EDK, it’s pretty much here. The Massdrop release date is
finalized, 26 October 2015. The Massdrop poll is currently up and if you haven’t
voted, please do so. You are going to see some nice photos of the
material/color combinations listed on there. I will give you a brief rundown of
our thoughts on this pen and why we are allowing more customization on it.
Massdrop will have access to the following versions of the
EDK: Tumbled Raw Aluminum, Matte Black Aluminum, Brass, and Copper.
Combinations of those will be available as follows: Tumbled Upper+Black Lower, Tumbled
Upper+Brass Lower, Tumbled Upper+Copper Lower, Black Upper+Tumbled Lower, Black
Upper+Brass Lower, and Black Upper+Copper Lower. Pricing will vary depending on
material combinations and is still being finalized. Likely the pricing won’t be
available until the day the drop starts. This is an initial Massdrop offering
and while we will eventually have these pens available direct, we don’t have a
timeframe for and EDK release via the Karas Kustoms page. So snatch them up
now.
In other Karas news – the INK, for a short time referred to
as INK 2.0, will make its reappearance in early November. We will be adding
full copper and brass versions as well as the brown and olive anodized
versions. There are a few other special features that will be given out closer
to the release date but for now I will just go down the list of functional and
aesthetic design changes/additions we made for this version of the INK.
Starting at the top and working down. After feedback from
quite a few of our initial fountain pen users, we decided to add a clipless
cap. The cap retains the INKs characteristic angles and single line design, but
without the clip is more symmetric and smooth looking. Apparently many people
don’t need or use clips and some people are downright anti-clip. That’s fine
with us, we are happy to accommodate both sides of the “clip” debate.
Another piece of nearly universal feedback we received was
in the size of the nibs we chose for the original INK. We settled on the #5
Schmidt nib as it was easiest to source and used on quite a few pens. But early
users of the INK commented that the size of the nib didn’t quite match the size
of the pen. So all the way back last year Dan began looking at what design
changes needed to be made in order to use a bigger nib. We had to source a new
nib manufacturer as Schmidt doesn’t make a #6 nib, and after much research and
testing we settled on Bock as that source. Then came redesigning the section
length which became a dual benefit as it needed to be lengthened for the new
nib unit to work and adding length to it allowed us to stabilize it with added
thread depth.
During this process we looked at the aesthetics of the nib
and section together. It became apparent to us that we really wanted to try
something different. Something that harkened back to hooded and semi-hooded
nibs popular in the fifties, sixties and seventies. What we ended up being able
to accomplish is slightly recessing the nib back into the section. This doesn’t
affect function at all but makes the look of the nib and section a little more
uniform by not having the plastic “collar” showing when the nib unit is seated
firmly. Meh, let’s call it like it really is, it’s just plain cooler.
As mentioned above we had to change our threads on both the sections
and the caps. This means that the original INK parts are not compatible with
this version of the INK. This was not done intentionally, we attempted to
retain as much backwards compatibility as possible but it quickly became
apparent with the change in nib sizes we would have to alter the section and
cap threads.
We are will be maintaining the colors from the original INK,
though there may be some variance in hue. We will be adding brown and olive to
these pens to give a wider range of colors. When you purchase the ink you will
have the option of swapping sections with material types. So if you wanted a
brass pen with copper section, you could get that. Aluminum with brass section,
no problem. Copper with aluminum section, yep that’s available too.
The date for this release is quickly approaching, and we can’t
wait to get these out the door and into your hands. The changes we have made
were relatively minor but in the end we believe the final product is indicative
of who we are as a company. We adapt and make changes when we need to. We
listen to feedback and value our customer’s voices. We aren’t afraid to admit
we can make something better and we jump at the chance to do just that. We hope
you feel the same way when your INK shows up. And when it does, write us a note
and tell us what you think.
