Steel Superbugs!

Hi Folks,

Hope you're having a great week. I have been working my brains out this past week on projects and before that took a few days off to enjoy a little bit of summer vacation. But I am back and working hard to get some stuff done.

Obviously things are a bit of a mess down South, to put it mildly, and by the looks of things it's about to get worse with hurricane Irma bearing down on Florida. Thoughts, prayers and love are with our friends in the southern states this week! As a small contribution I am setting aside some funds today for the Food Bank of Houston...could be doing the same next week for Miami. :(

Well, there is a lot of stuff in play at the moment. It's been a crazy hive of activity here as I move projects along and a few are even hitting the finish line. Finally! Steel Wrunts are about to receive their final grinds, and titanium Wrunts are in the tumblers right now before getting some ano lovin'...I have a new wroidy spinning steel tool in progress called the Juggernaut and those are heading for the tumblers next before their final touches, and then they will be headed to heat treat. The next two waves of ti rulers are in the beginning stages of work, still a few weeks away on those.

Today I have most of the steel Superbug17s ready to go. I say "most" because these darn things gave me fits! It seems that when I applied the name stamp I had repositioned the tools in the stamp press in a different way than normal. When stamping I failed to notice that a small burr on the anvil was imprinting into the back side of the tool on every hammer strike. I never noticed a thing until the final polish tumbling step after heat treat when a mysterious mark appeared on the back side. Grrrrrrrr. Luckily I was able to sort them out and most of the tools turned out to be perfectly acceptable although you might spot a faint shadow mark in certain lights. The remaining pieces that had actual dents had to be sanded down and refinished over the past several days, and so the batch has now been pretty much rescued. This past week just underscores how something can go wrong anywhere in the making process and getting to the finish line is always a perpetual balancing act. 

The CPM 154 Steel Superbug17 offers a cool update to the old Superbug series. They are just shy of 3 inches long and the material is nearly 3/16" thick. I have given them a more effective screwdriver/XL pry tip/wrench/cap lifter arrangement for the nose. They have a cool new curved, ergonomic middle section, plus my usual captive bit system and a rear pry tip with Area 51 style grinds. The batch is quite uniform so there are no grind variations on these and no decorative stamps at all on this batch. There are a few lefties though...     

The Superbug 17s will run $70 plus shipping and it's a one per customer sale on them please...if you need more than one just drop me a line as I do have more of these on the way over the next few days as I continue to finish them up....stay safe everyone, especially you folks who are in the path of the storms, and thanks so much for dropping by today.

Superbugs are gone for today, thank you!

    

R37 Ruler Tools!

Hi Everyone,

Wow, we are hurtling along through August at Mach 1. Hard to believe the summer is almost gone...

Not too much to report on projects, but hopefully Superbugs will be back from heat treat around the end of next week. I have a bunch of grinding in front of me too, so it's always a never ending challenge to juggle production and sales. We'll see how it goes.

Today I have the first wave of titanium R37 Rulers done. A number of people asked for plain ones, so I decided to do one full release with totally plain finish, with no stamping and no color anodizing. The second and third batches are already scheduled to cut next week and so stamped rulers and fancy color anodized ones will be coming in subsequent releases. But these today are all simple and very clean looking, and I will not be coloring any of these or adding stamps.

The R37 Rulers are made from the same robust 5/32 6al4v titanium stock as the older R25 series. They feature a 1/4 hex opening, 5/16 open wrench which doubles as a cap lifter, a 8,9,10mm metric wrench set and a center opening which is reamed to accept Scott McCoskery's nifty 3/8" spin cores. The 3 inch ruler scale is permanently marked (thanks to Kenn Jordan for a fantastic job on the deep CNC milling!) and there is a 70mm scale on the reverse side. All in all, this is a gorgeous heirloom quality tool with quite a variety of functions. I am sure your great grand kids and generations beyond will love it as much as you do!

R37 ti Rulers will run $75 plus shipping, and it is one per customer on these please. As I said, plenty more of these ruler tools are coming so no worries if you miss today, will be many chances to score them up the road. Thanks for dropping by this morning everyone, and I hope your weekend is great.


R37 Rulers are gone for now, more coming up the road, Thanks so much everyone!

Titanium Mini 5 Flutes!

Hi Everyone,

Happy Monday! It's shaping up to be a lovely mid August week here in the northeast, although there has already been a tinge of fall in the air. This really has been the coolest and wettest summer in recent memory and I hope it doesn't mean we are in for another very long and cold winter.

Well the projects are in full swing right now. The steel Superbugs are at heat treat and should be back very soon. I have the new titanium R37 Rulers Tools close to done so those will be coming along hopefully around the end of the week, with a second batch already tentatively planned. Once these two projects are done I will be moving along to both steel and titanium Wrunts, and also Zr KingPins for early September. There is a ton of work ahead but I am taking my time and trying to enjoy the little bit of summer we have remaining.

Well today I finally have the first wave of titanium Mini 5 Flute beads done. I decided to leave these with a neutral stonewashed finish and they are on a variety of cord colors. I still have more in process down in the shop and so a future release will probably be color anodized. I'm not planning on making any stainless steel Minis so these will probably be the only ones for those of you who want a bare "silver" metal color choice.

The Titanium Mini 5 Flutes will run $30 each plus shipping and there is a four per customer limit on them. Thanks as always for dropping by today and hope your week is productive one!

These are all gone for today, thank you so much!

Bronze Mini 5 Flutes

Hi Everyone,

Happy Thursday! It's a cool one here in the northeast, and in fact it's been a bit chilly and almost fall like this week. Crazy summer so far...

Well, I'm picking away at stuff this week but not too much to report. I will be taking a few days off next week so things won't really be picking up until mid August it looks like. However, lots of tools are in progress and so much is on the way.

Today I have a great big batch of red bronze Mini 5 Flute beads done. They have a warm red patina started on them and a crisp finish. These new Minis have quickly become my new favorite bead size and I'm really enjoying them on my camera bag zippers and pocket tools. Plain titanium Minis will be coming very soon too!

The red bronze Mini 5 Flutes will run $30 as usual and it's a fairly big batch so a limit of 4 per customer on them please...link to purchase is below. Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope your weekend ahead is a great one.


Sold out for today, thank so much!

Stamped Zirconium Keytons

Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday! I know much of the nation is sizzling today with the high temps but I hope all is well and you're gearing up for a relaxing weekend ahead.

Well I've been rather quiet lately, but I have certainly not been idle. I've been grinding my brains out and trying to move projects along. The belts have been turning madly and the tumblers have been running almost continuously for the past two weeks. And I have taken a few hours to fix up and clean my dusty and slightly disorganized shop, critically important work that has been long overdue. I'm planning on upgrading some of my lighting soon as well. All these changes are going to make it a lot more efficient and a healthier place to work.

I still haven't gotten the steel pins ground for the zirconium KingPins, but they are one of the next tasks in line. The Wroidy steel Wrunts are still languishing as well...however, steel Superbugs are well along towards finishing and just need a little more grinding before they are ready for heat treat. The titanium R37 Ruler tools are definitely happening and have just been cut, really looking forward to these... Krinkle titanium SAE Wrunts have also just been cut. I am waiting for some special stainless steel Wrunts to be cut next as well as a new steel Wroid thickness tool.

Beads are moving along nicely. I will be tying up and packaging titanium Mini 5 Flutes and then the bronze Mini 5 Flutes over the next few days. I also have anodized titanium Bermuda Beads with grinds completed and nearly ready to go. I also got the next spin coins prepped out further and they are waiting for stamps and other treatments.

Today I finally have the Zirconium K4 Keytons done! These have been sitting around for several months and it took a huge effort this week to get them through the many many steps to completion. Lots of grinding, tumbling, stamping, more tumbling, individual heat coloring and finally applying an oil finish. Ridiculously complicated and time consuming...It does feel good to get them finished at last and they look awesome.

These have a wide variety of grinds and stamps. They will run $95 plus shipping and it's a one per customer sale even though the batch is large, so that many folks will have a chance at them.

Thanks as always for stopping in today and I hope you all are staying cool this week!

Sold out for now, thank you so much folks!

 

Antique Brass Mini 5 Flutes

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend. It was a difficult one here with a variety of annoying petty health issues and one major family crisis which is still ongoing. Fingers crossed on that last part...

Well, not much has been getting done lately here, but I continue to limp along, picking away at things every day. Wrunts are still on the bench awaiting their finish grinds, Zr Kingpins still await their ground pins which are residing cozily next to the Wrunts. A bright spot is the steel Superbug17s which I did a bunch of prep work on yesterday. My goal is to get these three projects finished by the end of the month, and in the case of Wrunts and Superbugs, out to heat treat at least.

In other news, I continue to explore the R37 ruler series and it's looking like that project may go forward finally, but I'm still finalizing details and costs. I do have a final drawing though and I'm very pleased, so if all works out as I hope that will be a great project for the fall.

Today I finally have the first wave of "SlimFlutes", all new Mini 5 Flute beads, ready to go. Old timers may remember the original 5 flute beads which were quite small and had very shallow fluting. While I love the current 5 Flute design, they are fairly large beads and I was missing the older version, especially on zipper pulls. So this spring I worked up a revised design and dialed in the proportions to produce what I am now regarding as my own personal favorite fluted bead design.

The new Mini 5 Flutes are made of brass, bronze and titanium for now. I am waiting for the mill to produce more 1/2" Zr stock this summer and so hopefully can add those to the lineup at some point as well. There are no variations on these, all just straight up 5 flute beads. First up are the brass Minis and these have a cool antique finish on them.

Antique Brass Mini 5 Flutes will run $30 each and shipping is the usual $5-7 depending on how many you want. The batch is good sized so it's a limit of three per customer. Thanks for stopping by and I hope your summer is shaping up to be a great one!


Brass ones are gone, thanks folks! :)

 

Copper Multi Grip, Original Mini 5 Flute in teflon, new Mini 5 Flute and current Mega 5 Flute for size comparison:

   

Red Bronze 5 Flutes

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all are having a great summer so far. It's already shaping up to be a stellar one here, although it does look like it's going to continue to be a wet one. At least there is no chance of drought anymore.

Well, things are moving along positively in every way here at Atwood Studios. I am halfway through grinding the steel Wrunts so those will be heading to heat treat very soon. Still dragging my heels on other grinding but maybe I'll push the Zr Keytons into the on deck position...also I just got done flaming all the Zr KingPins over the weekend, so now I have to grind all the pins and put them together. Soon on those, and I guess now that I think about it, they will have to be up before the Zr Keytons...Do you see how this goes? This is how projects keep getting pushed back endlessly. :D

I have a couple of other small projects done as well so I'm going to try to string a few sales together in the coming days. I finally got around to cutting and tying enough cord to get the bead projects rolling along. A big thank you to Brian Colby for helping me tie an enormous pile of knots this weekend! The new Mini 5 Flutes and some cute little ti Bermuda Beads with accent grinds will be coming soon as a result.

Today I have the Red Bronze 5 Flute Mega beads done. These are the regular size 5 Flutes. They are made of my usual 655 silicon bronze which develops a gorgeous color after several long slow tumbles in various media. An instant patina which will continue to deepen and evolve over time as they are handled and develop wear on the high points.

The Red Bronze 5 Flutes are $30 plus shipping and I'll put a 3 per customer limit on them. More beads are coming up over the next few days as well so please stay tuned. In meantime, hope you're staying cool and dry this week!

Bronze ones are gone, thank you so much!