MARKSMITH Shipping Update & Leave A Comment When You Get Yours!
over 3 years ago – Thu, Jul 08, 2021 at 04:49:16 AM

We've been shipping a lot of Marksmiths to backers since the last 2 updates. We continue to receive and ship Marksmith in batches, so it will still take a few weeks to ship them out to all backers. I expect shipping to be completed by the end of August. The Marksmiths are being shipped to us in batches so that we can continue to confirm the quality before more are shipped. So far so good!

You will receive a shipping confirmation email when your Marksmith ships.

 Please leave a comment when you receive yours!

We like to hear your feedback, and it's encouraging to hear that you are receiving them and they are awesome. We've shipped so many and yet heard from only a handful of new owners. It's probably a good sign to only hear a few good comments than a lot of negative ones because that means that the new owners are happy. I've found that most people only speak up if they have issues, but if things are good, they don't say anything.

So please leave a comment here when you receive yours: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/microfacturing/marksmith-titanium-bolt-action-permanent-marker-felt-tip-pen/comments

We will make an update announcement once all Kickstarter rewards have shipped.

Until then, I would like to request that you please wait to ask "Where's my tracking", "I haven't received it yet", etc until after we have announced that all orders have shipped, by the end of August. Answering those questions consumes our limited resources as we focus on getting these out the door. If we haven't posted an update announcing that shipping is completed, and you have yet to receive a tracking number, then your order has not shipped yet.

International Shipments

International shipments are being sent out at the same time as domestic (US) shipments. The difference is that the international shipments get bulked shipped by UPS to a warehouse in a secret location and then distributed from there. The tracking numbers are sent to you when we create the labels, but there is at least a one-week delay before it starts to update, because it only updates after being sorted and shipped at the distribution center.

Domestic Shipments (US)

These are being sent by USPS mail. It's mostly very fast, arriving within 2-3 days. However it is our experience that a small number of packages will fall through the cracks, and tracking will not update. Often those packages end up arriving, taking as long as 3-4 weeks. I know it sucks, please work with us and allow some time to see if it shows up. If they don't make it by 4 weeks, we'll make sure to send you a replacement.

When shipping carriers lose packages or don't scan or update the tracking, customers accuse us of not shipping and lying, and honestly, that hurts, because what would be the point in doing that. I'd rather you be happy with a Marksmith in your hand and showing it off to your friends.  So we will make sure that you get yours no matter what it takes.

Thanks,

Daniel & Team Engineerable

Production Marksmith Videos
over 3 years ago – Fri, Jun 18, 2021 at 01:26:51 AM

Enough reading, I made some videos for you.

Watch this video to see the appearance and function of the final production Marksmith.

Watch this video to see how we are inspecting, assembling, packing, and shipping them out to you!

Thanks,

Daniel and Team Engineerable

Gr5 MARKSMITH Have Arrived!!! Make Sure Address Is Up To Date!
over 3 years ago – Tue, Jun 08, 2021 at 09:37:23 PM

And they are fantastic! Everything I have ever dreamed of! Well worth the wait!

The MARKSMITH Gr5 titanium markers landed at our shop today, and we've been inspecting and assembling them. They are perfect. The machine shop has done an excellent job. The inner bore is cleanly machined and the motion of the bolt slide is smooth. The strive for perfection was worth it.

The Marksmiths arrive as empty titanium shells. We add the cartridge, inspect for cosmetics and function, test the action and add an additional cartridge in the box.

Just a short update. We're going to start shipping these in a few days.

Update Your Address

If you've moved recently and haven't already updated your address, please do so through Backerkit. We will be locking down surveys shortly. https://marksmith-ti.backerkit.com/backer/welcome

Thanks,

Daniel and Team Engineerable 

Gr5 MARKSMITH Are On Their Way To Us!
over 3 years ago – Sat, May 29, 2021 at 03:00:24 AM

The machine shop has shipped the Gr5 Marksmiths to us, so we should be receiving those in a few days.

Here's a picture they sent of the MARKSMITH being packed up for shipping. Many updates ago it appeared that the packaging was delaying the shipping, but after the Gr2 fiasco, the packaging has been sitting around waiting to be filled with the new Gr5 Marksmiths.

I'm proud of our new SOUL BUILT logo designed for us by MARKSMITH backer, EDC enthusiast, and awesome designer, Arvid Al Chalabi (see his Youtube here) who helped with the logo and box design layout. It was awesome to get a passionate Marksmith backer on board to help out with that. I'll reveal more about the meaning of the logo and how we arrived at this design in a future update.

Here's part of the order ready to ship. I mean it could be anyone's boxes, but I have to give them the benefit of the doubt that these are in fact the boxes that are being shipped to us.

What has happened since the last update?

I've been checking in with them on a regular basis. 

On the 14th they updated that they were still working on them.

On the 17th, they update that they were not yet finished with all the parts, and this was the current state of completion. The pictures are just the top layer of parts in the storage boxes. There are many more parts not shown underneath.

Tips were completed.

The bore in the body (that problematic deep hole) and the internal threading was complete. Had to finish the rounded end and add the slot for the clip bolt.

The slides were completed.

And there was still a lot of hand finishing to do to the parts for the surface finish.

On the 25th they update that the parts were finished machining and surface treatment and were being cleaned using an ultrasonic cleaner to remove dirt and oil from the manufacturing process. Then they would be assembled and packaged. This is the blurry picture I received (but the markers look great).

Then yesterday they said they were shipped and sent the images of the packaging shown in the beginning of this update.

I look forward to receiving them within a few days and start shipping them out.

Thank you for your continued patience,

Daniel and Team Engineerable

Gr5 Production Update
over 3 years ago – Mon, May 10, 2021 at 08:50:54 PM

Production Update

The machine shop said that they needed a little bit more time and will complete the GR5 by May 15th. Fingers crossed that there aren’t more delays with those.

Why is it so difficult to make these?

The deep hole (referred to as a 10X hole because the depth is approximately 10X the diameter of the drill) is the biggest challenge of production, particularly in titanium. The depth of the hole makes it more difficult to properly remove the chips, and if the chips don't clear out fast enough, then it will damage the inner surface, grab the drill body and wear out the cutting edge. The drilling process requires coolant that passes through the center of the drill to keep the cutting tip cool and clear the chips. Ideally, for titanium, a high-pressure coolant system in the range of 1000 psi at the correct flow rate will clear the chips, and keep the cut cooler by breaking the vapor barrier that envelopes the high temperatures at the cutting edge. It's basically a pressure washer blasting the chips and heat away. These high-pressure coolant systems are not very common though, since most CNC machines only come with ~50psi coolant pumps, and a factory-installed high-pressure upgrade might be 300 psi.

From the very beginning, while Marksmith was still in the design stage, I identified some high-end insert drills by one of the world's top toolmakers that would be able to drill the hole quickly and have a reasonable service life, so I knew that I wasn't designing something that was impossible to make. 

There's also the possibility of using a gun drill which is typically used for 10X and deeper holes (like gun barrels after which the drill is named). These are highly specialized drills, so you have to find a shop that has experience using these, and then they may not be good at other aspects.

I discussed the application with the tool maker's drilling specialists who confirmed that the insert drills I chose would work well (with proper coolant pressure and flow). The downside is that the upfront cost of the drills and inserts is very expensive compared to non-insert carbide drills, but if you look at the cost per part, it's well worth the time saved.

Initially, I did not advise the machine shop, because they should be the "experts", and experts don't like to get advice. However, they kept complaining about how long it was taking to drill the holes (20X longer than the insert drill can do), and how aggressively the Gr5 titanium wore out the drill bit. That’s the main reason they claimed for why they switched to the Gr2 material. That's when I recommended the insert drill, but they replied that they are experts in machining titanium and have resolved the difficulties with drilling that hole. Whatever... as long as they can provide the quality I'm looking for and deliver. Otherwise, if you're not willing to innovate, you're going to get left behind.

What about the other machine shop?

In a previous update, I talked about another machine shop that we were working with to have a second source. They were initially confident that they could do an even better job machining the Gr5 titanium, but once they actually tried making the parts, they ran into similar issues with the deep hole and after trying different techniques, they almost gave up on being able to make it altogether. They wanted to redesign the marker such that the hole could be drilled from both ends. This explains why almost all titanium pen bodies are tubes that are open at both ends, and the top is capped off with a screw-on piece. Although I agree that might be a better solution for manufacturing in the future, it messes up the current design. I recommended the same insert drill tool to them, and they gave it a try. SUCCESS! They have now been able to consistently drill the hole without breaking drill bits and at a reasonable amount of machine time. I have seen pictures of progress, and have yet to get samples in hand from them, but we're one step closer to having a backup production shop.

Now that the machine shops have finally optimized drilling out the body to make the marker in the way that I designed, it will remain a unique design due to the inherent difficulty of making it (in Gr5 Ti). Although I have revealed some of the magic behind the making of it, it just won't be worth it for someone else to pursue making an imitation of the exact same design.  If someone else is going to try to copy this, they will opt to drill the body out from both ends, which will affect the overall design.

Thanks,

Daniel and Team Engineerable