US Open I leave in 15 days.....

The Renfro

The Renfro

Outsville.com
Silver Member
4:30 AM... Just set up the chalk station... Was supposed to be a facing/boring/labeling station but 15 days away from the Open I am not going to have production molds... Thanks old pal of mine... Dropped you the material July 6th... Keep it and shove it....

Anyway.... I picked up some 1" ID thick walled plexi over the weekend and it's looks like it will hold up thru the entire process... The chalk station now has jigs for cutting/facing/boring/recessing and labeling..... Well tonight it has 3 of 5.... I will work on the last 2 tomorrow.....

For the next 2 weeks I am going to post on this thread just so anyone that decides to jump into something with both feet has a window looking in on what you have to go thru.... Kamui took 3 years on their chalk... It's 2014 so we are about to hit that if we make it in Jan. and not now... The Ki-Techs... I still find ways to not make tips from equipment failure and upgrades or just plain old oops factors. At this point I am wayy better at not making tips than making them.... Thats why we have QC LOL.... Going on 3 years with those as well...

You can chime in if you wish and root for or against us in the next 2 weeks.. I intend to post nothing but the truth on our day to day fight and we likely aren't going to make it but If I have to show up here each night and spill my guts on what I should have done vs what I did do... I think I am adding motivation......

Chris
 
I am going to root for you. I really want to get some of that chalk. As soon as you have some of that chalk ready I will be ordering some tips as well. Let me know when I can place that order.
 
no sleep

I seen last year at the derby how you stayed up till 5AM so we could play on bigfoot,
then be back at it early in the morning to set up for those matches.
I think you will be fine.
But then you are another year older......
Better take it easy.

Dinner is on me for you and Mark this time.
Take care, Carl
 
Thanks for the votes of confidence guys =)

Today was pretty productive... I tested the primary cut stop I had made to cut the chalk into 1" Cylinders and an hour later I had it fixed and repeatable.... I went out to buy some odds and ends and decided on a thinner masonry blade than I was using... Mine was worn out anyway and I was worrying about chipping.... Lots of blade choices so I decided to ask one of the guys working there... I caught a real roll here... The guy actually had a hobby business where he builds custom aquariums... I told him what I was doing and he asked why I didn't just cut the Polycarbonite into molds and I told him I didn't think I had the right equipment for the job and would likely chip it to pieces.... Long story short... I had a cpl of the tubes with me as I was looking for clamping options and he put them in his trunk.. I met him at weigles and picked them up around 9pm... They look great.....

First prelim run will be tomorrow night... Biggest Batch I have done so far in testing is 6 LOL.... Gonna try 20 tommorow night and 60 Friday night if all goes according to plan.... Will at least get the actual measurements... 1" Mold will make a cylinder smaller than an inch since there is some shrink during pressing and drying so I had them made at 1.10".. the shrink will be dependant on how wet the mix is... Too wet and lots of shrink with danger of abrasives sedimenting out of the suspension.. Too dry and you get air pockets and it's a PITA to work with.......

This has been the hitch point on the labels... I need an actual sample of the chalk at production height to get the proper overlap and height... Hopefully labels get ordered Friday!!!

Chris
 
The Renfro said:
Thanks for the votes of confidence guys =)

Today was pretty productive... I tested the primary cut stop I had made to cut the chalk into 1" Cylinders and an hour later I had it fixed and repeatable.... I went out to buy some odds and ends and decided on a thinner masonry blade than I was using... Mine was worn out anyway and I was worrying about chipping.... Lots of blade choices so I decided to ask one of the guys working there... I caught a real roll here... The guy actually had a hobby business where he builds custom aquariums... I told him what I was doing and he asked why I didn't just cut the Polycarbonite into molds and I told him I didn't think I had the right equipment for the job and would likely chip it to pieces.... Long story short... I had a cpl of the tubes with me as I was looking for clamping options and he put them in his trunk.. I met him at weigles and picked them up around 9pm... They look great.....

First prelim run will be tomorrow night... Biggest Batch I have done so far in testing is 6 LOL.... Gonna try 20 tommorow night and 60 Friday night if all goes according to plan.... Will at least get the actual measurements... 1" Mold will make a cylinder smaller than an inch since there is some shrink during pressing and drying so I had them made at 1.10".. the shrink will be dependant on how wet the mix is... Too wet and lots of shrink with danger of abrasives sedimenting out of the suspension.. Too dry and you get air pockets and it's a PITA to work with.......

This has been the hitch point on the labels... I need an actual sample of the chalk at production height to get the proper overlap and height... Hopefully labels get ordered Friday!!!

Chris
Click to expand...

I'm with you too hopefully all goes well perhaps just before you become famous..I'll look for some chalk. Best regards......Elvis
 
Chris, you know I'm rooting for you. Just remember, you can't do any better than your best and I'm confident you are giving it your best effort. No doubt. I am also sure you have the tenacity to see all these things through to success. Best of luck!
 
Im with you Chris. If anyone wants a harsh and rude awakening, start your own business, Never mind developing a new product. It takes a lot to make something happen, and it can test your metal. Cant wait to see the end results !!
 
I am all for you. As soon as I can get it I plan on trying Solo rack too. Get it all on 1 order.
 
Well today sucked.... Nothing at all got done on the chalk front... Today was about tips, tips and more tips.... I am having to start production for October early... I guess I should thank lots of the folks here on AZ and Facebook...

We bought a bunch of new stuff in the last few months and the growing pains were expected but not to the level we have had them... All of our processing was perfected using one off stuff I threw together... As I have been able to upgrade in different areas I have found out that the other areas may not be able to keep up... So I am proud to announce I have learned about 12 new ways to not make Ki-Techs... Luckily the batches show failure early enough that the tips can be salvaged ran back thru the initial break down and started over but lets just say it's been a whole lot of no fun.... This is why I have to start next months tips now because what I had put back in inventory has been eaten up while I have taken my lumps....

As always if you get a bad tip.. Shoot a picture of it and send it to me... I will send a replacement out even if you think it may have been the installers fault... The only caveat is make sure they use a new blade on the replacement.... Lots of installer are set in their ways and won't listen to that nugget until the first Ki-Tech soft or medium gets hot and reaches out and grabs their chisel or refuses to cut unless they lean into it.....

Chris

Chalk updates tomorrow... Doesn't look good tho... Naughty school girl night at one of the 2 rooms I play in here in Knoxville so I better get what I can get done early :cool:
 
Post pics of naughty school girl night please....

Pretty sure I won't be the only one who wants to see them.

:D
 
poolhustler said:
Post pics of naughty school girl night please....

Pretty sure I won't be the only one who wants to see them.

:D
Click to expand...

Hahah Well I guess since they will have a direct impact on the chalk progressing or in this case... not so much so I will oblige....

Chris
 
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13 Days.....

No school girls tonight... Family came visiting... Mom turns 64 next week and while I know she would put on the school girl outfit at the drop of a hat I am not so sure that those pictures would ever need to see the light of day..... I did do some specific gravity tests and a few volumetric tests tonight and left the measurments on the white board for my Chalk Maker, aka the better half of me....

I am headed out at noon to watch my beloved Vols attempt to return to the dominance they had in the late 90s... There is a definite parallel to them and my pool game LOL... But I digress... There will be blood!! err nm wrong movie.... There will be chalk made tomorrow while I am watching the game.... I hope 3 things.... My calculations are correct.... The better half doesn't say screw it I am going out on the pontoon... And we beat the crap out of Georgia between the hedges.....

Yeah I know many of you are friends on facebook and you see Tennessee Tech (Chemical Engineering) and MTSU (anything but Chem E bygoddddd) but I was registerd at UT and moved into an Apartment on Campus the summer before I started in the fall.. Between Tech and MTSU.. Being a local there was never any way I would have graduated here... The phone rang non-stop all summer long with mischief and the first day of fall registration I loaded my chit and went to MTSU... I think UT was number 5 that year in the country for partying.... LOL

Here's to hoping all of your teams win tomorrow... Unless they are Georgia... Or any non-SEC team.....

GO VOLS!!!!!

Chris
 
Weeeeelll... Been nothing good to report on the chalk front so I would say there won't be any at the open.... The plexi molds didn't make it out alive... Am reinforcing them for one more go but it will be this weekend which will put me dead up against a snowball's chance in hell of having any with me... Who knows tho stranger things have happened.. On the break tip front... well there we are having some progress and I may have some R&D versions with me if anyone is at the Open and interested.... BIG MAY... BIG MAY... LOL

Chris
 
I'm always rooting for you. If you're way better at not making tips than making them I'm just as good as not mailing stuff out sometimes.

I need to get you that one tip back. I'm going to mail it tomorrow or Friday 10001%. Don't worry about the other stuff. I just remembered about it tonight, I put it off for like 5 days and then just completely forgot about it for the last month or whatever it's been until I was cleaning out my case.

Can't wait to try your chalk though.

I keep converting people to Ki-Techs here. Lot of Kamui users switching. I've given out 4 of the hards I had to people to try.

I'm going to snag one of the M/H's you were talking about as well as a soft and put those on the original shafts of my playing cue for people to try out. I use the hard on my OB shaft that I play with so I'll have everything for people to try out.


I love your products and try to push them for you. Good luck at the open.
 
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