Saturday, January 31, 2009

What the Heck is a MicroSpud?

Yeah I know, it's the one big question on everyone's minds these days... :p :D To fully understand the thinking behind this piece you'd have to see an original and I'd prefer to show that in a video because it's pretty unbelievable. I'll try to get a clip up soon.

I actually have a batch of these cut and am starting work on them this week coming so they will not be far off.

Not the greatest picture but my "prop" wouldn't sit still long enough to get a good shot:

31 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow!! A cat grooming tool ;)

batalarms said...

Isn't it odd that when an item is lost it is always found in the last place that you look?
I guess this is because when you find it you stop looking :D
Have a great weekend Peter and all Atwoodites as well.
And the "Purple People Eaters"/"Steel Curtain" WILL win.
The question remains,will they cover a 7 point spread?
Enjoy the game everyone.BTW PETER when can we expect the MicroSpud?
Will it be a general release or lottery?Thanks.Marc

phoenix stu said...

OMG. Gotta have one of those. :D

Great work Peter

batalarms said...

Prop is an odd name for a cat:D lol

Ryan said...

Very nice new idea ... man I love that you are always are looking for new ways to create helpful small tool.

RyanMalpiede

knifenut said...

Very Cool Peter!

Anonymous said...

It is a nice picture of Scooter!

phoenix stu said...

That looks as if it would work great with working with paracord as a marlin spike too :D

s4biturbo said...

wow! these look awesome! nice work as usual!

00 said...

I bet your fans who make lanyards will love using the end as a marlin spike.

Jerry said...

Very cool, what's the OAL?

Vermont State Parks said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Matt said...

Very cool Peter! What's the overall length on that?

Also you mentioned the fixer: Is that what is pictured in your museum blog? Looked like a prybaby except for a knife instead of a prytip.

Take care
-Matt

Peter Atwood said...

OAL is 5 inches.

Yup, the Fixer is the very same as the drawing on the Museum blog.

Peter Atwood said...

The idea behind this tool is...it's a take off on an old wrench I found. The historic tools were used by iron workers and heavy equipment people to align holes for bolting heavy things together. The original wrenches are absolutely enormous but they are really cool. This is my miniature interpretation...

bombarder defuser said...

I remember my grandfather having a riveters tool like that for aligning holes in his body shop back in the 1950's. Looks like a very useful tool for a number of applications. Aligning holes, marlin spike for lanyard makers, shim tool for leveling light items, aerating house plants in pots, etc.

murphlights said...

better make a bunch of those...

Jeff Pulice said...

it's cool as all get out...but I would be worried about carrying it in my pocket. Will it have a Kydex sheath?

(This is a stupid thing to worry about: I still haven't carried my Atwood prybar and I just look at the ring-tool and smile)

I have a policy on things as beautiful as an Atwood tool- bid first, ask questions later. If I won it, I'd treasure it.

Anonymous said...

Wow, it will look like a real weappon with the OAL 5"! Do you plan to make some keychain edition? My idea would be the OAL 2 3/4" - 3".

DB said...

Nifty little tool! Looks kinda like a micro fire hydrant wrench. What's the overall length of this?

Unknown said...

It looks like it would make an OK marlin spike for my cord work....and it also seems that it may have room for a captive bit on future variations!? I really hope to add one of those to the ever growing collection!

Unknown said...

Note to self: do not sit on MicroSpud. :-D

Rick said...

Looks like a really fun and cool design. :)

I like the idea of it working as a marlin spike. When I first saw it, that didn't come to mind.

I'm also very interested in seeing the video you mentioned. I'm not familiar with original design of these. I enjoy seeing and using your tools that are either smaller versions or newer designs of other older tools. The Crawdaddy, Keyton (piton), and Atwrench immediately come to mind.

Thanks for getting a pic up for us so fast!

Peter Atwood said...

Hehe, Ian, that's exactly where I found it, in the back pocket of my jeans! I was wondering why when I kept adjusting my notebook and pen it wasn't making sitting more comfortable.. :D

Jerry said...

I supervised millwrights removing/assembling machinery over the last fifteen years...they used cast iron wrenches (similar in appearance) that helped them align the bolt holes in industrial machinery.

Rick said...

Peter, did you get a new stamp? The stamp looks a little different on the M-Spud.

Are you going to humor us with a pic of the Shiner too? :D

Unknown said...

off-topic, sorry

I didn't know you had done chromed / chrome-like / high-polish / whatever finishes in the past (see link below). Will you be doing something similar in the future?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330304419841

Peter Atwood said...

I didn't do that finish. Someone polished it and redid the cord wrap.

jodj said...

I must have missed the spud reference. how is this used to flip potatos?

Peter Atwood said...

Joel, the MicroSpud is based on a Spud Wrench which is the offical name for this type of wrench. I kid you not, Spud Wrench is the real name. :)

They've been around for well over a hundred years but the average person just doesn't see them very much. They are used by iron workers, riggers and construction workers to align the holes of heavy pieces of equipment, I-beams, that sort of thing prior to bolting together. A lighter version with cat's claw end is often used by auto body people for aligning panels, doors, etc.

T.Duke said...

Ive gotta have one of those