BB MultiMags

Hi Everyone and Happy Friday!


With another post office holiday coming up on Monday I thought I might as well slip another little sale in today....

It's been a while since I did anything with a bead blasted matte finish, so it's about time I guess. These 303 stainless MultiMags look great with their cool gray low luster looks, and they are not as slippery as those with a more polished finish. This is a very modest sized batch today and is the end of the stainless MultiMags before I move on to the bronze ones.

BB MultiMags will run $45 plus shipping and the link is below. Limit of 2 please on these...thank you as always for dropping by today and I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend ahead!

All gone, thanks again everyone! :)

 

Stainless MultiMags

Hi Folks,

Well Happy Valentines Day everyone! Hope you're having a great day today. We're having moderate temps this week and the snow storm the other day turned out to be no big deal which is always better than the alternative. Sometimes the weatherman is just plain wrong, and for once it was in our favor.

Not too much to report on upcoming projects. I did forget to mention that some fleeting sightings were made recently of a mysterious beast, and I do hope to bring you more info on that soon. Also, kitchen project #2 will begin production soon, and it is a complement to the one below...

Today I have a super fun treat for you. For years I have been thinking about doing something like this and I'm so happy to finally have it come to fruition. You see, like many people, my kitchen fridge has always been covered in an assortment of take out menus, kid's art, library hours reminders, stray business cards, trash bag stickers, shopping lists, etc. The trouble is, most kitchen magnets are just plain pathetic. I find myself frustrated all the time because they fall off or easily slip down. Finally this winter, after picking up yet another magnet off the floor, I said enough already! I will build the kitchen magnet of my dreams. :)

These little gems are based on my familiar 5 flute Magnum bead design. I added a short waist so that the fluted handle stands off a bit for easy grip, and then a bell shaped skirt which houses the powerful magnet. OAL is 1.5 inches and they have some nice heft to them. I have satin 303 stainless steel ones today to start with, and then coming up will be bead blasted stainless, bronze and eventually titanium as well.

It took me a while to figure out just how I wanted to do the magnet part. I found some super strong neodymium magnets and tried a couple different ones out before settling on an ideal size/strength ratio for this design. These are perfect for their size. I thought about using screws and a doughnut shaped magnet to attach but the pull simply was not strong enough. Solid magnets turn out to be the best in this case. Anyway, the magnets are potted with green Loctite 680 rather than super glue, so should be bonded permanently in place. 

Now,  I wanted my magnets to have some BALLS. Literally! LOL, I got to playing around with a proto and I had some chromed ball bearings lying around. It didn't take long to realize that these could become awesome little fiddle toys just by adding some balls, hence the name MultiMag. I tried several sizes and combos of ball bearings before settling on the configuration below. These guys are deceptively simple and quite addictive. I have literally spent hours playing around with them and there is a lot you can do, particularly when you have more than one set to mess around with. Most of them have the poles facing the same way, and I'm not sure which one it is that is facing out. However, you can do a lot with them no matter which pole is exposed.

SAFETY WARNING: Strong rare earth magnets and ball bearings are a swallowing and choking hazard! Please keep these far away from small children. Also keep away from pacemakers, electronics and credit cards. I know everyone probably already knows this but it definitely bears repeating to be extremely respectful of strong magnets.

MultiMags will run $45 plus shipping (postage rates increased slightly last week) and they come with a little velvet bag so you can carry them around if you wish. They will make great gifts too obviously. The batch today is good sized, so it will be a limit of 4 per customer please. Thanks for stopping by as always and hope your Valentines Day is terrific!

Sold out, thank you so much!

Count Forkulas!

Hi Everyone,

It's a gray and cold day out there today, and we're expecting a big messy snow storm which is supposed to turn into rain overnight. But you can tell that even though the winter chill is still in full swing, and will be for some time, the days are definitely starting to get a little longer. Pretty soon the sap will be running and the neighbors will begin their maple sugar season.

I've been quite busy this past week getting the next projects underway. I hope you stick around because the first waves of kitchen MultiMags are nearly finished and they are going to be super fun! Also coming up are bronze Magnum beads as well as colored delrin Magnums. I have not made much further progress on the next batches of steel tools but will be spending a few days on some grinding probably next week and see if I can't get at least one of those batches out to heat treat soon.

Today I have the first version of Titanium Count Forkulas done. These little guys are adorable! They are the same length as the regular Count Sporkulas but I decided to make just the fork end and give them a more traditional slim handle shape. The resulting mini forks are easy to use, stow away nicely in a wallet and are always ready for action. I gave them a coarse stonewashed finish and then a polish tumble for the final pass, so they are a bit more polished feeling than their somewhat textured look would indicate. There are some lefties among them as well for you southpaws... A second version of this nifty little fork is also coming very soon and those have a cap lifter incorporated into the handle.

Titanium Count Forkulas will run $35 plus shipping and the link is below...I'll make it a limit of 4 since the batch is sizable. Thanks for swinging by today and hope your Valentines week is going great so far!

Sold out, thank you so much!

 

Fizzy Guitar!

Hi Folks,

It is indeed brutally cold this morning, with temps only in the low teens F today. Ouch, now that's cold!

I'm busy juggling projects as usual. The two upcoming kitchen items are proceeding at a rapid pace...get ready for a sticky experience ahead, hehe...I'm also nearly done with a couple of bead batches and the first of the little forks, so please stay tuned over the next week as much will be happening.

Today I have the rest of the new guitar picks done. The Fizzy Guitar follows the Air Guitar and Ventilator models in the Art Picks series...These have the same wide variety of anodizing effects, many with rich patinas, as well as a few plain ones in the mix. Very cool shape for all you perfie lovers out there, and they certainly provide a variety of grip points.

I'm also considering making a similar shape in a small batch of carbon fiber picks by the way, so that's a possibility for up the road. Please shoot me a note if you would like to see CF Fizzies.

These will run $35 plus shipping and it's not a big batch so I'll make it two per customer limit on them please, purchase link is below. Thank you so much as always, and stay warm this week! 

These are all gone, thank you folks!

As an aside, thanks to Donors Choose, a music teacher, Mr. Anderson, received three Casio keyboards for his classes and another music teacher got materials so that he can teach his students to read music. So thanks again for your purchase today as a portion of it is going to some great causes!

Ventilator Picks

Hi Everyone,

Brrr, getting cold out there as the bitter arctic air makes it's way to us. We're due for at least half a foot of snow tonight and then it will be quite cold for a few days. Typical winter for up this way actually even though the weathermen always try to make like it's an emergency. 

I'm back again with round two of the guitar pick project. The Ventilators are very cool looking and provide a terrific grip as well as several attachment points. Same wide range of color combos with these and a few plain ones as well...

The Ventilator picks will run $35 plus shipping. The batch is a little smaller so I'll make it a two per customer limit on them please. Thanks again for dropping by this week and hope your Tuesday is going great!


All gone, thank you so much!

Air Guitar Art Picks!

Happy Monday Everyone!

It's going to be super cold here this week. We're supposed to be getting a few days of below zero temperatures overnight so a few quite unpleasant days are ahead, after which temps will be more moderate. I'm already looking forward to spring, which isn't really all that far away.

I spent the weekend working on projects in the shop. I'm close to finished with several of them so will be trying to do more sales later this week.

Today I have the first wave of titanium guitar Art Picks done. Although still a beginning player, I couldn't resist having a go at designing some picks. After doing much research and trying many different examples of the currently available commercial designs, I came up with some ideas of my own. Those first picks were well received, and now I have three new designs that I think are even better. Even if you aren't a guitarist and are just a music fan, these would be nice worn as jewelry on a bead chain. Or you could treat them as an incentive, a promise to yourself, to some day start learning to play. They say that as we age that we should learn a new language or an instrument, and I don't know about you guys, but I would rather learn to play rock and roll than a foreign language!

The first batch of Art Picks is the "Air Guitar" and it features three generous openings to aid in grip. In addition to grip, the openings also allow for easy attachment to a clip or keys so you can keep these safe and ready for action...The picks are ever so slightly oversized and are made of thin .040 titanium, so roughly equivalent to the 1mm thickness commonly seen in standard heavy weight guitar picks. They have been tumbled for days so have a buttery smooth finish and rounded edges. Some have wild and unusual patinas from multiple anodizing sessions.

I used an older name stamp to create a very deep permanent mark but I should note that on items this thin, the name stamp does telegraph through to the back side, so expect to see a corresponding mark on the back side of the pick...there are no decorative stamps on these, just the name stamp, because hand stamping something this thin is very difficult and most of my decorative stamps simply don't work well for thinner material.

I have anodized these in a wide range of solid colors and color combinations. If you can't stand bright colors no worries, just drop me an email as I have kept a few back from each batch that are without anodizing for the vanilla lovers.

Art Picks will run $35 plus shipping and these are medium sized batches so I will make it a limit of 3 on them please. The next two batches will be coming along later this week, the Ventilator and Fizzy Guitar models...Have a great week and do stay bundled up!

Sold out in a Jumpin Jack Flash, thank you so much! :)

 

6 Flute PermaCorks!

Hey Everyone,

Happy weekend! Hope you're all doing well and getting through the cold weather months comfortably, wherever it is that you may be.

I'm back with another nifty offering today. This is the next generation version of the PermaCorks, this time in type III hard anodized clear aluminum for that great SF/military look. I especially like the way the red silicone o-ring gaskets stand out against it. Anyway, this next generation version features my now familiar fluted shape, a total of 6 flutes in all on these. The flutes offer a great grip and they look very cool too! If there is sufficient demand for these in stainless steel I will make some later this year...please give me a holler if you want to see a run in stainless.

Six Flute PermaCorks will run $40 plus shipping and the link is below. No limit on these as the batch is pretty big. Thanks for stopping by today and have a great weekend ahead!

Sold out, thank you again everyone!