Production Update : October 10th, 2021

Hello Singing Tea Kettle Enthusiasts,

I hope are all well and safe. For today's post I'll write about some of the pending changes to the kettle and where we are stuck with functional design.

I just received 3 prototypes state-side with all new parts, original 1985 parts and packaging.  We are currently blocked from delivering functioning units by two components. They are the gasket seal issues which the whistle pump/piston sits inside of and the "toothed ratchet plate" which acts as our sheet music.  A costly lesson I recently learned is that CT scanning the original parts is a scan of the cooled plastics. This is different than the heated plastics 'shot' into the injection mold. Hot plastic expands, then shrinks as it cools. As a result our injection mold is machined to specifications for cooled plastic, not hot plastic which settles slightly differently and therefore parts do not mate perfectly. In some cases this can be easily corrected. 

For the next engineering challenge we will be changing the 'sheet music' of the toothed ratchet plates by removing the 6th and 8th notes, and adjusting their timing to more closely align with the geared teeth of this part. As a result notes 6 and 8 should now play.  In order to make sure the disc is smooth and flat the plastic injection mold may have to add pins to the metal mold to support areas what would otherwise sink or add additional plastics to adjust for the cooling effect shrinkage. 

Another customer has volunteered their engineering expertise and resources to better assist with rapid prototyping to resolve these issues.  Thank you for your patience and continued support.