The effect of our very informative and interesting web-site has created a problem by creating many times as many requests for orders (ALL JUCAs are custom-built products, which is time-consuming) as we can normally manufacture.

(A little whining:) It turns out that both the designing and manufacturing on such a custom built product is incredibly time consuming and reliant on people with very specialized abilities. As to the design, most good architects can visualize a completed building, made of a multitude of parts, before it is ever built. That architect could recognize and plan every necessary component part, ahead of time. This is a lot like the designing of L-8 units (but not quite as advanced as architecture). The incredible diversity of sizes and shapes of existing fireplaces has made it so that (as far as we can tell, no two L-8s that we have EVER made were identical) the design has aspects of that architecture problem. In addition, our approach of maximizing the size and volume of the firebox and heat exchanger means that we have to account for the unique wall angles in each fireplace. As it turns out, of the 86 usual component pieces of each L-8, 77 of them are generally unique to that unit (only the door handle, hinge pieces and latch are the same). And many of the component pieces turn out to be weird shaped trapezoids that will get mounted at odd space angles inside the structure. The designer has to be able to visualize in three dimensions to see how such odd shaped pieces would fit together at odd angles. We have discovered that few people have this ability.

But, designing such critters is not the end. The weldors (or somebody nearby) must equally be able to conceptualize and visualize in three dimensions. Our original approach was to give each weldor a set of shop drawings and a stack of pieces. The weldor must see an odd trapezoidal piece and be able to figure out which side of it was inside and which side out; then orient it with the correct edges mating to adjacent pieces (either existant or future); and mount it at the necessary angles in space to accomplish the necessary function. Over the years, we have found that few weldors are capable of this. Even the ones that could, tended to spend many 15 minute intervals studying the drawings and staring at the pieces. AND, when the draftsman had made an error about the dimensions or shape of a piece, sometimes several weldors spent hours trying to figure out how that piece was supposed to be installed.

We eventually evolved into having a visualizer/brains person stop welding completely and act as a sort of overseer for several weldors. When each weldor got to a point of needing to install a specific odd shaped piece, the overseer would step in and either hold it in place or tack it. Once that was done, the weldor could do the welding.

The next level of evolution occurred where that overseer generally did not need any 'shop drawings' and he would regularly be measuring a specific unit to know the size and shape of the next piece that would be needed. He always had a clipboard and notepad, and he would sketch out the necessary piece size and shape, and give that sketch to the parts maker. That way, he would have the correct size and shape piece ready and waiting when that weldor needed it. Our experience was that a really good 'overseer' could keep four separate weldors welding pretty continuously. The overall efficiency of this approach was WAY better than any other method that we know about.

But, you may see some of the problems. No draftsman was even necessary any more, so there really WERE no shop drawings of the many unique units. 'Traditional' businessmen would go crazy! But we wound up avoiding the expense of an expensive draftsman, who turned out to occasionally make errors, and we also avoided situations where several weldors would be staring at some drawing rather than doing productive welding. Essentially, each unique design was engineered on the fly! In real-time, the overseer would keep all four of the current units in his mind, and constantly be designing individual parts for each of them as necessary. I really cannot imagine any 'organized' welding shop doing that sort of thing!

Well, that worked great, even though finding and training an overseer was rare and difficult. Not only did he need to understand 3-D visualization, but he needed to also have at least a moderate understanding of aerodynamics and thermodynamics so he would be creating proper sizes and shapes for the complex air pathways through the heat exchanger. Like I said, it worked great though, and we could build those units very efficiently, such that they could be sold for the surprisingly low JUCA prices.

We ARE manufacturing a SMALL NUMBER of L-8 units now! Not nearly enough for all the thousands that Internet visitors want! But we are trying to do our best. As to production time, it can vary, dependent on demand, but three to six weeks seems realistic.