Hello and welcome to all things Daedalus! Our company is growing and we are listening to our customers. Here are some of the changes we’ve gone through and some of the fun stuff we have coming!
New Sales Platform
The new sales system, where we post updates with inventory to our shop at regular intervals, has so far proven to be a success. And so has our new streamlined production methods that were developed to work in tandem with the new sales platform. We’ve been tracking the number of units we can complete in a given timeframe, and our changes have resulted in an increase of over 50%! I know that there have been some justified frustrations in the quick sell outs, but the sales hiatus has created a small bump in demand that will soon be filled.
The new system is just amazing for us… in such a small amount of time, I’ve been able to design and implement aluminum brake drums across the board (a huge technological jump from plastic drums, a feature I now hold as important as the motor itself).
I’ve developed the most high-tech flyer and bobbin assembly I’ve ever dreamed of, with Sparrowhawk. And it’s not just a big motor pushing a thing through space at 4krpm as the goal - it has to be carefully engineered and tuned so that it can actually be used at that speed and perform delicately.
I’ve made some progress on the Raven dual-motor project, major changes with goals of absolute final performance, without unneeded features that would drive the price up unnecessarily.
All of this, just because I’m enjoying a new freedom to be able to design and test new things, and make my existing things even better. Daedalus is not just growing now, but maturing again. Thank you all for being the reason.
New brake whorls
Aluminum 6061 for the win! What happens when the job of a brake drum gets more and more demanding at the higher speeds that Daedalus wheels are capable of? Its singular purpose is to change rotational energy (angular momentum) into heat. And what material distributes heat better than just about anything? 6061 aluminum. And I’ve got to get aeronautical at some point with everything but what could be better than an actively cooled aluminum brake drum? The same way a heat sink loves a fan, I’ve designed an impeller to constantly supply air across the drum to pull that heat away. It’s literally the best single feature I’ve ever designed that truly separates the machine into a “Production” level category. It’s designed to last forever and not ever be able to be “abused.”
Available as standard equipment on all new wheels (except Magpie Art, expected within 2 weeks), and also standard on extra bobbin orders. Even little Sparrow is sporting the flashy new rims! And our older Starling V1/V2 owners will be happy to know that a new pattern will be for sale soon with aluminum drums, in both the Mini and XL sizes!
Website has been updated to be an actual website
And not a middle school homework attempt by myself. I cannot thank Evanita Montalvo enough for taking the reins here and bringing a level of professionalism to our business. Not only is she skilled, but truly a pleasure to work with. And her photography is one of those self-evident truths that needs no embellishment. Thank you, Evanita, for giving so much of your heart and soul this whole time (since the very beginning).
New support email
Customer service is a huge deal here, and having an issue get dropped into a crack is inevitable but we want to do our absolute best to avoid it. Rather than tracking several personal emails, messengers, etc, we have decided to centralize all work-related correspondence concerning customer service to a singular point that both Becca and I can keep track of. Please email us with existing or new issues at Support@DaedalusSpinningWheels.com or fill out the contact form that links to this email.
New manuals
Once again, Evanita for the win. Seriously, it’s like a magical pamphlet now. God, I love that word. But this time, Debbie Held (resident guru in about all things fiber, with an emphasis on copy editing), thank you for your work in fine-tuning and making the manuals both easy to understand and fully comprehensive. Becca and I are both smiling still when we add one into each box. You can smile too when you read the new manuals on the FAQ page.
Live Facebook group Q&A
Sat August 14, 2021 @ 5 pm EDT USA
Yes, it’s time. A significant number of new group members that I’d like to introduce myself to, as well as talk about some of the irons I have in the fire. So many cool new things coming down the pipe, I can’t think of them all at once without exploding in speech.
Sparrowhawk
…. Yes, I can talk forever on this one. Because of Sparrow’s lovely ability to spin fine thread, which needs higher speeds and yet still light takeup, Sparrowhawk was born. I’ve used aerodynamic coupling in past designs to help accelerate the bobbin to keep take up lighter at high speeds, but they were designed as an afterthought into an aesthetically driven base design. With Sparrowhawk, I started from scratch and made every millimeter into the strongest aerodynamic coupling I could devise. This is needed when design speeds of over 4krpm are reached. Small capacity, maybe 2oz bobbins with a 30mm core diameter (which effectively acts as a bit of padding on a normal core, to lessen take up). Yup, I could go on and on but my computer will need a new ribbon soon (is that how these work still?)
Retreat
I am happy to announce the first ever Daedalus Fly-In Spinning Retreat. The retreat will be in Lexington Kentucky at the Griffin Gate Marriott, March 1-5, 2023. Arrive on the 1st and enjoy a welcoming dinner from 630-1030pm. Classes Thursday the 2nd - Saturday the 4th 9-4. Vendor market Friday (12-6) and Saturday (9-5)the 3rd & 4th. Depart Sunday the 5th. Teachers, classes, and prices to follow. We will have our personal “Dream Team” of top-level teachers from our industry, and cannot wait to meet everyone!
Migration
Tweety and Sojourner are getting the miles in! Two little Sparrows making their way around the globe. Well, so far Tweety has been meeting new humans in Alaska USA, and Sojourner has been doing the same in Great Britain. So far feedback has been really positive, and I cannot thank the participants enough for sharing their time via pics and posts. They are fun little birds that travel well and can take care of the most common gauges spun with ease. And how about the fine spinning ability and the pics of human hair for comparison? Gotta shout out to TurtlePie Vampy McPurry for that one!
My wife
I’ve said it in passing a thousand times, but I’d like to acknowledge it here. I design and build spinning wheels, and talk to customers whenever I can. Rebecca does literally everything else. From the print farm (production schedules, daily resetting, maintaining plastic inventory), to the customer service, and maintaining the flow of parts (motors, carbon fiber, every nut, and bolt)... and now she’s building wheels! The first batches of Sparrows we did side by side, as we talked about each detail. Then she just RAN with it. The last batch of Sparrows I did less than her by a mile. They all still get the same QC checkout procedures etc so the level of quality and reliability is as good as ever. And now she’s single-handedly organized and scheduled a Retreat with some of the biggest names in the industry coming to teach? Becca, thank you for all the work you do, and all the heart you put into everything.
-Dave
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