Last week, we introduced a handful of our special, limited-release Farfaring Shift Knobs. We have loved reading on Reddit that this little labor-of-love project inspired so much engagement. We want to honor this lively conversation by directly addressing some of the questions posed.

For those in the community that have accompanied us on our journey thus far, you already know that Magic-Flight is about more than just vaporizers; we are a community of inventors, engineers, artisans and philosophers. We believe in choice, beauty, romance, and magic. From the beginning, and as recently as last week, we have spoken of our need to channel our creative urges and silly ideas into objects that satisfy our appetite for both beauty and utility.

The introduction of the Artisan Collection on our website was, and is, specifically intended for the various “extra” projects that allow for increased creativity, curiosity, and exploration. It’s a place for sharpening our more specialized artisan skill sets. Many of these experiments happen to end up fitting nicely into our existing ecosystem of vaporizers and related accessories; however, we have never limited our creative process to just vaporization-related products. If anything, we envision Magic-Flight as a lab where artisans can come together and experiment with creating things that mutually inspire. We increasingly aim to foster new experiences and products that enhance our connection to the natural world.

More than just diversifying our interests, we see our work as an extension of life and flow. The shift knobs are not likely to become another major M-F product. This was merely one of many adventurous projects still to come. We really do just love the feel of wood in our hands. It is so much more enjoyable than the feel of cheap plastic pieces found elsewhere. Given your interest in the Launch Box, and how it compares material-wise to other vaporizers, we figure that some of you might find your life similarly enhanced by this organic quality of the shift knobs as well.

We specifically wanted to encourage the Redditor who mentioned wanting to get out his own lathe and make some of his own shift knobs. More of that please! Less plastic, more organic craftsmanship. In general, we absolutely want to encourage doing more interesting and creative things – yes, that is good. We seek to inspire the artisan in everyone.

For those of you interested in seeing a glyph engraved on your shift nob, we think that’s an excellent idea. Thank you! We didn’t quite get to it this time, due to our excitement in posting them on the site. As with all of our products, we will continue to make improvements, especially if people want us to make more!

Also, we did notice that a handful of people had expressed concerns about the price. To put such considerations into proper context, it must be remembered that this is a small, custom-run project in an otherwise busy shop. These are one-of-a-kind items; an exploratory build to sharpen artisan skills and demo some of our new equipment. They were not initially intended to become something done for money, but rather, they were done for love of the craft. However, being that they are made in our shop, real time and costs involved need to be considered, including setup, planning, tool space and time, rent, insurance, website pictures, description posting, inventory accounting, and much more. Making a dozen shift knobs involved some 24 hours of various artisans’ time. Furthermore, we had done some research on what other custom, solid-wood shift knobs sell for, and found our price to be quite reasonable. While the materials are special, the overall cost has little to do with that aspect. It is the opportunity that is expensive.

Unfortunately, in our culture, the perceived value of a product is often tied to just size – to the thing-ness, rather than to the persons, or the connections associated with its production. People think about the cost of the wood, or time spent on the lathe; however, what is not considered is everything else that is often far more than just the actual labor. We live in a culture where the cost of most goods we purchase is determined by materials used. This is partly due to the fact that even some of the most reputable companies sometimes employ oversees factories – places where employees are paid just pennies per hour. In a country where unemployment is still a major factor and cost of living can be high, it is of the utmost importance to Magic-Flight that our products are made in the USA, by skilled artisans, and to ensure that we can continue to pay a living wage for real work. Maintaining rent and insurance on our workshop in San Diego, and compensating our employees appropriately for their skills and output are the main determining factors in our pricing. Although our Farfaring Shift Knobs are small and made from scraps (that would otherwise be wasted), the beautiful patterns in the wood are hand layered, laminated, and lathed, and from conception to completion, a great deal of care goes into each piece. Moreover, as we factor in the time that will be spent custom-threading each shift knob purchased, we resolve that seeing this idea through, even as a small batch, will turn out to be quite an investment.

Finally, to the Redditor who mentioned that they would be most interested in seeing us revamp our original “R&D tube-shaped version”, thank you for this mention! We are very happy to hear it. Although the Launch Tube Model T was discontinued about four years ago, we do have about 50 versions sitting on a shelf in the inventor’s office. They were made by him, personally, and he would consider making them available through our Connoisseurs Club, if there is interest in this unique product. They are definitely collector’s items at this point.

[ Click here to see the full conversation on Reddit ]