2nd Quarter Q & A

 

Q – “Can I purchase clips and screws separately?” or some form of this question – NEARLY EVERYONE

A – This has become one of the most frequently asked questions and requests we receive, and it’s not something that’s easily answered. For the time being, we do not have plans to sell clips and screws separately due to some concerns that remain from when we did sell those items (2014-2017). The problem we ran into was that customers would purchase replacement clip and screws and during the installation of the new clip, they’d over-torque the screws and end up stripping out the pen threads. This is easy to do if you’re not careful because the screws are stainless steel and the pen is aluminum. It became such a common problem, we stopped selling clips and screws on the website and began offering the service request form to people that had somehow damaged their clip, stripped their threads during cleaning, or something along those lines. This is still our biggest concern and the reason we don’t offer clips and screws as an option on our website. We are trying to come up with a way for customers to purchase the items and send their pen to us and have it retrofitted with black screws and clip, but we are also dealing with VERY long lead times from our clip manufacturer, so we’ve put this option on hold until we see a considerable decrease in the time it takes to order new clips and when we receive them.

Q – “Is it possible to retrofit caps with o-rings?” – P

A – Unfortunately, this is not something we can do with our capped pens. During the re-engineering phase, we looked at ways to retrofit older pens with o-rings and came to the conclusion that the only way we would be able to do that would be to use an external o-ring. That was not something we wanted to do as it would change the overall aesthetic of each pen. Using an internal o-ring in the cap required changes to the physical design of the cap and barrel (and in the case of the INK the grip as well). We literally have to machine the threaded areas of the cap and body differently which can’t be accomplished on our older models. Though parts can be swapped from older pens into/onto newer pens without damaging anything, i.e. using a new cap with an o-ring on an old body is possible, it just won’t thread all the way down and the o-ring will not engage on anything.

Q – Would you ever consider making a bullet pencil?” – JC

A – Not at this time. We’ve done a LOT of market research on this in the last two or three years for a variety of reasons. Our decision to not pursue a bullet pencil was two-fold. First, we thought it would be a good idea to establish a Karas pencil product that would reach the most amount of pencil users, and figured that would be easier to accomplish with a mechanical pencil. Second, the bullet pencil is a niche item in a relatively small section of the writing instrument community (pencil users). From what research we did, pencil users are more particular in the pencils they use than both rollerball/ballpoint users and fountain pen users.

Q – Are there plans to do a zombie/neon green pen?” – Z

A – Yes, we’re looking at multiple finishes that would accomplish a brighter green or zombie-ish green color. As soon as we find a viable option, we’ll send out pens for this color.

Q – Will you ever think about launching or releasing a limited-edition model product with a lifetime guarantee? - AT

A – All of our pens have a lifetime guarantee on parts we manufacture against defects. We have a service plan that customers can use to send pens to us if there are problems with their pens. Normally, we can repair or replace parts at no cost to the customer. If the pen has been damaged to do obvious negligence or misuse it voids the warranty. Parts from other manufacturers (click mechanisms, refills, nibs, converters, etc) do not have this warranty, though we often will service those parts (especially nibs) if the pen is sent to us. You can access our service request form HERE.

Q – “Have you considered making a fountain pen with a different filling mechanism (vacuum, piston, etc)? – A bunch of people

A – We continue to look at alternative options where fountain pen filling mechanisms are concerned. When we sit down to look at potential additions to our catalog, we always considered new ideas first. Not just a new look, but different or new functionality. With fountain pens, this usually takes the form of filling mechanism, overall pen size, external shape, or capping mechanism. We are open to this idea in future additions, but we don’t currently have a new fountain pen on our projected schedule.

If you have a question you'd like answered, CLICK HERE to be taken to our Q & A form and ask away!