Hey everyone! We've almost recovered from the post-Blade Show bug that seems to always follow us home after each show. But we had a blast and appreciated getting to see familiar faces and meet new Snarf backers!
We also got a chance to reconnect with Laura Chen from Scikio and Frank She from Dream Tech who are collaborating to bring Snarf to life. They brought production samples of Snarf for us to check out, which also meant folks were able to come by the booth and see Snarf in person.
We loved getting feedback in person, and below is a combination of thoughts and observations we shared with Laura and Frank.
But we also want to hear directly from you, so we'd love for you to join us tomorrow (Sunday 6/14) at 6pm CST on our YouTube channel for a live Q&A. Overall ThoughtsSnarf definitely had a lot of "wow" factor at our booth, causing a lot of folks to step inside the booth for a closer look. The colorways, size, ease of blade replacement, and overall vibe really seemed to connect with folks. Knife nerds have always been our motivating drive, and seeing the instant smiles on attendees' faces when they picked up Snarf had us totally stoked.
Feel, Finish, and Fidget FactorSpeaking of picking up Snarf for the first time, what seemed to tickle folks' fancies the most was the feel in hand, the fit and finish, and the fidget factor. The action is just so smooth and just feels totally natural in hand, which makes us even more excited about getting Snarf out to our backers!
Slicin' and Dicin' I stepped away from the booth for a while to cut up a bunch of cardboard with Snarf, and was really impressed by how quickly and smoothly it sliced through the cardboard. I did notice that the production sample's utility blade release button was slightly proud to the blade grabbler, and though pressing it flush to the grabbler wasn't enough to pop the blade out, I did find that I could force the blade to pop out if I dug the knife into the cardboard and made a curving cut against the button.
So in our meeting with Laura and Frank, I showed them the issue and Frank said that though the parts were already milled out, he could go back and file down the button so that it is below the level of the blade grabbler. The image on the left is the current state of the button and the one on the right is what I've asked them to do instead. I filed one down to this height and found it was still easy to get the blade out but should help avoid losing the blade when making deep curving cuts.
Colors & Textures
Overall we were really pleased with how the colorways came out. We did ask them to make the Purplewashed Titanium and Bluewashed Titanium a darker shade of each color and tumble them after anodizing to get more of the stonewashed look. We also asked them to try to make the Miamiburst fade from blue to pink without there being the silvery color in the center. That said, it's hard to guarantee an exact shade for any of the colorways, just know that if you don't wind up being happy with your colorway, we'll definitely work with you if you want to swap to another colorway. I also made a video showing the front and back of each model if you want to check that out:
=AURORA= BladeThe utility blades that were custom-made for us are really nice and fit really snuggly in the blade grabbler. The only thing we've decided not to do is engrave =AURORA= on each blade. The company making the utility blades wasn't willing to engrave all 20,000 blades, and though Frank from Dream Tech was willing to do it, we'd much rather know he's out there making more amazing knives instead of putting a vanity stamp on our blades. So we'll put our logo on the box instead and move on!
Last but possibly the most important??? T6 vs T8 ScrewsWe were supposed to have T6 screws on the Blade Grabbler (what holds the utility blade) and T8 on Snarf's body, but there were some crossed wires in communications and Scikio/Dream Tech put T6 screws on Snarf's body as well.
We asked about whether we could swap to T8, but since all 7,000+ T6 screws have already been made, we'd have to postpone delivery another month to make 7,000+ T8s.
To be honest, I've lost more than a little sleep over this one. Depending on who you ask, T6 vs. T8 is either a non-issue or a major issue, and the last thing I want to do is let our backers down. The primary concern is that it's easier to strip T6 when disassembling, especially when not using a crisp new Wiha bit. Consider this chummy conversation on Reddit:
Some good news here is that we've disassembled several of the Snarf production samples and have not had any issues with the T6s. Also I had already asked them to include three extra screws in a lil' baggie for each Snarf (one for the body, one for the clip filler, one for the clip), so that should create some additional buffer.
So after considering all the options, we're making the call to go forward with production with the T6s. The upside is that will mean you'll only need one bit for the entire knife, plus we've asked them to not overtighten the screws and to either use very little or no Loctite at all.
As always, we welcome feedback on all of this and hope you can join us for the live on
Sunday at 6pm CST. We're getting closer and closer each day and we're so excited about getting Snarf in your hands, but if anything changes and you need a refund, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at
[email protected]. We'd hate to lose you this close to the finish line, but we also realize sometimes life happens and you need to take care of you and yours first!
Thanks so much for your support and patience as we wrap this project up! All the best!
-Michael
