He probably just likes the advertising/marketing. He can hit a whole new segment of people on kickstarter. I don't think it's weird at all and in fact more and more companies are turning to kickstarter (or similar) campaigns for new launches.

sweaner wrote:Why does he need to Kickstart this project? Just start building them to order.

That's my question too. He kind of already has.
Except for the large knob and placement of the temp gauge on the right side, it's basically the same as my Salvatore.

It's obviously just marketing. He is only asking to source $2000. That is a ridiculous amount to ask. My guess is that it is some kind of a minimum. So he is going to pay a percentage of the $2000 for the exposure, that's a steal. lol.

It was entertaining watching him pulling shots. One of them was like 12 seconds shot? I would have tried what he does just for kicks to see what would happen, but I don't want to ding my tamper and PF that much. Too funny.

His machines look great, BTW. Solid work.

One could always call Wendy and ask, "Say, what's up with all the Kickstarter and other crowd-funding projects, anyway?"

On the manual lever machine project a few months ago, they were hoping to replace or purchase new machining and tooling to make the new system easier to build. Rumor.

Want to get a beautiful Salvatore for a steal> See my buy/sell.

DanoM wrote:Actually the $1200 price tag is quite inexpensive for Salvatore machines. Not sure about this one, but I think all his machines have a 6 year warranty to the original purchaser.

Where exactly did you find said price tag of $1,200 per machine? Or more naively of my part, does it mean you can purchase one of said Salvatore small E-61 machines for $1,200?

From the kickstarter page:

Pledge $1,200 or more

3 backers

THE KICKSTARTER Handmade by Salvatore Stainless Steel Commercial style Espresso machine as seen in photo's 13" H x 15" D x 11" W

Estimated delivery: Jun 2014
Ships within the US only

Is it on sale? I don't see a link on his web site for this machine.

I asked Wendy, and was told the machine will retail for $1,350. It seems the boiler is smaller than 2 liters.

Do you know when?

I was telling my neighbor about it and it seemed that maybe he could scratch a $1200 for that machine. Now with $1350 he's going to end up at close to $1500 after shipping and other possible charges. Oh well.