From Across an Ocean
Caption: The samples have arrived From Across an Ocean in a small white box.
After almost 2 years since its conception, I now hold within my hands an actual aluminum copy of those lines on my paper long, long ago. Two samples, wrapped in their black and white packaging, have safely arrived from my suppliers in China to here in the US. Pushing aside the excitement and joy, I immediately began examining all aspects of the sample. First impressions? The arms don’t slide.
Caption: The protractor lying peacefully in its packaging.
Ignoring the brief anxiety attack this gave me, I quickly realized this was due to the over-tightening of the screw attaching the arm to the handle. A quick turn with a hex key solved the issue, and the arm slid out smoothly.
Protractor Positives:
Sturdy Frame. Switching to aluminum has completely eliminated the wobble seen on earlier versions caused by the bending of the thin slider arms. The entire frame is immune to any bending forces that could be put on it in everyday use.
Sharpness of the laser engraving. It completely astonished me to see just how sharp and clear the laser engraving shows up to be on the dark gray anodization.
Smoothness of the Angle. Drawing with this is an absolute joy. The lines it makes are smooth with a sharp and precise angle, just like it was designed to do.
Texture of the surface. The anodization creates a slight texture on the aluminum that is both pleasing to look at and pleasing to hold. Furthermore, the laser engraving leaves a slight indentation that can be felt if you brush your fingers up to it.
Caption: Testing drawing with the protractor at various angles.
Protractor Negatives:
Widely variable tightness of screws. Due to the screw serving as a skewer that sandwiches the handle, main body, and the arm together, a small turn could either lock up the entire mechanism or make the handle wobble in place. A slight nudge after that will disassemble the entire mechanism. Although this happened very comically during the unboxing of the second sample, it is probably not something we should ship with.
Lack of a handle indicator. Without a solid indicator on the handle, you cannot accurately set an angle using the scales printed on the body. Even if we were able to add any sort of an indicator, it would have easily rotated out of place due to the circular handle.
Excess play. The original design included a .2mm clearance between the sides of the dovetail and a .3mm clearance on the front of the dovetail. This proved to produce too loose of a fit on this CNC’d aluminum.
Scraping of metal against metal. The anodized aluminum scrapes against each other between the handle and the body. It is unclear how this will affect durability in the future, but the sound it makes creates an unpleasant sound, lowering the user experience.
Poor portability. Upon putting the protractor in one’s pocket, one will realize the arms are free to fling out and about, making the form factor awkward to carry around, often snagging on various points in your pocket or in your bag.
Exposed hardware. The hex side of the M2 screw is clearly visible on the front of the protractor, creating a possible safe heaven for debris to acclimate over time. It also negatively affects the aesthetics of the front, creating an unfinished look.
Inconsistent undercuts. The slight undercuts on the interior of the arms introduced an inconsistency when drawing with a pen. Since the straight edges of the protractor do not extend all the way down near the tip, the pen would slide inwards, creating a bend in the otherwise straight and sharp line.
Misleading scales. The usage of the protractor is slightly complex, compounded by the fact that through the laser engraving process, the previous multicolored printing has now been reduced to a single color. The text is also extremely small and uncomfortable to read.
Besides looking at the protractor, we cannot forget that the packaging is its own little present to unwrap. Looking at it, the soft-touch matte-black finish gives it exactly the premium look I was looking for.
Caption: The handle comically falling off of the inner arm upon unboxing.
Packaging Positives:
Excellent fit of the foam insert with the protractor.
Highly accurate decorative ruler design on the face of the drawer.
Overall pleasant design with excellent build quality and sturdy walls.
Packaging Negatives:
Missing foiled and embossed logo, which I had requested.
Surface finish leaves fingerprints very visible.
No sealing method during transit. The boxes could easily bounce open or be tampered with before sale.
The protractor is able to slip out of the foam insert and bounce around inside the box, potentially causing damage.
No finger holes to remove the protractor, making unboxing awkward.
Off-center placement of ribbon.
The drawer cutout is set too far backwards, causing the drawer to stop at the back corners before the protractor can be fully removed, which prevents easy access to the protractor without sliding out the entire drawer.
Caption: A close-up shot of the protractor inside the foam insert and packaging.
Looking at these lists, it may seem like this sample run revealed many more problems than it solved, yet that was precisely the point. All of these issues would have been impossible to diagnose without actually producing the samples, and it is only through this process of iteration that gives way to truly great designs and products.
For now, you can probably expect a Run of Record soon for version 7. My mind is already boiling with ideas for improvements. Having reignited that flame of engineering in me, my hands are itching to get back to work on the drafting table…
Caption: The protractor resting on a piece of paper ready to be used.