is working hard to do what is right and get all our backers their rewards.
Circumstances outside our control in early 2025 forced us to make a hard choice between giving up on hotend manufacturing, and investing heavily in equipment and making hotends ourselves. We weren’t planning on investing in machining for another several years.
This investment in increasing our internal manufacturing capabilities is outside the scope of this Kickstarter project, but is critical to our delivery. This investment became necessary due to changes with our manufacturing partners and the state of the economy. If you are interested, we have more details below.
In addition to those investments of machines and knowledge - February has become the month where the maintenance of other aspects of our existing business, which we have postponed to work on delivering for this Kickstarter, have come due. If you are curious about other parts of Luke’s Laboratory, read “Maintenance” below.
We hear your complaints and are working hard every day to address all of them which are within our control. Many Kickstarter projects fail. Manufacturing Pika in house is the only way to ensure our Kickstarter is successful.
What was this Kickstarter for?
There has been some confusion and we would like to clarify what the funds raised by backers has and has not purchased.
Materials: Copper bar, Steel bar, Titanium bar, Aluminum, tooling *specifically* for machining Pika parts, Pika silicone socks and mold fee, fans, heaters, thermistors, hardware, titanium wings, nozzles. It also funds plating, heat treatments, as well as packaging.
Time and Labor: Designing the silicone sock, machining and programming, assembly, the act of packing and shipping, all require human labor. Kickstarter states our time is a real expense we need to factor in:
https://help.kickstarter.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005047893-Why-is-funding-all-or-nothing
Making the parts ourselves is the only way to manufacture Pika in the United States, and we have been clear on that since launch. The lowest cost for someone else to machine just the heatsink, for a 5,000 part order, is $38 each. That adds up to $190,000 for just one part.
The Kickstarter did not fund the Tornos Swiss lathe: This machine represents a serious capital investment needed to continue producing parts for this project.
1) Electrical updates in our rental property
2) Fire suppression system inside the machine
3) Software (Solidworks and CAM)
4) Mist collector (necessary for fire and health safety!)
5) Tooling
6) Bar feeder
7) Insurance
8) Extra rent (we expanded into a neighboring bay because the Swiss would not fit)
We planned for these costs, and took them into account for our business loan. As Luke said, the loan process was time consuming and difficult. But we were approved before the Kickstarter campaign, and went into our launch with a planned delivery date for the machine.
Part Status:
The Pika is made of these parts, below is detailed breakdown of the status of these parts
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Heatblocks:
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Machined, ready for plating.
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Copper Nozzles:
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Machined, ready for plating.
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It is important to note that these nozzles were one of the largest machining challenges in the Pika part lineup, partially due to their material, and partially due to their size. This is a big accomplishment, and moves us forward significantly!
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Hardened Steel Nozzles:
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Setup and programming complete
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Machine was running .4, tooling broke, more is on the way
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Machine already ran all 1.0mm and .8mm
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Machine is currently running .6mm
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Will machine the rest of .6mm, then .5mm until new tooling for .4mm arrives
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Heat treat recipe is being worked on
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Then they will be plated!
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Titanium Heatbreaks:
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To be machined while nozzles/blocks are being plated.
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Then will be shipped for their special heat treatment.
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Unlike our special copper, titanium is extremely well-documented, and will be easier to machine.
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Heatsinks:
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To be machined while the heatbreaks are being treated
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Titanium Wings:
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Will be ordered, these are fast turn-around
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✅Bondtech CHT Nozzles: Purchased, at the lab
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✅Stretch Goal Nozzle Wrenches: Purchased, at the lab
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✅Fans: Purchased, at the lab
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✅Thermistors: Purchased, at the lab
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✅Heaters: Purchased, at the lab
- ✅Silicone Socks: Purchased, at the lab
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Tyson Build Plates: Still waiting on shipment from Tyson. Because not everyone ordered one of these build plates, it will not impact you unless you ordered one!
Details of the Delays:
Changes With Our Former Manufacturing Partner
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Our original plan was to produce all of our parts (at the time, it was just Chube) with a local company
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Material was purchased
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Deposits were paid
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POs were confirmed
- Heatblocks were complete, and we were given their new pricing (3x the quote) an hour after being given the parts
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Other parts were being produced
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The company was bought out and increased each price per part 2x to 4x the cost
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The increased prices would mean that the Chube line was no longer possible
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Quoting with other vendors
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Luke spent hundreds of hours quoting the parts with other vendors but the prices weren’t viable
The Swiss Lathe
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Moving up a planned investment
Machine Configuration was Wrong
The investment in this equipment came with further unexpected expenses and delays.
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The Tornos Swiss lathe was expected to be operational by June 2025 and came online over 3 months later.
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Despite us supplying the sales team with information on each part we manufacture, the Swiss lathe arrived incorrectly configured and missing parts. (motors, toolheads, live tools)
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The mist collector was not mountable
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The Swiss lathe uses high pressure oil as coolant. This generates a hazardous mist inside the machine which needs to be extracted for health and fire safety.
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The device had to be modified in our shop using materials and extrusions to mount it on the Swiss lathe before we could operate it.
Tooling the Machine
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Being new to machining, we made use of consulting services. This turned out to be a mistake.
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We provided drawings and details of the finished parts and were sold tools that were completely unusable for our application.
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After giving tooling companies full part lists, including materials, they sold us over $10,000 in useless tooling for Pika nozzles that they will not allow us to return.
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All of the tooling they sold us is totally unusable for our applications.
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Investing time and money in re-tooling
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This was a point some people would have quit
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Luke went back to first principles and spent the time to learn a new discipline
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We now have off-the-shelf tooling that works for our application and no longer need reliable consulting services
- We ended up needing to spend $3,000 on additional live tooling
We learned our lesson, and no longer allow tooling companies to give us their ridiculous suggestions.
Staying Alive: Maintenance
February has become a month of mandatory maintenance. With the push to deliver on this Kickstarter, we have delayed necessary maintenance on other aspects of our business. This can only be done so long, and adds a great deal of cost long term.
The addition of a new staff member forced us to confront some of the maintenance items we have postponed. Although another staff member adds more hands and helps things move faster long term, getting them up to speed takes time. This also further shifts our timelines.
We are sorry the project has been delayed by compounding issues, and we truly believed in our initial timeline. We were raised to work hard and do what is right. We will continue to work hard until every backer has received their reward.
Another key point in Luke’s video, is that we need to keep the other sides of this business alive, through maintenance. If you would like, you can read all about what we do at Luke’s Laboratory below. We do a lot of things, and they all complement each other. It is kind of like the layers in a 3d print, actually. Because without some of these layers and “supports” if you will, none of this could properly exist.
Custom 3D Printers
Luke’s Laboratory was founded on building custom 3d printers. The Stablebot, which began as open-sourced, is how Luke was able to quit his full-time engineering management job in the first place! We had 4 or 5 orders come in one autumn, and that is when he decided to fully commit to the lab. We no longer maintain that Github, because there truly isn’t enough time in a day.
Stablebot’s original Github: https://github.com/lukeslaboratory/Stablebot-Core
Several 3d printer builds for customers are in process. Printers have lead-times that we must attempt to follow. Some of them are high-temperature, as Luke mentions in the video. High-temperature machines take a lot of care to properly build, and some of the materials take a long time to source. Because each machine is different, the designs adjust based on customer needs. Luke does these adjustments, as the machines are his design. These machines need to be built; we can’t just ignore them.
We have staff for building, and testing, but there are a lot of things that Luke needs to do to ensure these machines are successful. Luke has more experience in additive manufacturing than anyone else on staff. He has been 3d printing since 2014, and has become a master at troubleshooting. He also manages the custom build quotes. Training someone else on quoting whole machines will be a time-consuming process. There are plans for this to happen eventually, but at-present, Luke is the only one with enough knowledge to run our quotation process.
Chube Hotends
Chube hotends are not only for hobbyist-type customers. Chube hotends are industrial-grade, and there are businesses in the United States, and abroad, who rely on us to continue making these hotends for their print farms, their customers, and more. As Luke said, Chube Hotends are the whole reason we made the shift to in-house production in the first place. Chube is the product that led to our business plan being approved during the loan process.
As parts run out, we need to fit them into our manufacturing schedule.
Heatsinks: We ran out of heatsinks early in the fall, it was an excellent opportunity for Luke to machine something “easy” before the more difficult Pika parts. Aluminum is one of the simplest metals to machine, and this helped Luke down the line with programming and machining Pika parts.
FIN6 Nozzles: After running FIN copper nozzles for Pika, we made some Fin6 nozzles as well. They are made out of the same material and bar size, and require minimal tooling swaps. Tooling swaps are extremely time consuming. Because we are late on Chube Compact as well, we are giving one of these nozzles as a thank-you gift to our very patient Compact customers.
Meltzone Adapters: We ran out of V6 Meltzone adapters for Chube Conduction. We have customers and vendors who ordered Air and Conduction hotends months ago, and they have been waiting patiently.
Meltzone adapters are made out of the very same copper bar as all of those nozzles. So we ran the Conduction meltzone adapters too. Running these taught Luke a skill needed to machine the Pika heatbreak, which will simplify their production as well.
Retail Maintenance
We run a retail store! Luke has zero hand in shipping, but he handles a lot of purchasing. Some purchasing requires long discussions or vetting of suppliers. Luke needs to make these decisions. That takes time and energy.
Some product prices became prohibitive due to tariffs. Because these products are necessary for our business, Luke needed to search for quality suppliers. He spent a lot of time finding suppliers in India to avoid high tariffs placed on China. Soon after he found acceptable suppliers in India, the government placed extreme tariffs on that country as well!
Customers often send emails asking questions about their products. We have implemented a ticketing system, which customers can email directly. There are some tickets that Luke must handle. We make sure he is only tagged in on tickets that nobody else can answer.
Print Farm Maintenance
Our first full-time staff member, who Luke mentions in his video, was brought on to manage our print farm. We run a successful print farm here, and it has quite frankly kept the lights on more than once.
Print farm operations are mandatory for us to continue existing in this space, and there are times that Luke is required to troubleshoot printer problems to keep our farm operational. Maintaining the print farm is a requirement.
Maintenance on Existing Custom 3D Printers
We support our Stablebot customers via tickets. This takes time, we need the full context. We ask questions, and for videos and pictures. Sometimes it is simple, and they need to power cycle, or use different settings for their materials. Sometimes a “wear” item needs to be replaced.
We also offer service-contracts, and sometimes Luke needs to travel for printer maintenance. We want our customers to be successful. Luke is the only person at the lab qualified to undertake service trips. We even offer our own printfarm to Stablebot customers if needed. If doing the right thing adds time, that is okay. Because it is better than doing the wrong thing.
Book-keeping
Luke and I are going to spend a few days filing Luke’s Laboratory taxes. This will interrupt machining, absolutely. But we can’t avoid it, there are only so many hours in a day. We do not have an Accountant, and have thus far filed our own business and personal taxes every year. Obviously, this is a requirement for all businesses.
“Why don’t you pay someone else to do that?” – we don’t make enough money to pay for this service. We keep our personal spending as low as possible! In fact, we live barely above our state (WI) poverty line.
Some people are angry that we went to Formnext. We planned to attend Formnext *before* realizing the schedule would be so terribly off. Tradeshows are planned months in advance, and after a certain point, you cannot cancel. There are rules against it. If you don’t show up, you aren’t refunded. Neglecting to set up your booth can result in a life-time ban, in addition to fines.
Home Maintenance
Luke must spend a majority of his time working at the Lab, in the machine shop, or at his computer. He has to be the one to do these things. He mentions 80 hour weeks in his video, but I need to be clear that he ends up working more than that. He plans to work 80 hours at the very least.
Although I cannot engineer, build printers, or machine, my efforts at the lab allow Luke to continue the necessary work nobody else can do. I also supply nearly 100% of the childcare (we can’t afford daycare), 100% of household chores (indoor and outdoor), and nearly all cooking. I do this so Luke can give his energy to you. Because, frankly, this has consumed his mind. He won’t be able to rest until these hotends ship, and I see no reason to prolong this just to relieve my household burden. That would be selfish and shortsighted of me.
Kickstarter is Built by and for Dreamers
Negativity does not help anyone; lives are brought down by negativity, and we do our best to avoid that. So when you see us staying positive, it's because we need to in order to fulfill promises! We are, however, real people. Our feelings are sometimes hurt by comments on the internet. But we do our best to remain professional, and not let those comments impact our work and outlook. We are not machines, and we are not backed by a wealthy investor. However, we ARE hard workers. Quitting is not an option for us! Especially after the outpouring of support we continue to receive from this community. We do not take that trust in us lightly; the 3d printing community has been with us through all of this. Our sense of loyalty requires us to return the favor.
Many prominent Kickstarter projects are launched by large corporations with pre-purchased tooling, giant factories at their disposal, and “rewards” being made before they even launch. In my opinion, those companies don’t need Kickstarter, and they aren’t who Kickstarter was made for. Also in my opinion, these companies have skewed backer expectations. They make manufacturing look so easy, because they didn’t need to be Kickstarted in the first place.
Products shipped to backers are called “rewards” instead of "products" or "merchandise" for a reason. Because it is not an online shop. It is meant to help creatives make something that would otherwise remain an idea. Kickstarter expects us to try our very best to ship Pika, and of course we are. Shipping Pika is mandatory. Even though it is late, and past our projected timelines, we are absolutely determined to ship to all of you. I will be packing your orders myself, with love, because we are a small operation.
Kickstarter projects sometimes fail. When Luke and I were dating, he backed something called “The Coolest” and it never arrived. He was sad, yes. He knew when he backed that it might not happen. Some backers did receive their reward. But he didn’t. Their last update said they would need a large influx of cash before they could make and ship more. Apparently, they were not able to make that happen. Link here:
Keeping the other parts of our business alive after all of these delays is part of what prevents us from failing like some of those other projects! That, and avoiding the dreaded "scope creep." That is also why we kept our Stretch Goals attainable!
Kickstarter is about supporting an invention that would otherwise remain a bundle of thoughts. It is meant to allow those thoughts to gain physicality in the name of innovation. It is meant to lift regular people up, when the world itself is woven by oligarchs whose bottom line was written to stifle them.
