PenSe: Apple Pencil Case.

PenSe Progress, for several Pensive backers.
about 8 years ago – Wed, Aug 10, 2016 at 12:15:48 AM

PenSe Backers

I want to thank you all, 99% of you have been very patient with us, (everyone else bare with us it will be worth the wait) and we are taking longer than we hoped we know this is very frustrating for all (us included), but we feel very justified in doing so.  We had planned to ship a starting test batch several weeks ago, before doing so we conducted some user tests and found an issue with the o-rings holding the adapter caps, we needed to resolve this before sending units to backers. Many kickstarter regulars know backing a product may mean you paying less and get the product early, additionally they know that some of the most popular and widely  backed Kickstarter’s take years to ship, (or never ship product at all) this will not happen with PenSe. We could have shipped inferior builds several months ago, ignored the iPad Pro 9.7” and over all product quality, but this was and is not our goal.

We take responsibility for underestimating the build time. What we originally felt like a 3-5 month production has taken longer. However, we believe everyone will be far happier when PenSe arrives looking and feeling great in hand. With quality finish, design, performance and Actual function. The whole point, after all, was to build a high quality Apple Pencil case. We made PenSe to solve the many issues expressed by Apple Pencil users not to create more.

While simple, PenSe consists of many parts and components, getting them all built and functioning together is no small task. Accomplishing this while keeping the product looking and feeling good has been time consuming and expensive. We have invested far more money and time than we raised, and this is ok, because at the end of the day we will have a product that will continue to sell, and that we are proud to ship. When we opted for o-rings instead of a custom threaded cap system we thought it would save time and be simple, it has been more difficult than we anticipated. O-rings need to function well allowing PenSe to snap together securely while with ease.

Locking on the adapter cap firmly to secure your Apple Pencil inside. We added a retainer cap, to the tip end of PenSe. To add greater strength to this feature, and remove a timely step in assembly, we modified machining so the retainer and body are one single machined part. These new, stronger PenSe bodies are being machined as I type. 
 For curious backers each part of PenSe is machined from a solid bar stock aluminum, (we are not using seamless extruded tube stock) this stock needs to remain of the highest quality 6061-T6, any variation in the aluminums compounds will alter color and tone of anodize.

It is essential that the o-rings function well we needed the o-rings to function well, requiring a firmer lock on the adapter cap than the other caps. 

Our o-rings would have to withstand repeated use and be resistant to tear as well as elements like UV light. With these final issues solved we are in the process of assembly at Artisan's Asylum in Somerville MA.

 We have all parts and are in official assembly stage.

over 10K  Custom N-52 neodymium magnets, Pocket Pen clips, o-rings, finished PenSe's. 

 Our first batch of anodized Silver and Space Gray PenSe's are on the assembly table. 

As you can see we are very busy getting PenSe assembled and done right, in addition each PenSe build will be shipped with a replacement set of o-rings and 2 extra magnets. 

 PenSe Packaging is on its way and should arrive any day. 

It's been a lot of hard work pulling this all together, PenSe is finally satisfying our rigorous quality standards. Large scale building has begun and shipping will follow.  We have been working nonstop to get PenSe done right. When we start printing shipping backers will each receive an email with tracking information, additionally we will continue to issue updates, and will begin shipping soon.     
Thank You 
Craig, Ted and PenSe Team.

PenSe gets some color, models assembled shipping 1st batch this week
about 8 years ago – Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 11:41:16 PM

Good Day Backers!

Less of an update, more of a photo expose. We are getting some shipments out this week.

Apple Colors anodized! Huzzah! 

We have not forgotten about the other four colors (RED, PURPLE, GREEN & BLUE) these should be quick and painless, where as matching Apple's colors has proven to be pretty tricky work.

PenSe Assembly begins. We will also start shipping this week. We're going to start with 30-50 orders. We are not far from shipping all orders out, but we want to make sure our system is functioning well before we go full speed. With the variations we are offering — color, engravings, etc — we need to be meticulous about order fulfillment. 

Apple Colors Assembled  

Thought you would all like to see how nice PenSe is looking after finish. 

While it is nearly impossible to match Apple's colors and textures exactly, we think our plater is doing a pretty darn good job. PenSe is looking close to how we dreamed it would look. We hope you feel the same.

Sorry to keep this update so brief, but we've got to get back to work! We thought these images might inspire a smile from a hot and muggy morning in Boston.

Best
Craig & PenSe Team 

The Devil is in the Details
about 8 years ago – Mon, Jul 11, 2016 at 10:47:49 PM

This is some of the best advice I have received about PenSe, and our team is taking it very seriously.  

The following challenges have arisen:

“The devil is in the details,” I have heard this expression many times, but never felt its full breadth until PenSe.  PenSe, for all practical purposes, seems like a simple product to manufacture. Especially in comparison to the last product Ted and I worked on together—manufacturing TarDisk-256's Aluminum Chassis.  PenSe is cylindrical, and cylindrical is what swiss lathes do best.  While improving on our PenSe prototype, we have met our fair share of challenges. The largest challenge however has been finishing PenSe for best possible user experience. I knew this was important but just how important did not strike me until about a month and a half ago when a fellow Kickstarter backer (and experienced engineer with a concrete understanding of consumer manufacturing) gave us the following advice.
“PenSe will spend its life in your customers' hands, held by fingers, and like it or not, subconsciously compared to everything they have ever held... the feel, the weight, the finish, the quality...all will be constantly passed from fingertips to brain and back again... the most sensitive nerve endings in the body, the surgeons tools, the artists tools... the user experience that you have to deal with is astronomically more complicated and harder than the guy building an app for a phone, or a device that a user touches once a day... as soon as the PenSe doesn't feel FANTASTIC in the hand and fingers, it will get abandoned... so you had better get it right... hope that wasn't too dramatic....but after 35 years of engineering and manufacturing experience in both hardware and software, and seeing successes and failures.... I thought about what you are doing and it truly is on a different level than other products. hang in there...and don't compromise... it won't pay in the end.” --Stephen S.     This is some of the best advice I have received about PenSe, and our team is taking it very seriously. 

The following challenges have arisen:

• PenSe's multiple piece construction — the joining these several pieces for optimal end use. 
•  Enclosing apple pencil and its several components inside PenSe in a secure and optimal manner, maintaining a consistent outer diameter for magnetic interface, while keeping PenSe as thin as possible. 
• Weight and balance — we are adding a metal pen casing over Apple Pencil, this product needs precision weight and balance which feels familiar in hand, and provides additional grip and greater control.
• Finish — anodizing and finishing a product with numerous joining parts is a tricky matter it is very difficult with anodize alone to make each part match exactly in color to every other part. Originally we moved to using a seamless extruded aluminum tube for the main PenSe body and solid rod stock for the cap and adapter pieces this would have saved us both time and money machining.  We have moved back to working with cold rolled aluminum 6061T solid bar stock. 

From an anodizers perspective any variation in stock components can result in a very different colored end product.  While minor variations in composition any variation during finishing can alter coloring and we didn't want to ship backers a multi shaded PenSe. Our new anodizer has been working on matching Apple’s 4 iPad Pro colors. Silver, SpaceGray, Gold and Pink — the colors most chosen by backers. We will have these in hand this week.

  Another part we had been waiting on — 10,000 custom neodymium magnets — arrived the same day as out last post. 

Each magnet is backed with the best 3M metal adhesive for quick, permanent, mess free application. We have not experienced any issues with the magnets coming off. Each PenSe will include a couple extra magnets, and an extra set of o-rings, both can be easily replaced.  We are not anticipating issues but we want you all to have a back up if anything happens to either of these components. 

To conclude, as head of Appostasy Inc and PenSe, I want to personally apologize for any and all delays. Our team has been working very hard and long hours. Currently Ted and I are the only full time employees and PenSe is a big undertaking. Thanks to you (our backers) we have continued to receive PenSe pre-orders every day, additionally PenSe was selected for Amazon's LaunchPad, none of this would have been possible without your faith and support. We want you to know that you are our first customers and our first priority. While we have had some hang ups along this adventure, regardless of what they have been, they are ultimately on us, and we want you to know we're taking full responsibility for any and all of them. We remain committed to getting PenSe in our hands in a timely fashion. Shipping will begin this month,this much we can guarantee. And Kickstarter orders will be the first orders filled.  

Timing is just one responsibility, shipping you a quality, finished end product is our top responsibility, it's not just about getting it done but getting it done right. I hope you will all be able to appreciate this when your PenSe order arrives. We want to thank you for your continued support, and let you know that you are our number one fans and we won't let you down. 

Sincerely,
Craig Leaf, CEO Appostasy Inc, 
and PenSe Team.    

Update on Production, Shipping Schedule and more.
over 8 years ago – Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 09:08:11 PM

We have returned from Apple's WWDC in California, and are long over due with a PenSe update. When we kickstarted PenSe we set out to make a functional Apple Pencil case of the highest quality. As a new company I wanted to see how our team worked under pressure, luckily we were not the only people who thought PenSe Case was a good Idea.

 Since our Kickstarter ended we have made revisions improving PenSe, widening its usefulness, and market audience. We hoped it could become a distributable product, both useful and new enough to draw the attention of large and international vendors.  At volume PenSe can potentially sustain our small staff and business overhead, and allow us a little room to work on new projects. We have done a large round of pre sales — BackerKit has been amazing, adding over 1000 backers since our Kickstarter ended!.

We worked in some networking into our schedule in San Francisco for both PenSe & Appostasy. We we are pleased to announce that PenSe: Apple Pencil Case has found its first large vendor, Amazon! Once Kickstarter and preorders orders are filled PenSe will launch publicly on Amazon’s Launch Pad! Thank You Backers! We could not have done it without all your help!

UPDATES ON PRODUCTION   While away a situation changed in our finishing process. The small local blasting and finishing company became unable to meet our new, larger volume demands. We are  solving this problem by working double time, blasting PenSe by hand (yes our own—specifically Ted’s—hands at Artisan's Asylum). Creating several different blast finish options we shipped our PenSe inventory to a local plating and finishing house. This plater is one of the largest facilities in the USA, with decades of experience and quality production.

We are still searching for an affordable, quality blasting solution but are working quickly to meet our obligations to you, our backers. 

Anodizing is an electrolytic process commonly used for sealing and dying aluminum products (e.g. MacBooks, iPads, iPhones etc.). The aluminum is first made more porous and receptive to color dyes, then sealed creating a uniformed and corrosion resistant finish. 

UPDATE ON SHIPPINGThese initial batches are being anodized this very moment and should be returned to us for assembly later this week. Each PenSe is quick and easy to assemble and orders will begin to ship end of June/begining of July we estimate shipping to take 4-8 weeks in all. Orders with custom laser enraging may take a additional couple days. 

PenSe orders will be mailed out in waves, every order will not be posted at the same time or in first batch but every order will be shipped. This will allow us to be efficient and ship pledges faster. Backers who opted to add meteorite inlay, will be shipped a Pense without meteorite, to not further delay product fulfillment. An additional PenSe cap with added meteorite will follow shortly after your order, so you will end up with 2 PenSe Caps.

Emails -  If you have emailed and have not received a prompt reply we apologize, we have set PenSe shipping as our top priority! If you can resist  emailing us about mailing dates and delivery times it would be greatly appreciated, replying to emails can take several hours out of a work day, hours that would otherwise be spent shipping out your PenSe. Every backer and pre-order customer will receive an email with tracking information upon or just before shipment, we promise! If you need to email us we will reply just know we might be busy working on your order and that we are sorry for the delayed reply. 

Thanks! - A big thanks to our backers hang in there your PenSe will be on its way and in your hands shortly. Special Thanks to our hard working team for all the long days and late hours.

Thanks All - Craig Leaf

P.S.
PenSe is just the beginning. Appostasy Inc is getting ready to release a free iOS application any backers interesting beta testing app should email us at [email protected]

We're at Apple WWDC — please excuse our absence!
over 8 years ago – Fri, Jun 17, 2016 at 10:03:30 PM

Patient PenSe Backers,

We have received many comments over the past week and apologize for not replying to them as quickly as normal. We have been busy at Apple's WWDC in San Francisco — an all consuming event. 

 Back in Boston with PenSe: The custom magnet build is complete and they are now on their way to our assembly facilities. We have had to switch anodizers to ensure finish quality. We planned ahead for a stuff like this and are working with two back-up anodizers that we had contacted for situations just like this. A full update will be posted shortly. Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Craig and the PenSe team