NOS Steel Wheelman Tools!

Hey Everyone,

Oh man, fall has suddenly arrived up here in New England. There is a bit of a chill in the air today, and the leaves are looking very tired indeed. There are a few colorful ones showing up but I have no idea what kind of fall we will be having since the drought was so severe and unusual this year. But I'm hoping there will be some lovely days with brightly colored maples before the inevitable storms knock them all off.

I've been up to my eyeballs with all sorts of administrative tasks, endless paperwork, flu/covid shots, car stuff, Real ID Driver's license upgrade, air conditioner removal, tree trimming...and now Jury Duty on Monday! Good grief... I wish all this distraction stuff would go away so I could get some actual work done, but I do seem to finally be getting past it all.  

Not too much to report on projects, but I will have a better grasp by next week when I can finally reorient myself to my work shop.

Today I have something cool for you. These are some New Old Stock tools that I first made about 10 years ago! The Wheelman tools were made in titanium originally and I'm not sure if I ever released any in steel or not. But this box of S30v tools has been hanging around seemingly forever and I thought I should finally get around to finishing them. 

They feature a 15mm hex wrench, 1/4 hex opening, cap lifter and pry tip, as well as three difference spoke wrench sizes. They have an aggressive scalloped edge treatment and, measuring 3.75" long, they make for a nice key fob type of tool. They feature my usual wide variety of stamps and all of them are stamped.

NOS Wheelman tools will run $70 each plus shipping and the link is below. I really appreciate you stopping by today and I hope your weekend is a great one!   

Sold out, thank you very much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Micarta 6 Flutes!

Hi Everyone!

Well, we're finally getting some desperately needed rainfall here in the northeast. After the driest summer I can recall, we got about 4 inches last week and now looks like another inch or so today. Too late for a lot of my garden plants but at least it will help recharge the aquifers.

So I've been a busy boy lately. I just cut a batch of brand new tools in ti and steel, and so will get them started on the long road to finishing this week. I haven't settled on the name yet, but will just call it the PryDaddy for now, and those will be coming later this fall. I also just got back from heat treat the batch of steel Wheelman tools, and will have them coming up shortly. I also have a bunch of the BabySharks done, so will put a sale up for those shortly as well. And, a huge batch of olive G10 6 Flute beads is also close to ready and will be available in the next week or so.

Today I have the first wave of Brown Micarta 6 Flute Mega beads done. These are just gorgeous, and are my favorite of the lightweight synthetic materials to date. Each one is slightly different than the rest so the patterns on them are very cool. I have lightly burnished these and left them on the drier side. If you want to darken them simply apply any kind of oil (olive oil shown below) and the color will deepen to a rich chocolate brown, but you will lose some of the contrast of the woven cloth core. The color can be altered repeatedly as the material is very durable and washable so don't be afraid to experiment and periodically recolor as you wish.

Brown Micarta 6 Flutes will run $30 each and the link is below. Thanks for stopping by and hope your week is going great!

First wave is sold out, thank you so much! I still have more of these to finish so will have more soon. 

 

 

 

Titanium Bug Out Bars

Hi Folks,

Summer is moving along up here in the Northeast. It's a lot cooler this week. Temps are very pleasant indeed, and combined with the low humidity it is very comfortable. The lack of rain is really something though and this is certainly one of the dryer summers on record at this point. I have to water my garden pretty much every day and it's starting to feel like a daily chore which is getting a bit old. I feel bad for the farmers who are struggling this year and I'm so glad I'm not in that business!

Not too much to report on the project front. I need to spend a few days working on Wheelman tools and hope to do that next week. I am finishing a few more of the BabyShark knives and those will be coming up shortly. There are steel Stubby MiniBars to work on and I still have to get to the BarClaw project. So there is plenty to keep me busy for the next few weeks.

Today I have the new Titanium Bug Out Bar batch done. This is an updated version of the originals that were made many years ago. I wanted to give this updated tool more function and better ergonomics. So these are styled more like the MiniBar projects but are much larger, measuring 4 1/2 inches long. They are made of super tough 1/4 inch thick Armor Plate titanium left over from military vehicle manufacturing and they have a raw bar finish with plenty of character marks. A beefy handful that you should not be afraid to pound on!

Since I had a lot more room on this scaled up tool I decided to add a 1/4 hex and O2 wrench to the handle area and those generous openings allow for easy cord wrapping. The broad pry tip has my traditional milled V notch, and I added a big old 3/4 hex wrench to the rear. This robust little tool is just small enough to make for a terrific keyfob, or carry separately in a pocket. 

The Armor Plate Ti is miserable to stamp and does not have as good of a color response as regular Grade 5 ti when anodizing, so I have left these plain and most have only a single stamp. There are also some without stamps if anyone wants to request them. The cord wrapping is DIY, but I will include a length of 550 cord with each tool so you can wrap it or not as you see fit. You could definitely use this tool as a cord caddy if desired and could easily fit several feet on there. 

Titanium Bug Out Bars will run $85 each plus shipping and the link is below. Thank you as always for dropping in, and I hope the rest of your summer is a great one!

These are all gone, thank you so much!

 

 

 

Stamped Brass 6 Flutes

Hi Everyone,

Looks like the last of the 90 degree days are here. Still not much rain happening but maybe we'll get some storms this week to help us out of this drought.

I have a busy week ahead. I'll try to get the big new ti Bug Out Bars done and also work on the steel Wheelman tools. Lots of cool stuff ahead for sure...and I just got word that the G10 and Micarta beads are a go, so those will be coming this fall. 

Today I have more brass 6 Flute Beads done. These are triple stamped, and I have a wide variety of older tiny stamps such as leaves, bugs, tiny boat, skulls, antlers, bees, etc. And I have several new stamps as well such UFOs, Bigfoot, stick of dynamite, fishing lures and rocketship. Fun stuff! 

Stamped Brass 6 Flutes will run $40 each and there is no limit on them. Thanks once again for swinging by this morning, and I hope everyone is staying cool this week!

All gone for now, thank you! I will have another wave of these later this year when I get the rest of them done.

 

 

Got an Atwood Itch? Maybe it's Titanium Fleas...

Hi Folks,

It's a hot and steamy week here with temps in the 90'sF. And still no rain, although it is suddenly much more humid than it has been for much of the summer. This is a good weather to stay inside and get some work done.

Still cranking away on the projects this week. I am close to finishing up the ti Bug Out Bars, just need to cut handle cord for them this weekend and get them packaged up. And I have another group of stamped brass beads to polish and then package up. So, we're definitely making some progress on those.

Today I have a big batch of Titanium Flea tools done. These are cute little multi tools, measuring 2.5" long and they are made of 5/32 titanium. I first made this design back around 2008 I think it was, and cannot recall what I named them at the time. But they were in my drawing notebook with the label "Flea", and I have a steel one in my own collection, so I know I made them in steel. Not sure about titanium, but I'm thinking it would have been a very small batch indeed if there are ti ones floating around. 

Anyhow, this is certainly an older design, and I really like the simplicity of it, so I thought they were worth running again. They feature a small SAE wrench set, a stout pry tip and 5/16 cap lifter. I have given them a wide variety of stamps as well as color anodized effects, and there are a few plain ones set aside as well for the "vanilla lovers". Also a handful of lefties are available. 

Titanium Fleas will run $70 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for coming by today, and I hope you all are staying cool this week!

All gone for today, thank you so everyone!

 

 

 

 

Brass 6 Flute Megas

Hi Folks,

Man oh man, where is the summer going? I cannot believe it's August already...I've only enjoyed a half dozen cherry tomatoes so far from the garden, and a few zucchinis and cucumbers, although we are about to have the floodgates open. Everything seems to be very slow this year and the drought continues which is a stark contrast to last year's endless drenching rains.

So despite my lack of sales, the projects have been rolling right along. I have just finished stamping and anodizing the titanium Fleas. The ti BOBars are finally stamped up and I am about to give them a final tumble and cut the handle cords for them. I was able to get the steel Wheelman batch ground and those are awaiting final decorations on the stamping bench before the final tumbling and heat treat....So things are definitely moving in the right direction.

Today I have the first wave of Brass 6 Flute Mega Lanslide beads done. These came out great, and it is the first time I have made the Megas in brass I believe, having only made the red metals using bronze in the past, and maybe some copper ones if I remember correctly? Anyway, these are a bit more golden in color than the bronze batch. A second brass batch with stamping is coming shortly. And there is some more good news on the bead front in that some interesting new materials may be coming this fall if all pans out as I hope. G10 and Micarta anyone? :D

Brass Megas will run $30 plus shipping and there is no limit on them. The purchase link is below....thank you so much for your endless patience and for dropping by today!

Plain ones are gone, stamped ones coming very soon. Thanks so much everyone!

 

 

 

Zr Stubby MiniBars

Hi Folks,

Hope you had a nice long weekend!

Summer is certainly in full swing here. We finally got about an inch of rain last night, but as I mentioned before it has been very dry here lately. We desperately need a few more solid days of rain, but are not likely to be getting them anytime soon. At least it hasn't been too hot and the low humidity has been very comfortable.

I'm coming along rapidly on the big ti BOBar project. I hope to have those ready for next week or so. I haven't made much progress on other projects for a few days but I will pick back on them as well as the next week unfolds.

Today I have some Zirconium Stubby MiniBars done. These little cuties were wildly popular when I first made a dozen of them a couple of years back. I decided to revisit the design this year, and once again it's a relatively small batch in the Zr...these have an old style milled V notch and 7/16 wrench opening with blackened finish and a wide variety of stamps. So darned cute. Also, a much larger batch of "summer weight" ones will be coming in steel later this summer so stay tuned for those as well.

Zr MiniBars will run $70 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for dropping by and have a great week!   

All gone, thank you everyone!