Things are changing

Who would've thought that making a ratcheting screwdriver would be so darn difficult?

It's been a massive journey... but we're almost at the end. Kyle has an update to share about one of the FINAL changes we're making before production. It's a big one, but it's the right one...

Kyle Tharratt
Engineering Manager with a firm, silver shaft

The screwdriver shaft will be silver... not black.

*the crowd gasps*

I know, I know... it's different.

We do a lot of internal testing before releasing a product, and no product has undergone more of it than our screwdriver. I've personally assembled, disassembled, and reassembled various versions of the screwdriver over 200 times in the last 2 years. My desk is littered with various prototypes, parts, and failed implementations.

As soon as it was possible, we’ve had multiple drivers in the hands of our engineers, our writers, and Linus himself. We have been daily driving this thing for months, because we wanted it to be perfect before anyone outside of LMG got hands on with it.

And through this journey, we've had to make some tough decisions. I recently received a round of prototype units back from Linus & the team, and one thing became incredibly obvious - the beautiful black chrome finish on our screwdriver shaft has not held up to the use that the rest of our driver excels in. Here's a quick comparison of some brand new or lightly used shafts on the left, and some medium- and well-worn shafts on the right.

I don't want to break out any metallurgy textbooks, so we'll keep the conversation pretty simple. The only way to make a stainless-steel shaft black is to coat it, as steel is inherently silver in color.

Coating has a few issues. The biggest one being that when you damage the surface finish, you lose the applied color - exactly like scratching the paint on a black car, or getting water on your satin wall paint (shoutout to all the eggshell lovers out there).

This damage is purely aesthetic, but it does expose the uncoated silver stainless steel underneath. With a black coating, the contrast with silver is stark, and it leaves the driver looking a bit cheap and worn out if you're giving it the daily use that we hope you will.

As of this week, we've overcome the final challenges we had before production. This thing feels, and looks, f*cking awesome. We are days away from giving the final approval for production, and this was our last decision to make... do we go with the black chrome, which looks FANTASTIC on day 1 but wears away through normal use, or switch to the standard silver stainless, which also looks great and will look just as good after months or years of normal use?

Even if we don't prefer it aesthetically, the decision is obvious. This product is built to last. We want it to be your go-to ratcheting driver for years and years to come, and it needs to look the part in 5 years just as much as it does when you unbox it. As great as the black chrome looks on day 1, it doesn't align with that primary goal of longevity.

So that's it. It's final. This is the LTT Screwdriver.

And it looks DAMN good. This was a tough choice, but it's the right one.

Within the next few months, you'll hear a lot more about this screwdriver. We said it'd be out in summer, and right now it looks like we'll be able to stick to that.

Make sure you sign up for a notification below if you haven't already. That way you can be one of the first people in the world to get an order in as soon as it's available.

And keep an eye out for more info... maybe there will be an opportunity to get hands on with one in person here in Vancouver before the rest of the world sees it... or maybe I'm lying... I guess you'll have to wait to find out...

Oh, and buy a Party Shirt. They're frickin awesome.

BYE! <3

Nick
COO
lttstore.com / Creator Warehouse
@nicklmg