FMBCH-02 manufacturing update

Hello everyone! There’s 100 more of you than last time I wrote one of these, which is very cool!

First things first, the revised fork-mounted brake cable hangers (FMBCH-02) are at anodizing. Thank you to everyone who has been extra patient in the overly long time since last time they were available for purchase. I will be updating the site photos and info as soon as I have them back, and you’ll see another email like this one announcing the day and time they will be live. It will be kind of short notice, but I don’t anticipate them selling out, and if they do, there will be more shortly.

FMBCHs will be readily available going forward. My intention was never to have them be sold out for so long, but it has taken a while to get a better production system going.

I was previously machining them the same way I had at the initial prototype phase, one at a time in a 4-op process that too long and with not enough downtime in the cycle to get anything else done. The demand for them exceeded the efficiency of that method, but I had to wait until it made sense to invest more money into manufacturing them. Well, it made sense in January, and Quintin at Terra Cycle (my mfg partner and ex-workplace), has since developed a new program and fixturing for these. They are now made more reliably out of larger blanks, four at once, although still in multiple ops on a 3-axis mill.

Terra Cycle also machines some of my other product components: brass barrel adjusters, brass nuts, Rod Steward clips, double-threaded stand-offs, and WRT hanger bodies. I machine and bend Rod Steward bag supports, and machine the 7mm Nitto-compatible clamps myself. All of my core products are machined from raw stock and finished here in Portland, OR. The anodizer is 8 miles away. Hardware is imported, as hardware tends to be.

I’ve noticed lots of small businesses sharing status updates, and I’m happy to do similarly—

First, you should know I’ve never liked this country, I just happen to live here. It ain’t mine, and you’ll never see any flags or “made in USA” anywhere, although pretty much all my things happen to be made here. I say made in Portland, OR, sometimes. But that feels weird, too.

It is undoubtedly cool to make your own stuff. Allegiance with this country is overwhelmingly uncool, and the two don’t mix in my worldview. I make stuff because it is fun, and I happen to live here.

Shovel Research is my solo project and I do (and enjoy, to varying degrees) everything involved: design, prototyping, packaging, shipping, taxes etc. Over the next few years I hope to do more of the machining myself. The reason that is not the case currently is because (1) I am purposely keeping my (personal and business) overhead as low as possible to save, and (2) I have a day job, which is not full time but still a lot of time.

As far as the increasings costs of doing business that have been the main topic of discussion for many people for the past few weeks and months, I see them and feel them and also my volumes are small enough, cashflow solid enough, and overhead so low that Shovel Research is more okay than ever. I started at the end of 2022, with 2023 being the first year of sales. I still haven’t had a month with higher (retail) revenue than that first month of only having Rod Stewards available, which is sort of funny, but it’s been surprisingly consistent despite me only posting on instagram about 6 times a year. I haven’t yet paid for any advertising. I slowed down production last year (2024) because I changed day jobs. In 2022 when I changed the business name to Shovel Research and started designing my own products, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted out of this and now I do. So it feels like I’m making good progress, and will be able to continue slow and incremental improvement toward what I want this to become. Your support has been invaluable, even if you haven’t bought anything.

Thanks for reading!

Look out for another newsletter with the date/time for FMBCHs to go live, as well as a couple other products you haven’t seen much of yet.

I am always open to questions or comments or product suggestions, so feel free to get in touch!

sal at shovel research dot com