Solving Problems!
2 days ago
– Thu, Sep 05, 2024 at 05:49:40 PM
Hey folks,
This wouldn’t be a Kickstarter project without some strange production issue coming up at the 11th hour, and we’ve got an unusual one for you today. We had hoped to be assembling the first batch of Keens by now, but this issue cost us a couple weeks, but thankfully we have resolved it and are back on track.
Tom describes everything in this video:
If you prefer to read instead of watch, keep scrolling!
Here is what happened. Two of the Cerakote colors, blue and orange, have a subtle metallic flake mixed in with the color pigment. In order to properly coat something with Cerakote, you need to design a fixture that holds it stationary so you can spray the coating on evenly. The fixture we designed looks like this:
It’s a bent piece of metal with a magnet attached to it. The magnet is there to keep the back door attached, so the outside of both pieces can be coated at once. What our Cerakote guy discovered is that the magnet was actually drawing the metal flakes in the Cerakote mixture towards it, creating a strange mark. You can see it here:
Needless to say, this was something we definitely did not foresee. Thankfully, we have worked out a solution. By putting a blade inside the body along with the fixture, it “spreads out” the magnetic field to such a degree that the metallic flakes in the Cerakote are no longer drawn to the magnet.
As annoying as it was to have the delay in progress because of this wild issue, it is actually a perfect illustration of what it takes to bring a product into existence. You never quite know what the problems will be, but there is ALWAYS something.
We appreciate your patience, and we are glad to be back on track. We assembled a whole bunch of fixtures and shipped them to our Cerakote guy earlier this week (see a timelapse of this at the end of the video above). Current timeline is to start to receive parts from him next week, and beginning (at last!) to assemble Keens.
Thanks as always for continuing to hang in there with us. We continue to use our prototype Keens literally every day; it's an invaluable tool we can't wait to get into your hands.
Until next time,
—Tom & Dan
Update!
23 days ago
– Thu, Aug 15, 2024 at 08:39:26 AM
Hi folks!
Just a brief update, we had hoped to be assembling and starting to ship Keens by now but are running a couple weeks behind. Our Cerakote guy in Dallas is a bit backed up, but the first batch of Keen bodies are currently in their coating queue and we hope to receive them by the middle of next week. If they are good to go we can assemble them and begin shipment, at last!
To set expectations, we have over 2000 Keens that need to be assembled to fulfill this Kickstarter campaign, and it will be a bit slow going at first as we learn the best and most efficient way of getting them assembled. It will take several weeks to get those all out the door, but we plan to do rolling shipments and ship them as we make them. We appreciate your patience!
We are going to be locking addresses in Backerkit soon, you should receive an email from them that will give you a 48 hour window to make any changes, in case your address has changed since you first filled out the survey.
That’s all for now, thanks for hanging in there with us. Almost there!
Until next time,
—Tom & Dan
Important Update!
3 months ago
– Fri, Jun 21, 2024 at 08:13:11 AM
Hi folks,
We’ve got an important update today, so please take the time to read through to the end!
We are beginning to send out the Backerkit surveys, so be on the lookout for those in your email inbox over the next couple days. The email will come from Backerkit, and the subject line will say “Response Needed — Get your reward for Keen: A compact, durable, and retractable utility knife.”
Backerkit is a third party tool we’ve been using for years that allows us to do 3 things:
- Collect your shipping address so we know where to ship your Keen to.
- Collect your color choice for your Keen(s).
- Allow you to add any additional items to your order, if desired.
So, please fill out the survey promptly when you receive it, otherwise shipment on your order might get delayed!
Regarding the third point — adding on additional items to your order — we have a few bits of exciting news there.
Replacement Blades
You can add on a 10-pack of blades to your order. These blades are made with SK2 steel, which is an “upgraded” steel choice that allows for a sharper edge than SK5 steel (more commonly used for utility blades). It’s good to be flipping and then changing your blades fairly often, so it’s a good idea to always keep some on hand.
Mark One, Mark Two, and Mark Three in Keen Colors!
We liked the Cerakote colors we chose for Keen so much (blue, orange, and green) that we have decided to make them our permanent “Studio Neat” colors, and to offer them on all of our writing instruments! We haven’t officially announced this yet (shhhhh….), but we wanted to give you all first crack at ordering them. You can select any of them in the add-on section of Backerkit when you're filling out the survey. If you are unfamiliar with our writing instruments, here is the Cliffs Notes:
Mark One - Our retractable rollerball pen, with a satisfying click mechanism. Comes in an aluminum or steel (heavier) body.
Mark Two - Our super compact pocket pen. Made of steel, supports a mini version of an awesome rollerball refill, and has a satisfying magnetic closure.
Mark Three - Our mechanical pencil. Think of it is the sibling to the Mark One.
All of our writing instruments are machined from metal and coated in Cerakote, just like Keen.
Everything is Discounted
As a thank you for backing Keen and sticking with us through this production journey, all of the add-ons are discounted to various degrees. So now is a great time to scoop up some of our other stuff if you’ve been wanting to try it. Or if you want to get a pen that color matches your Keen.
Also worth noting, this will be your last chance to get Keen at the heavily discounted Kickstarter price. So if you think you might want another one, either for yourself or as a gift for someone else, now is a great time to do so.
——
Ok, that should pretty much be it, thanks for reading through to the end! In terms of shipping timeline, we are hoping to begin shipping to backers starting in about a month, at the end of July. The body parts are currently in Dallas, being coated by our Cerakote guy, and we’re currently finalizing the jigs that will assist with assembly here in Austin. Exciting times!
Until next time,
—Tom & Dan
Monthly Update
4 months ago
– Wed, May 22, 2024 at 09:39:05 AM
Hey folks,
Time again for a monthly production update! First things first, we plan to send the Backerkit surveys out in about two weeks. This survey is your chance to pick the color Keen you want, select any add-ons (like a pack of replacement blades), and let us know your shipping address. We will send an update when that goes out with the instructions for filling that out.
In terms of production updates, things are going great! Production of the metal parts is complete. They sent us a sample just to confirm everything is correct, and it was all looking good. Those parts and getting packaged up and will be shipped to us shortly. Once they arrive, we will inspect them, then send the bodies and back doors off to our Cerakote guy in Dallas to have them coated in their respective colors. This will take a couple weeks, at which point we will receive them back and begin final assembly, packaging, and shipment! And regarding the Cerakote, in the last update we mentioned that the Cerakote test batch shipment was lost by UPS, but thankfully it was eventually recovered. We evaluated the samples and they look fantastic, really happy with how the coating is going on these.
We also approved the final sample for both the blade and the packaging, so production on both of those is rolling. Dan recorded a little video showing off the final packaging, which you can see below.
All-in-all, things are moving along nicely. Again, stay tuned in a couple weeks for instructions on the Backerkit survey!
Until next time,
—Tom & Dan
Monthly Update
4 months ago
– Fri, Apr 26, 2024 at 11:14:37 AM
Hey folks!
Back with our monthly update. Once again Tom recorded a video to show where we are with production samples and the packaging.
If you don't want to watch the video, here is what is discussed therein:
- Tom review's the set of sample production parts our manufacturer sent. They look really great, and the finish is really nice.
- Tom goes over a minor issue that the manufacturers found, and what they are doing to address it. On some parts, there was a slight bit of friction at the end of the travel when extending the blade fully. They are solving the problem by using a smaller bit size when milling out the "mouth" opening on the front of Keen.
- We sent production parts to our Cerakote guy so he could coat them to confirm that the finish on the production parts is suitable for this process and looks good after being Cerakote'd. They coated them and shipped them back to us, but they seemingly got lost in the email. :( So we are working to track down that shipment or we will just send another shipment to be coated again.
- We approved the packaging sample for production, after a few rounds of iterations. When we got the first sample, it was great, but surprisingly heavy. We wanted to see what we could do about reducing the weight. The first thing we tried was a foam insert, instead of the stacked boards. This definitely reduced the weight, but we didn't love that the packaging was no longer recyclable. The solution we came to is replacing the bottom layer of boards with corrugated cardboard. This looks visually the same as before, but reduces the weight, and remains recyclable. Win win!
- Still hesitant to give firm timelines at this point, but we are definitely rounding third and on the home stretch.
That's it for this month! Really happy with how this is turning out. It will be very exciting to start shipping Keen out. We are holding off on sending the Backerkit survey (where you give us your address and tell us your color selection) until we get a little closer to shipping.
Until next time!
—Tom & Dan
