The Armour Archive

Ok, I will be poised (sleepily) over my pooter tonight at 11:59pm waiting to open the slots. I just want to remind you that replies to this post will not get you a slot, requests must be made via email only, and only after the announcement is made on my site. If midnight comes and goes and there is no announcement, someone come and wake me up 'cause I have apparently fallen asleep. Unless it's because my web site is down and I can't log into it to make changes. (That BETTER not happen...Grrrr)

DON'T FORGET TO TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO ORDER so I know how many slots to assign!

EDIT: For further clarification and to avoid confusion, I thought I had better add in this bit of information. I will be opening 3 slots on Friday, April 29th at 12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. At this time, I will modify my site to declare that the slots are open, and at THAT point, I will begin accepting emails. Please wait for the announcement to be made on my site. I don't expect my email inbox to instantly fill up, and I don't even know if my queue will fill up, but I wish to plan for all contengencies if possible to make it as fair as possible in case there is more interest than there are slots.

Thanks



Hey all,
Just in case there is any interest, I will be opening 3 queue slots between the end of this week and the beginning of next. These will be slots numbered 3, 4, and 5.

Here is a copy of the text from my web site that explains how my queue system works:

How my queue system works


My queue system consists of five queue slots. Each slot is a time period of ten business days. Business days are Monday through Friday.

Most pieces I make take about five to seven business days to complete. For these projects, one queue slot will be assigned. If a piece will take longer than ten business days to complete, I will assign extra queue slots to allow for completion of the project, provided that enough extra queue slots are available.

If all five of my queue slots are full, I will open up new slots as projects are completed. My goal is to keep no more than five queue slots at one time. Queue slots will only be assigned as space is available, and I cannot promise future slots to anyone. Slots will be filled on a first come, first served basis at the time of the slot openings, and slot openings will be announced on the Home page of my site. Projects will be completed in the order that they were received, and there may be a wait of several weeks before I will be able to begin your project to allow for the completion of the projects ahead of yours.

Requests for queue slots are taken through email only, and you must state that you are ready to order and would like a slot. Feel free to ask any questions you like, but keep in mind that asking a question is not the same as requesting a slot.

For current queue status, you may check the information on my Home page, or feel free to contact me at kauscg@email.msn.com for further information.



What this means is that, first, slots numbers 1 and 2 are already filled from the last queue. I don't expect these to take more than 5 business days each to complete, but queue slot #3 will be given a wait time of up to 20 business days before I can get to it (10 business days to complete slot number one, plus 10 business days to complete slot number two). If I finish slots 1 and 2 ahead of that 20 day time period, I will be able to start early on slot #3. Slot 4 will be given a wait time of 30 days before I can start, and slot number 5 will be given a wait time of 40 days before I can start. These wait times will be adjusted if I finish early on a project ahead of yours, as I will keep you all updated on my progress of the slots ahead of yours.

I am giving a wait time of 10 business days between slots to allow me extra time should things arise (like doctor's appointments, school functions for the kids, etc.) but I expect most things to be completed within a 5 to 7 business day time period.

I will announce the openings on my site, and on here as well, but I will not notify anyone by email. To request a slot, you MUST send me an email (once the openings have been announced), as replies to the Archive post will not be counted.

To be fair, I cannot promise anyone a slot in advance. They will be filled on a first come, first served basis. The first person to send me an email requesting a slot (once the openings are announced) will be given slot #3 (or more if the project(s) will take longer than 10 days).

Here are some pictures of my most recent projects (that didn't get lost in the PC crash 'cause they are uploaded to my site):









Ok, if you have any questions, just ask.

Thanks,
Cat

Ps. Sorry for the long wind-ed-ness of this post.

Due to some concerns that this type of announcement is unfair and more like a lottery than an ordering process, I will tell you all that I will be taking new commissions on Friday the 29th. You may email me anytime on Friday.

Beyond that, I just don't know what else to do to make it fair. What I CAN tell you is that if I had been taking orders all along and filling my queue with them, I would be full for a very long time and people would be waiting many months for me to begin their projects. That is what I was attempting to avoid. I did it the way I did so that everyone had a shot of getting something made in a reasonable amount of time, but this way apparently seems unfair. Of course, that depends on how you define "fair". I could just go back to people who contacted me several months ago and say "you're next because you contacted me first", in which case anyone who had contacted me within the last several weeks would still be a long way from being first on the list, and doing things that way would kind of make having a "queue" pointless anyway as what I would end up with is a massive amount of orders that would likely get cancelled after a few months of waiting anyway. From now on, I will be following my queue system as I have it written and will only make announcements on my web site unless I feel the need to announce here. I refuse to just keep adding to the backlog, and will stop the orders once my queue is full. I will announce on my site when my next opening will be and I can only take them on a first come/first served basis from the time the opening is announced.

I am sorry if I have stepped on anyone's toes. I was only trying to make things as fair as possible. I am only ONE person. I have no employees, but I DO have a family and cannot to continue to work 24/7 to keep up. I HAVE to stop the orders at some point. I sincerely hope that you all can understand, and I am open to ANY suggestions as to how to make this more fair to everyone involved.

I'm sorry for this rant, but I am just as frustrated as some of you are about getting to orders in a timely manner, and in a way that doesn't keep me working 24/7 or that doesn't offend anyone.

Cat

Cat, Im lookign for square bits to be tied onto a gambeson, is that something you might be able to do? I mean its obvious that your skill far outweighs what I need done, but Im hoping

First, let me say thank you for your very kind comments, although I don't know if I share your confidence.


Yes, I could do something like that, depending on how it needs to function. I'm thinking what you're looking for is basically some rectangles that wouldn't have any function ( an elbow piece, for example, WOULD have a function) other than to just fill in gaps in your armour. If it does need to be an elbow piece (or something similar), my experience in that area is limited. If you could give me some more info on where the pieces will be used, how they need to function, how they need to fit, and some general sizing, I could get you an estimate.

If you would like to discuss this further, feel free to email me, as my PM space here is almost maxed out. If I can't make these for you, I can certainly find someone who can.

Thanks!
Cat

Ill shoot you an email, yeah Im pretty much just lookign for some rectangles to go up ander my armpits, and some smaller pieces to go on the inside of my elbows, and possibly somethign like a half-sleeve, that would connect to the sleeves of the gebeson to go under my spaulders.


Ill send you and email and we can talk some more!

Cat,
I think the queue system you use suits you just fine. I've seen more posts here from people that complain about long waits and people that actually *buy slots from others to avoid the wait. I'd say you are approachign this in a proffesional and very courteous manner. Like you said, you could take 500 orders and everyone would be happy until they had to wait forever for you to finally catch up on it all. You can't please everyone. It's your business and it's your life. You run it exactly how you need to.

And to the person who complained.....boo-friggin'-who. It's her business. She has the right to run it anyway she chooses. Too bad if it doesn't fit your wants. Do you complain to other armourers who take orders with a queue system too? Bear in mind, most armourers work alone and most are part-time. Very few have an actual staff to help on orders. This isn't MacDonald's or Home Depot. If you want it so badly right now, then go buy that crap indian-made stuff off of eBay.
I too could complain about the online queue system. While I'm out at work all day and the office jockey's, who have the luxury of surfing the web all day, see the openings first and fill them up before I get home. It's happened to me many times. Yeah, I gripe and pout, but not to the business owner. I wait and hope for another chance or go somewhere else. What I don't do is send off a whiney email and condemn someone's business practices.

M.Lancelot,
Those things sound do-able. Shoot me an email and hopefully we can work out the details before the slots open. That way I can let you know for sure if I can make them so that they do what you need them to do. Then you will know if you want to try for a slot or not. If I find I CAN'T do it so that they will function/perform properly, I will help you find someone who can.

Thanks again!

Dagisd,

Thank you so much for your support and understanding! I can understand being frustrated about the fact that I never seem to have slots open, but I cannot help that. I only hope that people will see that I am simply trying to be fair. I am an honest person and just want to do the right thing. I have really given this whole process alot of thought trying to cover all of the angles so as to make it fair, and I guess I didn't do such a good job. In the future, I will continue to try to improve on the way I run things, as I have tried to improve every day since I began. I really hope that this is what people see, that I AM trying but I just can't make everything perfect. If I DO find a way to make things perfect, you guys can be sure I will share it with all of you. Just..don't..hold yer breath...

Thanks so much!
Cat

Ps. I'm really sorry for spewing like that out in public view. It wasn't fair to you, and it wasn't fair to those that complained. It should have been discussed in private.

Cat,

Lets take a look at why your slots get taken so quickly

1) High quality in your product- I have had three people ask if I would sell them the coif you made for me

2) outstanding communication- you made sure you knew exactly what I wanted before starting on the project and then I think I had progress pics from you every two days at least!

3) Very fast turnaround- CUSTOM FIT AND DESIGNED!, HAND MADE!, HIGH QUALITY! chainmail in two weeks for most items or a month or so for more complicated items!

come on you guys what more can you ask? so you wait a month or two before you can get a slot, so what! WHAT YOU ARE WAITING FOR IS WELL WORTH IT!!!

Cat I love your products, your honesty, and your WORK ETHIC! If more armories worked like you do there would be no "I sent this guy lots of money and all I got was an ulser" post. Keep up the great work and I hope you never have an open slot for more than a few minutes!
Cheers,
Leo

Hi Cat,

That is the way I do it. I take on only one project at a time.

BTY... I finally get to use the nice brass mail drape you made me.
My holes were wrong on the original helm, but it will go great on my latest fantasy helm. I will punch to fit.

Hal

Brother Logan,
Thank you very much for the words of support! I am SO glad I didn't end up offending EVERYONE with that rant. I'm sure it had to have rubbed some people the wrong way, although that wasn't my intention. It was more of a "Hey, I'm doing the best I can" kinda thing. The support I have been receiving here and via email/PM has been awesome! I really figured that once people read that, I was done for. That still may be the case, but hopefully not.

Thanks again!

Hal,
I'm glad to hear that you were able to use it. I'd love to see pics! Especially now that I have lost 99% of my own.

Thanks again everyone,
Cat

For further clarification and to avoid confusion, I thought I had better add in this bit of information. I will be opening 3 slots on Friday, April 29th at 12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. At this time, I will modify my site to declare that the slots are open, and at THAT point, I will begin accepting emails. Please wait for the announcement to be made on my site. I don't expect my email inbox to instantly fill up, and I don't even know if my queue will fill up, but I wish to plan for all contengencies if possible to make it as fair as possible in case there is more interest than there are slots.

Thanks,
Cat

I just wanted to let ya know that I have added a reminder to the original post.

Cat

Well I am gonna be up all night tonite then !!!!!!!

Me too

I gots me coffee and I am still awake. That's amazing in and of itself. I will be on now to answer any last minute questions. If for some reason I cannot access my website at midnight (has happened before), I will do my best to keep attempting access because some people may not be watching this post.

Cat

Heya Cat if my emails start bothering you let me know.. I am trying to stay awake so if I keep typing it will force my brain to function !!

Naa, they're not bothering me. I just got them all as a matter of fact. Stupid email server thingie.

Well, I gotta go make some updates to my site.

I will answer the emails in a bit.

Cat

So how many emails have you gotten early (as it is 6 min before by my clock)?

Slots now open - you may have to click "refresh" on the home page to update it.

Cat

Mine says 12:14. Haven't gotten any. I'm gonna stay up for a while to see what happens, though.

Cat

Email sent !!!

Notifications will probably be sent out tomorrow. I don't think you need to worry though, unless my email server is simply so overburdened that it has been unable to process the incoming emails. (Ok, I'm waking up from THAT dream land now).

I will let you all know as soon as possible, but right now it looks like I will have some plate armouring time on my hands. Hehe

Cat

Although I haven't officially assigned the slots yet, 2 are gone. I will update this post sometime tomorrow..... I mean today cause today is tomorrow because it's no longer yesterday............

I gotta get some sleepy.........

Cat

Ok, all 3 have been filled. All that remains is to "officially" assign them and notify the people.

I want to thank all of you again for your patience and support. It means alot to me!

I hope to have another queue opening in about 10 business days from Monday the 2nd. I will announce that opening as soon as I finish the project slated for slot #1. I don't expect that project to take me more than 5 to 7 business days though, so the announcement may come sooner than that. As I complete each project, I will announce new openings on my web site, with the plan being about one opening every 10 business days. I really hope this new queue system works as smoothly in "real life" as it does on paper.............

Thanks again,
Cat