Woah it’s been a long time since I’ve posted here. Well, the Backcountry Boiler has a new home: backcountryboiler.com. It’s a simple site, and there’s inventory ready to ship. :)

Leo and I when he came to visit. We were goofing off, but there's something called 'pair programming' that, apparently, really looks like this. Most of our programming happened thousands of miles apart after our kids went to bed.

Remember those posts in 2012 where I wrote about something called SparkMade? Well, since then I learned web design and my friend (and legitimate software engineer) Leo and I built it and it’s where the Boiler is now available: sparkmade.com.

When we were kids, we spent long hours in Leo’s basement on AOL chatrooms and a young web to the sounds of midi-grunge and his dial-up modem. We were always working on something – school projects, a band, things involving fire. Then we went off to different colleges, where I studied philosophy and he studied engineering. We stayed good friends – he was a groomsman at my wedding – and we would catch up every six months or so with two-hour-long phone calls. But it’s been a long time since we made something together.

Boilerwerks has always been a solo project. This was partly out of necessity – I put the lathe up on my back porch during law school when most of my friends were, you know, studying law. But it was also partly by design – I wanted to see how many new things I could learn and it was just easier as one.

But most of the other things I’ve done in life have been as part of a team, and I’m really glad to be working that way again. Especially with Leo. I think we both hoped we’d be able to work together again, and now we are. It just took 15 years to get back around to it.

Golly I love lasers. This one is 80 watts of pure joy.

I’ve been in love from day one and am now spending most work moments I’m not fulfilling Boiler orders developing something very different, but also very cool. I should have something to share very soon.

It's off to the Post Office we go!

As those on the mailing list already know – after 2+ years of batch production and pre-ordering, Backcountry Boilers and FlyGrills are now shipping from stock! I’m still working to streamline the fulfillment process to next-day, but most orders are fulfilled in a few days, and I’m ramping up production of the Hard Anodized Boilers to bring their time down from a couple weeks to a couple days.

Hooray for less waiting!

The closer I get to receiving the first batch of new Boilers, the more I think I sure could use some help around here. So I’d like to try something out…

The Boilerwerks Work Trade Program

• Duties: Assembling, picking, packing, and shipping Boilerwerks products from our wonderful, new Boilerwerks studio.
• Qualifications: Desire for a Backcountry Boiler or FlyGrill, a friendly disposition, innate conscientiousness, and the ability to follow rarely-arbitrary instructions.
• Compensation: $10 in Boilerwerks credit for every hour worked with a minimum commitment of 8 hours. So that’s a FlyGrill and retying kit for 8 hours, a Backcountry Boiler for 10 hours, or a Hard Anodized Backcountry Boiler for 12 hours. No cash compensation for these positions, sorry.
• Benefits: You get to check out the studio and hang out with me and my buddy Mat. We’re both pretty cool.
• Limitations: Work trade times must be scheduled in advance and are subject to my availability. For now, there is a limit of one work trade term (8-12 hours depending on desired product) per person.
• Location: Would love to make it virtual, but just Pittsburgh for now. Why not plan a visit to the exotic City of Bridges?

If you’re interested, please drop me a line @ devin@theboilerwerks.com. I think this could be a lot of fun. I could also sure use the help, and what better way to get a Backcountry Boiler?

Still moving in...

Along with a first full time employee, Boilerwerks also now has a physical studio:

Boilerwerks LLC
124 South Highland Avenue
Suite 212
Pittsburgh PA 15206
412.362.5209
devin@theboilerwerks.com

Visits are extremely welcome, and available most weekdays by appointment.

The studio is part of the very musical Werner Building in the East Liberty neighborhood. My neighbors include a voice teacher, an Emmy-award-winning recording studio, and a live music venue. I ran into the voice teacher one day as I was moving in and he apologized for the noise, but absolutely love it. The old structure is always resonating with different, wonderful sounds. NPR, right now the Diane Rehm show, is my contribution.

Now I’m back to work. Catching up on assembly and some fulfillment I had fallen behind on as I took the floors in the studio from this to this to this to this. That finish is zero VOC and the whole space now smells of linseed oil and the coffee I just made.

I am so pumped for the great things to come! If you’ve liked what I’ve been doing with Boilerwerks, it good news for you too. You can expect more products, better availability, and quicker service. Yay!

Available on SparkMade! Starts shipping in September.

Three big things are going on at the Boilerwerks.

1) I just got a studio and official home for the Boilerwerks! I’ve spent the past two weeks of evenings remodeling and have been posting my progress on Twitter. The big project: finding and rescuing a beautiful oak floor from under layers and layers of carpeting, tile, and tar paper. Lots of labor, but it’s going to be beautiful.

2) That second product – the FlyGrill – is available to order on SparkMade, a brand-spanking new project by a friend of mine and me. The mailing list got early word about this and the sample batch has sold out, but shipping on the production batch is only a few weeks out. Video forthcoming.

3) And! Drumroll… I just got a 100% production-ready sample of the New Backcountry Boiler! The first batch is already halfway done, so I’ll be releasing info about the new (way exciting) specs and opening up orders early next week. As in very early next week, so keep an eye on your inboxes mailing-listers!

There’s so much more I could say about all three developments, and they’ll each get their own post soon. Especially number three. But until then, wish me luck. It’s going to be a busy weekend!

Almost time for dinner.

For those curious, a teaser is above. For those interested, worry not, I will post in many places when they’re ready to be released. It should, btw, be no later than early next week.

Needle-nose pliers: the only tool you'll need to rebuild the FG.

The other thing that’s cool about the FG is that it’s completely rebuildable. Not only does this allow for certain components to be kept lightweight without sacrificing the longevity of the product as a whole, but it also allows it to evolve over time. A reincarnation with every rebuild.

Whatsoever then he removes out of the state that nature has provided, and left it in, he hath mixed his labor with, and joined to it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property.
– John Locke, 1690

Locke was talking about the creation of ownership rights in the previously unowned, right, but I think the concept applies to everything we “mix labor” with. You may “own” that old, broken down Jeep as soon as you pay the scrap yard, but once you put in a new engine, rebuild the tranny and finally replace the dry-rotted upholstery, that when it’s really yours. I hope that by making it inherently rebuildable, the FG will lend itself to not only a long life, but the same opportunity for users to mix their own labor with it and really make it theirs.