Liberty Pen Kit - Launch Day planned for 8/30

[McKenzie Penworks]

Assuming all goes as planned for the next few days we're planning on our launch of the slightly revised (minor change to the clip and top of the pen...) Liberty kit on Monday August 30th. We are extremely happy to bring back the kits sold previously under the LaserLinez (and other) brands and working with Constant has been a great experience. He designed some of the best looking kits on the market and we're very happy we get to bring them back to the market.

A couple of notes...

• Old bushings will NOT work. We simplified the top of the pen and removed a part that wasn't really needed, plus standardized clips. New measurements are .498 at the section and .533 where the body meets the clip. We'll have a promotion for free bushings with purchase of several kits to soften the blow. The new bushings work on a mandrel or between centers.
• The finish is not mirror finish. While Constant used to have someone hand polishing them, we opted for a machine polish that is bright but won't show every single finger print etc. Part of the appeal of a stainless steel kit is the stainless steel look and this will wear better over time while also being more consistent.
• We fully expect them to sell out... but... we've also changed our plans to get more in stock quickly. We are going to bring back the Desire next (600pcs) but immediately after production is done with the desire we're going to up our Liberty production by 50% to get them back out there as fast as possible. Eventually we'll consistently have inventory of ALL designs but we've got to scale to get there... Please bear with us as we get to the point where we can do that!
• Kits will ship with the Schmidt 900m ballpoint refill
• Yes I know I mispelled Mechanism on the instruction sheet.. Also it's a single twist, not a double twist. And it should be "tube" not "tubes" These limited edition misprints may be collectible one day! (Our new ones are already ordered but I didn't want to hold up the launch because my graphics guy and I both apparently can't read...)

I think that's it for now... If you're not already signed up to be notified, you can do so here: https://www.mckenziepenworks.com/collections/pen-kits/products/liberty-pen-kit (Click the "Notify When Available" button)

We've got packaging moving along here but the outstanding item we're waiting on is our Schmidt order which is currently in US customs... It was originally supposed to be here tomorrow so I'm hoping it at least gets here by Friday so we can have the weekend to get those into the bags and ready for Monday. If something happens I'll be sure to let everyone know!

 

[tgsponge1]

Great! Can't wait!!

 

[jcm71]

Looking forward to it. Question. Are you going to limit the amount a single buyer can purchase on this initial offering?

 

[McKenzie Penworks]

We are not going to impose any limits on purchases. As you can imagine it's in our best interests to get them sold quickly so we can use the money to scale up. I fully realize the inconvenience and frustration when these kits sell out... I'd spend months trying to get them from the former company... But what I can tell you is we've already got the next batch on the schedule and we're increasing production 50% for that run. We're investing heavily in both inventory and finishing machines to scale this up and getting these sold quickly helps us scale that much faster. There's a surprising amount of work that goes into getting a pen kit together

 

[Joebobber]

Is there a certain time on Monday? Just so I can try to buy them all! Mwa ha ha ha.... seriously though, I want to get at least 1, but don't want to be on my phone checking all day. If you could let me know a good time to be on your website that would be great!

 

[McKenzie Penworks]

I believe we're aiming for 9pm EST so both coasts have a shot

 

[Jarod888]

I ordered 6 kits. Do you happen to have tbc bushings? If so, I would rather have those than normal ones. Thanks!

 

[McKenzie Penworks]

The bushings are set to work on mandrel or between centers.

Also the discount codes aren't working so don't add bushings to your cart for the free ones. We'll just add to the shipments.

 

[mgoetzke]

Love the SS! I notice the finish on the kit pic appears to be smooth but the finished pen looks fairly rough. I know pic's can play tricks on the actual look, but, in real life are all the metal turning marks visible or not.

Thanks

 

[McKenzie Penworks]

The one I used for my pen was one I wasn't terribly happy with... We did leave a more "natural stainless" finish on the kits. That is to say there are SOME machining lines but not much. In the past they were hand polished but that polished look showed every finger print, etc. You could easily buff these to a high polish if you really need the look.

Also... we have a new machine on the way that should improve the finish quality over the vibratory tumblers we have now. Again, not aiming for mirror polish but it should get us a nice in between.

 

[goldendj]

Panicked when I saw I missed the announcement that they were available but fortunately I still got some. Can't wait!

 

[Joebobber]

Any idea when the kits people order will be shipped?

 

[McKenzie Penworks]

Everything has shipped... If it's not tracking it's probably USPS first class mail and the postal service is notorious for not scanning those. We had everything in the mail by Wednesday. If you didn't get a tracking number at all... Check with me and I'll make sure I didn't miss one We shipped about 150 packages

 

[Bats]

Congrats on the quick sellout!

So... now when do we get the Desire? Huh? Huh? Is it there yet? Is it there yet? *checks watch*

 

[McKenzie Penworks]

Manufacturing should be done early next week on the Desire. We'll get them polished up and get the printed instructions etc and then go time!

 

[Bats]

Ooo... how exciting! Will we get advance notice here on these upcoming launches, too?

 

[McKenzie Penworks]

But of course! And the best way will be to hit the notify button on the kit listing on the website.

 

[Bats]

But of course! And the best way will be to hit the notify button on the kit listing on the website.

Already done - but on the Liberty that only sent a notification the minute they went on sale. If I hadn't known when to be waiting for it, I likely would've missed it until too late. Despite having access to more portable always-online devices than ever, I'm just not as religiously plugged in as I used to be. Even here. I don't check these forums more than a few times a day hour minute!

 

[McKenzie Penworks]

Fair enough! We'll announce the launch day ahead of time again. Just finished polishing up the clips with the new high energy finishing machine. Going to make things much much faster! Used one will get us through a few months and then we'll get a shiny new one that's a little bigger.

 

[Bats]

Interesting looking machine - kinda like a giant industrial version of the little rock tumbler I had growing up. Guessing the components go in the numbered drums with an abrasive compound, then the bins individually tumble while the big wheel spins the whole assembly, and the blue cover drops down because HOLY $#!+ someone left one of the drums open!

(or... something like that)

 

[Joebobber]

Sending a pm.

 

[McKenzie Penworks]

Interesting looking machine - kinda like a giant industrial version of the little rock tumbler I had growing up. Guessing the components go in the numbered drums with an abrasive compound, then the bins individually tumble while the big wheel spins the whole assembly, and the blue cover drops down because HOLY $#!+ someone left one of the drums open!

(or... something like that)

Blue cover drops down so you don't lose a hand as it's spinning at 250rpms or so. The drums have 3 solid clasps each and since you're tumbling wet you find out REALLY quick if you didn't latch them. It's a 3 step tumbling process which sucks from a having to keep up with media and swap things out standpoint but you make it up with the fact that you only need 20 minute run times. We did our first batch of clips in it over the weekend and I can already tell I'm really going to love its big brother when we grab that in a few months.

 

[penicillin]

I hope that at some point we can go to the McKenzie Penworks website and order various pen kits as needed, rather than racing to see who gets them before they sell out in a day or less.

 

[McKenzie Penworks]

Oh we'll get there... But it's a bit of a process and we have to scale up. Let's just say there's a lot that goes into each one. I fully expected the first couple runs to sell out but it's allowing us to scale... Our next manufacturing run is 50% more kits and we're already planning for the next. I knew this wasn't going to be easy but we are definitely still learning as we improve processes.