PenSe: Apple Pencil Case.

Here's to the ugly ones!
over 8 years ago – Thu, Jun 02, 2016 at 02:42:50 PM

We are now in possession of the first run!  

 We are testing several o ring options and awaiting our full order of custom magnets, giving us just enough time to get these blasted (possibly not even necessary), anodized and laser engraved!

 The Machine shop (right here in Massachusetts has done a beautiful job!) I was told, "these are the ugly ones... the next run will be even nicer!"

 Next Stop finish and anodize!

Best
Craig
Ted, Greg & PenSe Team 

PenSe Adapter cap on Swiss Type CNC Lathe, Local Massachusetts Manufacturer
over 8 years ago – Fri, May 27, 2016 at 09:41:59 PM

 Adapter Cap for PenSe being cut on swiss CNC lathe at our local Manufacturer. 

 Good Morning Backers, today Machining of PenSe body should wrap up, we will continue to update through the blast, anodize, laser engraving and assembly processes of PenSe, we thought you might enjoy this Machining Video!

Best Craig, Ted, Greg and PenSe Team   

Ready. Set. Action!
over 8 years ago – Thu, May 26, 2016 at 12:22:04 PM

 Manufacturing Teaser more updates to follow this weekend.
Craig, Ted, Greg and PenSe Team

Update on Production,
over 8 years ago – Wed, May 11, 2016 at 09:23:34 PM

Hello Everyone!

Thank you all for being so wonderful and supportive.  We hit a minor delay in manufacturing due to Apple’s iPad Pro 9.7" release. Our team worked overtime to make a single PenSe that would function equally well with the original 12.9" iPad Pro and the new and more popular 9.7” iPad Pro. The newer, smaller iPad Pro has fewer magnets with non-equivalent placement and magnetic polarity. 

PenSe was designed around both the Apple Pencil and the iPad Pro 12.9" magnets, so some tricky changes needed to be made. Additionally we added a tip retainer, and replaced the 14 tiny neodymium magnets with 5 larger custom magnets that maintain the curved diameter of PenSe's Body.   Additionally, upon machining say we make 5 thousand PenSe, we realized it would be made one piece a time.  This could be disastrous if anything was off we would end up with 20,000 pieces of unusable parts.  

Now the good news! An initial run of 100 PenSes will wrap up by the end of next week. After this initial run is completed, any minor adjustments will be made and a full run will begin immediately. This first run is scheduled to finish May 20th, and anodized engravings will be processed by the 26th. The first batch of Kickstarter early birds will ship by the end of this month. Machining on 2-4K begins as soon as current specs are confirmed. All Kickstarter orders are scheduled to be shipped by the end of June, 2016. Preorders and Indiegogo InDemand are scheduled to be shipped by the end of July.

 Packaging that will double as mailers are currently being produced, so the job can be streamlined, and your orders will be processed quickly.

Thanks Everyone! Craig & the PenSe Team

I will put up a calendar to giver everyone a better idea of when orders are mailing.

It's been a busy week! Anticipating earlier delivery dates than projected!
over 8 years ago – Tue, Apr 12, 2016 at 08:54:37 PM

We have had a busy week! On Wednesday we met with a board of VCs. Thursday and Friday Ted and I where invited to attended Bolt's Hardware Workshop. In Bolt's words, "Hardware Workshop is a series of two day workshops for hardware startup founders. Taught by experienced builders our purpose is simple: help founders build better companies.”  Ted got to visit Bolt, Boston (he loved working there) — hopefully we will have a project we can pitch to Bolt in the near future.   

I would recommend this workshop to anyone planning or working on a hardware product or startup. It proved to be a very insightful two day event with some great speakers, including: Brian Lee – Highway 1; Marc Barros – Moment + Contour; Ian Ferguson – Form Labs;  Scott Miller - Dragon Innovations; Chris Quintero & Ben Einstein – Bolt, to name just a few.  

We also got a chance to sit down and chat with Kickstarter’s own Julio Terra (always a pleasure, Julio!). We met and chatted with Jamey Bennett, representing Gotta.io, a new platform that "accelerates access to retail and simplifies retail operations for early stage consumer products companies.” An inspiring conversation to have as we are working to get PenSe out to you as soon as possible, and then into a number of retail shops carrying Apple Pencil. 

Appostasy Inc. is becoming well connected with the local Tech/Hardware/StartUp community. We are meeting with Dragon Innovations' Chief Operating Officer, next week to learn and possibly beta test some new tech. We have used Dragon's Standard BOM (Bill of Materials) while working on PenSe.

On Friday we met with our machine shop and made some further revisions on PenSe. We will be locking in our initial manufacturing order and machine time later this week! 

Magnet setting size and shape has been adjusted to support the magnetic array on both the 12.9 and 9.7 inch iPad Pro. 

 Custom Neodymium magnets are being produced to form fit PenSe's outer diameter and create a better hold on both Pro model iPads.

And we have switched cap locks for "O Rings," a design modification that should prove to be more practical, and allow for easy "stacking of caps." As seen in above drawings, we are also adding a tip cap with slight taper to secure Pencil into PenSe and provide a smoother grip for users.    

Last but not least we have begun working on a package design so that everything is ready to go when our first completed units role off the assembly line.  

We can not wait to start shipping! In the mean time we're working hard to get PenSe right the first time around. 

More Updates to follow … 

Best,
Craig, Ted, Greg & PenSe Team