Now available: Coyote pen kits

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McKenzie Penworks

McKenzie Penworks

Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
810
Location
Fuquay Varina, NC
We were hoping to have this weeks ago but had to remake a few parts so we got a late start. The Coyote has been slightly redesigned since it was last available at LaserLinez and I think you'll love the changes we made.

This kit is a little slimmer than the Liberty, using a 3/8" tube and the same section as the Desire. Personally I think I prefer this profile.

We've got a limited amount to start but several hundred more on the way.

Link here: https://www.mckenziepenworks.com/search?type=product,article,page,collection&q=Coyote*

Photos here.
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I've come to the realization, that no-one here wants to be honest.
I'm not in the contest for most popular, so I'll give my honest critique.

It looks basically like all of the other versions of the Sierra kit.., with two exceptions that stand out.
One being the huge step at the nib. It just doesn't flow with the lines of the rest of the pen.
Two being the clip. That excessive bend, making it stick out like a soar thumb. It would look much better, if it were closer to the barrel, similar to any other pen in history. If using it in a pocket, that would be uncomfortable, and potentially damage the pocket, or protector if one uses them. It doesn't seem like it would be comfortable to hold either, with the clip.
The kit doesn't have any distinguishing features: it just turned SS with a flat plain clip.

Now que the negative remarks, and little mad emoji faces.
Tell me how wrong I am, and how this is the greatest kit ever. :rolleyes:
 
Wow i disagree completely. While it does resemble a sierra elegant beauty, the tapered tip looks comfortable to write with. It is a beautiful kit with plenty of potential. Best of all it is made in America, and not copper or brass plated to look chrome. Correct me if im wrong but it's stainless steel. My customers care about quality and this has it. Any kit can be ugly without the innovation and vision of the pen maker. I have many different ideas that would look great on this.
 
pewink said:
I've come to the realization, that no-one here wants to be honest.
I'm not in the contest for most popular, so I'll give my honest critique……..
……..
Now que the negative remarks, and little mad emoji faces.
Tell me how wrong I am, and how this is the greatest kit ever. :rolleyes:
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I'll be honest…. I get the feeling you've received negative remarks from forum member before. Your Opinion is one thing… Insulting the group is another. There's nicer ways to get your point across without looking for drama or trouble.

As for the pen… I like the looks of the parts. They are different, making it stand out from others but aren't over done. I'm not a big fan of the overly themed pen kits. Not sure how I feel about the clip. It looks like it would slide down over a pocket very easily but the bend is stands out a bit. I like the sounds of the 3/8" diameter tube. This might leave a little more meat on the bone for cast blanks.
 
pewink said:
I've come to the realization, that no-one here wants to be honest.
I'm not in the contest for most popular, so I'll give my honest critique.

It looks basically like all of the other versions of the Sierra kit.., with two exceptions that stand out.
One being the huge step at the nib. It just doesn't flow with the lines of the rest of the pen.
Two being the clip. That excessive bend, making it stick out like a soar thumb. It would look much better, if it were closer to the barrel, similar to any other pen in history. If using it in a pocket, that would be uncomfortable, and potentially damage the pocket, or protector if one uses them. It doesn't seem like it would be comfortable to hold either, with the clip.
The kit doesn't have any distinguishing features: it just turned SS with a flat plain clip.

Now que the negative remarks, and little mad emoji faces.
Tell me how wrong I am, and how this is the greatest kit ever. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
PFFFFT!
 
I like the varied look of sierra style pen form, the shape breaks up the same thing all the others have. The pen clip is a bit oversized though, not sure if it sticking up too much at the back of the pen or the "v" bend at the end of the clip. Overall I do like this style of pen design, a little variation on a classic that looks good.
 
I long ago gave up trying to make everyone happy. ;)

Just a couple thoughts:

1. Not a Sierra clone, not even close. Basic design has been around over a decade fyi... We bought the company that used to make these and made a few tweaks
2. All our kits are solid stainless, machined here in the US. We are the manufacturer. No one else does this because it's hard.
3. The clip is solid stainless, which can't be bent like the cheaper metal found on the Asian kits. This design keeps it from breaking and it's the same as our Liberty and Desire, never had a complaint about discomfort for what it's worth.

You've taken an interesting approach to feedback... But hey, it's good to know what folks think and we'd never be successful if we couldn't take negative feedback.
 
McKenzie Penworks said:
I long ago gave up trying to make everyone happy. ;)

Just a couple thoughts:

1. Not a Sierra clone, not even close. Basic design has been around over a decade fyi... We bought the company that used to make these and made a few tweaks
2. All our kits are solid stainless, machined here in the US. We are the manufacturer. No one else does this because it's hard.
3. The clip is solid stainless, which can't be bent like the cheaper metal found on the Asian kits. This design keeps it from breaking and it's the same as our Liberty and Desire, never had a complaint about discomfort for what it's worth.

You've taken an interesting approach to feedback... But hey, it's good to know what folks think and we'd never be successful if we couldn't take negative feedback.
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It's a good looking kit and the stainless is an awesome selling point. Made in America kinda matters too, keep it up.
 
I don't normally jump out and critique pens, I rather like to think that I vote for my favorite pens by paying for kits, if I'm not buying your pen kits, then there must be something out there that I would rather spend my money on.

I really love the Liberty kits, and I've been looking forward to the slimmer Coyote kits! My clients really like the quality and American made product that McKenzie is putting out, and there really aren't many options for full Stainless Steel pen kits, this is your go to source if it's what you want.

I don't know how I feel about the clip on the Coyote since it was pointed out. I do sort of feel like bend to the end of the clip sticks out a bit, maybe the whole clip feels a little big for the pen.

Looking at the photos of the Coyote and the Liberty, it does appear the bend in the clip is proportionally bigger on the Coyote, as if on the Liberty the tip of the clip is bent out about 1/3 the diameter from the body/blank, on the Coyote, in the photos provided, the bend appears to be bent out some 2/5 to 1/2 the diameter of the body/blank. That might just be the photos though.

The clip on the Desire looks fine, but it's attached to a larger barreled cap, and not on the slim body of the pen itself, so that's not a fair comparison.

I wonder if I would have even judged the clip size had it not been pointed out..... It's not like the bent outward pen clip is an uncommon design element among other pen kits, the Anvil EDC, the Gearshift, some Slimline & Cigar styles, some Sierra kits like the Sierra Diverse all use that design to some extent.

Aesthetics aside, I don't see a problem with the clip design for functionality. It's a clip, it's designed to attach to a pocket, or other fabric, or thin material. Pens like this don't belong loose inside your pocket, that's one of the main features of the clip. The fact that it bends away from the body aids in the pen's ability to "clip" to things without snagging, or failing to capture the material being clipped to. It's a totally functional design element. I've never felt that the Liberty clip was uncomfortable, so I don't really see how this clip would be any different.

If you don't like the clip, well, I don't think there is any requirement that the clip be installed in these pens, you could go for a fully clip-less design, or just find a different kit that's to your liking.

Overall, I still think the Coyote kit is a good looking design. Need to put an order in soon, I will have to see how it feels when I get one in hand!
 
Quick clarification.. It's Coyote not Raven. The Raven is still coming soon... that'll be another capped Roller/Fountain with some slightly different design elements on the bands/finial. We're having to go a bit slower bringing these out than I'd like so I don't bankrupt my little company in the process. Plus, we're learning and improving processes along the way. I completely understand why these were always out of stock when they were sold at Constant's LaserLinez website... I'm just trying to keep that from happening here. :)

As you mentioned, the turned up end allows it to be very quickly clipped without snagging. Anyone carry a Benchmade, CRKT, etc knife? It clips into your pocket so easily because it has that turned up end. Put one of our pens side by side with either of those blades and you'll notice we used the exact same angle on the clip. You kinda have to have a decent amount of material there to make that bend, plus if it's too short it won't effortlessly clip onto jeans pockets, etc. Of course, you can always leave the clip off entirely or even modify the clip since it's solid steel and not plated. For what it's worth, the Coyote uses a scaled down version of the clip we use on the Liberty and capped pens. As nice as it would be to use the same clip everywhere, we definitely had to make it smaller for this one (and the ones that will be coming out that are similar in size)
 
Though I will say... now that I'm comparing with the Liberty, this first batch of the smaller clips does have a couple mm extra length than what it probably needs. Guess we'll see about shortening that with the next batch if folks want it shorter. One nice thing about being the company making the pens... we can do that!
 
I appreciate what you did in buying out LaserLinez. Constance did some amazing things. And you are too. Thank you. I am glad to see some stainless steel pens making the rounds. Overeager buffing or just inadvertently moving a bit too much into a buffer has ruined some good kits in the past for me. And it taught me to be more attentive. Still, it is nice to see SS pen components! Thanks!
 
leehljp said:
I appreciate what you did in buying out LaserLinez. Constance did some amazing things. And you are too. Thank you. I am glad to see some stainless steel pens making the rounds. Overeager buffing or just inadvertently moving a bit too much into a buffer has ruined some good kits in the past for me. And it taught me to be more attentive. Still, it is nice to see SS pen components! Thanks!
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The best part was keeping Constant as the person manufacturing them. We both ended up very happy with our arrangement. He gets to keep machining the kits he designed (with a few minor suggested tweaks) and not have to worry about the front end part. We've been working on the processes so that we can get to the point where they are always in stock. It's certainly taking longer than I'd like but I've got a decent grasp on what it is going to take now so we're planning for ways to speed it up as we grow.
 
Looking forward to picking these up when they are back in stock. Will you offer a bundle including some cutoffs of diamond cast blanks? That would be great!
 
Jarod888 said:
Looking forward to picking these up when they are back in stock. Will you offer a bundle including some cutoffs of diamond cast blanks? That would be great!
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Yep we'll do the bundle with these as well. Got the fixed up parts in and we're putting them through the finishing process. Give it about a week. Didn't want to do bundles when we didn't have a full inventory yet
 
I don't mind the look of the nib. It looks easy to hold. I'm not wild about the clip. Most of the pens I make the metals are stainless. I like the way it polishes and you don't have to worry as much about scratching it. In general one of my complaints about kit pens is the amount of blank left around the tube. Translucent blanks look great as long as there is some thickness there to allow you to look "deep" into the blank.
 
One of the nice things about a pen maker designing and manufacturing kits is... I can try to fix things I don't like in other kits. Both the Liberty and the Coyote have a bit more meat on the bone than you'll typically find in the imported kits. And yes, it's nice not to have to worry about plating. As I mentioned, you could technically just modify the clip any way you wanted since it's solid metal. The next batch of these will have a little less length on the bent up part of the clip... for whatever reason this batch was longer than the original clips which is a bit annoying. Manufacturing.. .it's fun!
 
McKenzie Penworks said:
I long ago gave up trying to make everyone happy. ;)

Just a couple thoughts:

1. Not a Sierra clone, not even close. Basic design has been around over a decade fyi... We bought the company that used to make these and made a few tweaks
2. All our kits are solid stainless, machined here in the US. We are the manufacturer. No one else does this because it's hard.
3. The clip is solid stainless, which can't be bent like the cheaper metal found on the Asian kits. This design keeps it from breaking and it's the same as our Liberty and Desire, never had a complaint about discomfort for what it's worth.

You've taken an interesting approach to feedback... But hey, it's good to know what folks think and we'd never be successful if we couldn't take negative feedback.
Click to expand...
It is a good thing you gave up trying to make everyone happy...I was in customer service for over 30 years and I learned trying to please everyone is a recipe for stress, misery, and frustration...
 
Arnold said:
It is a good thing you gave up trying to make everyone happy...I was in customer service for over 30 years and I learned trying to please everyone is a recipe for stress, misery, and frustration...
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We still try to do a pretty solid job. Replacement parts are always sent out whenever someone has an issue, no questions asked. Heck, we send replacement blanks when someone blows one up the first time at no charge. I mean, I understand not everyone will like every design we're bringing back (these are old designs... but we bought them) and that's ok. Once we really get going we'll have 7-8+ kits out there so maybe there will be one that they like. :)
 
McKenzie Penworks said:
We still try to do a pretty solid job. Replacement parts are always sent out whenever someone has an issue, no questions asked. Heck, we send replacement blanks when someone blows one up the first time at no charge. I mean, I understand not everyone will like every design we're bringing back (these are old designs... but we bought them) and that's ok. Once we really get going we'll have 7-8+ kits out there so maybe there will be one that they like. :)
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I hope you didn't take my post wrong...In my line of work, I always tried to make the customer happy as I am sure you do...But you will never make everyone happy...:)
 
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