{"id":184,"date":"2009-01-02T23:33:01","date_gmt":"2009-01-02T12:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.madox.net\/blog\/?p=184"},"modified":"2009-01-05T19:41:44","modified_gmt":"2009-01-05T08:41:44","slug":"no-longer-a-ponoko-virgin-my-first-order-experience-and-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.madox.net\/blog\/2009\/01\/02\/no-longer-a-ponoko-virgin-my-first-order-experience-and-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"No longer a ponoko virgin – My first order experience and photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recall reading a forum thread on Ponoko<\/a> about the lack of information on what to expect from an order… so I figured I’ll post about my first order experience with Ponoko.\u00a0 Read on for some photos.<\/p>\n

Designing and ordering was relatively easy.\u00a0 But that’s a different topic for another post so lets not go into that.<\/p>\n

Tracking your ponoko order…<\/h2>\n

There are several steps to your order on which you can easily track the progress of through a variety of methods.\u00a0 The obvious is checking on the Ponoko webpage but that is cumbersome.\u00a0 The next is that you’ll get notifications via E-mail on the 5 major steps of the order progress.\u00a0 The one I like the best is a RSS feed which I piped to iGoogle<\/a>, this is especially useful for those of us who can’t access our personal E-mails at work.<\/p>\n

Example Progress status (my order!)<\/p>\n

Making Progress:
\nstarted<\/span> – completed 15 days ago.<\/span>
\nchecked design files<\/span> – completed 15 days ago.<\/span>
\nmaterial paid for<\/span> – completed 6 days ago.<\/span>
\nmaterial ordered<\/span> – completed 6 days ago.
\n<\/span>material received<\/span> – completed 4 days ago.
\n<\/span>run cut<\/span> – completed 4 days ago.
\n<\/span>dispatched<\/span> – completed 4 days ago.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tracking your ponoko order shipping via UPS…<\/h2>\n

Ponoko ships (at the time of writing anyway) via UPS and you can track the whereabouts of your package via UPS Tracking.\u00a0 One thing that gave me a fright was that I totally forgot that Australia has strict quarantine restrictions on wood products and when I read on the UPS tracking page that a quarantine has been requested…argh… but it was all good.\u00a0 The delivery was scheduled for 31 Dec but eventually arrived on 2 Jan, pretty good for a busy holiday season.<\/p>\n

Opening your package<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Avoid the ‘OMG ITS FUGLY!’ reaction, its most likely just the protective sheet’s the ponoko people apply to protect your product!\u00a0 Peel it off and voila all clean.<\/li>\n
  2. The burnt edges of wood stain.\u00a0 So careful of your hands and clothing when handling your parcel.<\/li>\n
  3. Check for broken pieces… One of my more critical pieces was broken on arrival, but I have a good expectation that the nice people at Ponoko will replace this once I contact them…<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Some photos for your perusal…<\/h2>\n