Slayer Log – Preparing for SCAA

support

Mar 03, 2009

Ever notice how projects that you’ve been working on for a long time can seem to reach their conclusion in a burst?  All the elements that go into realizing that vision of the perfect espresso machine come together at last, and you are there . . .

At Slayer this is exactly how it is right now.  One day, everything seems like chaos.  Four days later these beautiful, strangely-familiar machines emerge.

For the past week, Jason, Dan and I have been preparing for the official launch of the Slayer espresso machine at the SCAA in Atlanta.   Stuff comes in, it’s removed from crates, pulled from boxes, unwrapped, sub-assemblies completed–and machines take shape on the work bench.

If you’ve been following Slayer for awhile, you realize already that almost everything in the Slayer is custom fabricated from proprietary drawings or from parts prototyped right here at Studio C105.  There is always great anticipation and genuine excitement when ready-made,  final versions of these items show up at our door.

The materials we are receiving right now are production-level quality, the result of months of design and development.  These are the same production parts that will be used for machines going to cafes.

I can’t overstate how extremely satisfying it is to see things fit together precisely to the tolerances called out in the sketches and drawings we’ve been perfecting for months. The abstract becomes real world.

And honestly, until it does come together you can only be 99% sure it’s all going to work. Only when you see it all together, and you exclaim, “Oh, my word that’s OUTRAGEOUS!”,  then and only then are you 100% sure and one hundred percent knocked on your ass (koya),  partly from sheer delight and partly from exhaustion.

At SCAA,  Slayer is rolling with a 2 & 3 group.  The SCAA machines will be the first and final machines made at Slayer’s Queen Anne – Interbay lair–our hangout for the last eighteen months.   All production and development starting in April will take place at Slayer’s fabulous new digs in Georgetown, Seattle.

Eric Perkunder
in Seattle