Topics
- Holiday Closure
- Batch#14 DC04
- Tuning Magnets
- Ember Steel update
- Current stock overview
Holiday Closure
We will be closed from 24 December until the 4th of January. Any orders made this weekend or beginning of next week can still be packed and shipped before the end of the year, all orders made after Wednesday next week will be shipped in the first week of January.
Batch#14 is here!
We now have raw tops, nitrided tops and raw bottoms of batch#14 available. Nitrided bottoms will come in the second week of January, for now you can match the tops with batch#12 or #13 bottoms. We have decided to stop making demonstration videos. The reason for this is threefold:
With our research of thirteen previous batches we have come to understand the requirements for a DC04 that is perfect for making handpans. Especially our last 5 batches have been very consistent in terms of quality, with only minor differences in character, sound and sustain.
Our videos offer only one possibility of what is possible with a particular batch. We have played many instruments at gatherings, festivals and when makers visit us and we notice that the makers’ result is often very different to ours, even though the shell comes from the same batch. It is thus our belief that it is up to the maker what he or she can get out of a specific material with their specific building process. Therefore we recommend makers to try a new batch first and then to order more material of the batch that you like.
We have stopped making instruments from nitrided steel. Even though we love the timbre of nitrided DC04, we often lack the depth that a long sustain gives. Since we are building solely with Ember Steel we get all the sustain we want, but we keep the awesome timbre and touch that is very similar to nitrided material.
Tuning Magnets
As we noticed that we were sometimes scratching the surface of the notes while tuning stainless 430 and Ember Steel we came up with the idea to design magnets that can also be placed the inside of the shell. The magnets have a rather big hole in the center so they can be placed over the dimple. A set consists of several magnets of six different sizes, each size has a different color so that you can grab the right magnet in a blink of an eye!
The full set includes a total of 20 magnets as you can see in the picture above, the price is €50 excluding taxes and can now be ordered in combination with any shell order.
Ember Steel Update
The response we received from you fellow makers has been awesome! A lot of makers enjoy working with this material and as a result have placed big orders. That is why we have now already run out of top shells of batch#1 Ember Steel, we still have a stock of tops and bottoms of batch#2 and batch#3 and batch#1 bottoms.
A new, bigger, batch of Ember Steel from the same factory as batch#1 will arrive in the beginning of February, as well as another batch from the same factory as batch#2. Finally in April we will receive a full coil of material from the same factory as batch#1, this is the largest amount of material that we ever bought.
We have a lot of confidence in this material and we want to be able to supply everyone always with a variety of batches.
Available Stock
Ember Steel #1 - bottoms only
Ember Steel #2 - tops and bottoms
Ember Steel #3 - tops and bottoms
Stainless AISI 430 - tops and bottoms
DC04 Batch#14 - nitrided tops, raw tops and raw bottoms (nitrided bottoms coming in January)
DC04 Batch#13 - nitrided bottoms only
DC04 Batch#12 - nitrided bottoms only
DC04 Batch#10 - double nitrided tops (these shells went through the nitriding process twice, we have tested them and they are well workable, they feel a bit harder and still have more than enough sustain when finished. These are great shells if you are looking for a bit harder material)
Scrap shells - Tops are €20 each and bottoms are €30. Can be used for making outlining molds, forming a shaping mold and experiments etc. Not suitable for making instruments, can be raw or nitrided, scratched, rusted, have a bad nitriding layer (which can make them un-tunable) or bumped etc.
If you have any questions or wish to make an order, you can reply directly to this email and let us know.
We wish everyone a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and as always… happy hammering.
Roy and the rest of the Ayasa team
