Last of the S30v Ghosts

Hi Folks,

It was well below zero F here last night and it's snowing steadily right now. Looks like we're due for another 4-8 inches of fluffy white stuff by tonight. Some people love this weather but I have to confess that it's my own least favorite season. Builds character though I guess, or so they say...

Anyhow, today I have the remaining S30v G2 Ghosts done. It's a small batch but I'll make it a two per customer limit in case some folks want to pick up last minute Christmas gifts. The Ghosts run $60 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for stopping in and I hope everyone has a safe and warm week ahead!

Ghosts are sold out, thank you everyone!

  

HangMan!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

We're settling into a cold spell here in New England, bitter overnight temps and miserable chilly days. At least we're finally getting some sun this week.

Well, I've been scrambling to get some last minute projects done for the year. Today I have on offer a new design, something that I have been planning for quite a long time. The HangMan is a neat little keychain accessory that allows you to hang your keys from a belt loop, or use it as a pocket clip to suspend your keys or other gear in your pocket. I've given this idea a lot of thought and tried many versions out to arrive at one that satisfies me both in action and in form.

The HangMan is made of .160" thick titanium and measures 2 inches x 1 inch, so it is small and unobtrusive yet still feels very beefy. The aggressive grip allows for easy retrieval. I have thinned one side in order to give a very slight spring action, quite stiff but with just enough flex to be able to comfortably slip over a belt loop or pants pocket edge while at the same time preserving considerable strength. These have an attractive stonewashed finish and are a perfect complement for a working tool. If they prove to be popular I will do another run with anodizing and maybe stamps, etc. But these are all plain stonewashed for now.  

The HangMan hooks will run $40 plus shipping and the batch is reasonably sized so I'll make it a two per customer limit. The purchase link is below. As ALWAYS, thank you for stopping by and I hope everyone is having a warm and safe holiday season so far!

Please note: The US Post Office is a little bit slow right now due to the enormous holiday mail volumes. In addition, this year they have rerouted mail to different facilities due to their cost cutting measures so sometimes tracking shows incorrect or strange locations. Don't worry, delivery might take a day or two longer than usual but everything HAS been getting there eventually so please be patient. ;)

Wow, first wave is sold out! Thank you so much everyone!

Another Round of Atwrenches

Hi Folks,

It's a cold,  rainy and sleepy afternoon here. I think winter is finally just about upon us despite our best efforts to ignore it. Good day for an Atwrench sale. :) 

Today I have some of the remaining S30v Atwrench batch done. They run $60 each plus shipping and the clickable purchase link is right above the picture. If you don't see the link then that means they are sold out and I have removed the link....as always, thank you very much for your support this year and I truly hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year!

This batch is sold out, thank you so much everyone!

SAE Atwrenches!

Hi Everyone,

I hope your Thanksgiving weekend was a good one. I ended up doing more family socializing than I had expected (this always happens) so I didn't get as much done as I would have liked...more FrankenSlices for instance.  However, I did get a chance to finish up a bunch of the SAE Atwrenches yesterday during the football games...this is the first wave of them, more to come and also S30v Ghosts.

The SAE Atwrenches have the identical footprint to the Metric ones that I released earlier this fall, except for the wrench set which is the familiar 1/4"- 9/16".  They are S30v steel and I spent quite a bit of time on this batch trying to make them extra nice. They have a lovely stonewashed finish that will hold up great on a keyring for a very long time. One of my best tools this year I think.

Anyhow, the Atwrenches are $60 each plus shipping. The mail is running pretty steadily right now but the volumes are starting to pick up for the holidays so an extra day or so for delivery would not surprise me for certain destinations. The purchase link for the Atwrenches is below. Thank you for stopping by today and have a great week!


First wave is done but there are a lot more of these to go later this week. Thank you so much everyone!
   

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I certainly have MUCH to be thankful for this year once again. Thank you so much folks, you never cease to amaze me with your interest, your enthusiasm and your support. I truly have no words for my deep appreciation.

I hope everyone has a terrific holiday weekend! I'm taking it easy today but will be back to work tomorrow so stay tuned...S30v SAE Atwrenches will be coming up in a couple of days, just have to buckle down and get them finished up. Also the last of the S30v G2 Ghosts will be ready shortly. And I will be sending out more emails this weekend for FrankenSlices.

So be safe, be warm and eat a lot of turkey. :)

Peter

FrankenSlice Winners List!

Well I am floored! Over 1100 entries, wow, absolutely amazing... Thanks you so much for the enormous response and interest in this tool. I am truly humbled and grateful. Looks like I will be needing to make a lot more of these...

Ok, here is the list. It will take a bit for me to send out all the emails so please be patient and check your spam filters too if your name is here and you did not get an email in an hour or so.

7    Antonio
31    UofKfan
102    Bruce Macgregor
128    JT2019
132    Zach Held
159    dga
172    762jack
197    Valpal1975
225    tsaraceno
248    Bull
269    andrew
309    YuppieMike
311    GGold
348    Jay kap
349    mlopez928
374    hudagai
404    mespineli
410    Euroazngal
418    Edouard
428    STLWill
429    Alex Napier
430    Hops McGee
443    Pmek5
455    Mad Max
522    NickNardone
538    BGTactical
561    n8
592    Avery D. Kerry
608    Airesz
611    VolleyballMom
638    Crazykat429
642    cktenders
695    jres11
696    Joe C.
711    Vik
715    syko
735    Matt B
736    nYxxfOnt
780    vtbilly
794    Phil The Preacher
848    tomah
863    Lauriek
885    GoBC
892    Rayfensive
944    fangtastic
963    Justin
977    Al-mu
982    Nursejane
983    Nivek
992    gOAD
1014    indianaman
1042    Lindsasaur
1066    fr20005
1122    jaggedx
1124    100ghostusmc
1132    PapaEd
1161    Chiuslick
1172    weaver

Thanks again everyone and have a great Thanksgiving!

It's Aliiiiive!

Hi Folks,

Sorry for the long radio silence, there has been much work to do recently to prepare tools for heat treat and get projects going. I'm happy to report though that a whole lot of stuff is nearing completion and things are about to be finished at long last. So that means a bunch of tool sales over the next two weeks. I have S30v Atwrenches and more S30v Ghosts on the way.

In other news, and this is big news, a long term project has finally entered the final stages of completion. This has been almost two years in the making so to finally get to the end of it is a huge relief to me. I hope you are as intrigued by it as I have been. You guys like stuff that is new and different, right? :D

OK, so a bit of back story first...This whole thing actually started about 10 years ago when I first began making folding knives. I kept thinking about grenade pins and fire extinguisher pins and I wondered how I could incorporate something like that into a folding knife as the ultimate safety lock. I experimented with a few folders in this way but nothing really ever came of it and the idea went onto the back burner.

Fast forward several years. My buddy Brian came over one afternoon for some beers. He and I have a habit of finding interesting little gadgets and buying two at a time so that we can give the other guy one when we meet up. So Brian gives me a couple of these nifty little S shaped carabiners one day. I thought they were kind of cool but I wasn't sure what I would ever do with them so they got tossed onto my cluttered work bench and I promptly forgot about them. Well, two winters ago I rediscovered them and I thought that perhaps this was what I had been looking for in a simple folding knife safety mechanism. I worked out a little proto, realized this idea had legs after all and then set out to make it happen. The rest is now history.    

The FrankenSlice is a new kind of folding tool. Although it is similar in some ways to the many friction folders that have become popular these past few years, it differs in several key ways. As seen in many of my other popular one piece tools, we have a pry tool, nail puller slot, cap lifter and 1/4" hex opening. But...this tool also has a small semi sheep's foot blade on the other end. :)

For the blade steel I chose the premium super steel Elmax at 1/8" thick. The titanium rear spacer and custom pivot assembly and screws are all Swiss turned for precision. After much deliberation I opted for teflon washers over phosphor bronze for the smoothest possible action. The handle sandwich is composed of 1/8" titanium plates. There are grooves and slots that have been machined on both sides so that a #1 s-biner clip can pass through both the handles AND the blade. This forms the safety lock and it effectively turns this simple friction folder into a FIXED BLADE knife. It will lock in either position.

To my knowledge, no production folding knife has ever been able to transform into an actual fixed blade so this might be something of a first. At any rate, the s-clip allows for belt loop or key ring attachment...or simply dangle it into your pants pocket from the pocket edge similar to a normal pocket clip. Alternatively you can crank down the pivot a little bit so it's stiff to open, leave the clip off and simply toss it in your pocket. It will be up to the user how you want to carry it. I will actually be shipping these with a fairly stiff adjustment but with a common T10 torx driver you will be able to make it as stiff or loose as you like. I think stiffer is always better in any tool though... ;)

The FrankenSlice can be safely used with or without the clip because the user's hand is always completely engaged with the tool. Another way to think of it might be to imagine that this is a fixed blade knife with a swinging blade guard. In any case, you will NOT be able to stop fiddling with it, these are addictively fun to play with.

Yes it is small. The cutting edge is just slightly more than 1 inch. The overall length without clip is 3.75 inches. They are SHAVING sharp so be CAREFUL! I have a few cuts already just from putting them together.

With the clip installed it takes two hands to open the tool. But my feeling is, we are so inundated with one handed knives, assisted opening, etc that I think it's time for the Slow Knife Movement to get back underway. After all, your grandpa didn't need one handed operation in his pocket knife and he managed to get through life. What's your darned hurry anyway? Your cardboard box or bag of chips isn't running away!  

The basic FrankenSlice with stonewashed finish will run $400 plus shipping. I will give a choice for Priority Mail Insured for $12 or Express Mail for $20 for US customers. International orders will ship via Express Mail only for $50, $35 to Canada, because I must have real tracking and reasonably short delivery times for an item of this value if it's leaving the country. The last thing I want to deal with is lost packages for these little guys.

The Sign Up Sale will run for 6 hours (ends 8:30 PM Eastern Time tonight) so that folks all over the world get a chance at them. The Response Time Limit after I send emails with purchase instructions to the winners will be 12 hours which should be more than enough time to get back to me. There are 58 finished right now but by the time the sale is over I will probably have more completed. I anticipate at least one more wave of these this year and I probably will make another batch next year as well, so there will be more coming, not to worry.  

One Entry Per Customer Please! Any duplicates will be discarded. The sign up link is below. Newbies: Simply click on the link where it says "FrankenSlice Sign Up Sale Link" and it takes you to a simple form where you leave your name and email. Please make sure your email and other info is correct or I won't be able to reach you if your number comes up.

So that's it. Thanks so much for your patience everyone and I hope you all have a wonderful, safe and pleasant Thanksgiving!

FrankenSlice Sign Up Sale is over.  Please bear with me while I sort through the entries, will take a while. Thank you everyone for the amazing response!

List of Entrants

Sign Up Sale Rules

The List!

Man, I never cease to be amazed at the turnout for these sales. Thank you so much everyone!

OK, here is the list....I will send emails out in a few minutes and the winners will have 3 hours, until 4:15 Eastern time, to get back to me. Thanks again folks!

SUSale: G2 Ghosts

Hi Everyone,

Well, I can tell you right now, everyone is in New England is total stoked for the Boston Red Sox! I'm really looking forward to the World Series this year. Go Sox! :)

I've been very slow to get back into the shop after my cold/flu episode and there have been numerous other family health issues not to mention a pile of other unrelated distractions that have been taking up my time. So those batches of SAE Atwrenches and G2 Ghosts are still sitting in the shop with zero progress towards grinding and finishing. Now that the weather is about to turn colder though I plan to get back on it and keep the ball rolling this fall.

In the meantime, I have a little batch of special G2 Ghosts that I have been saving. These are S30v steel and the same thickness as usual. I have given them a subtle Coral Reef pattern finish to spice things up a bit and they look really awesome, especially when the sunlight hits them. They come with a length of distressed bead chain for neck carry.

The patterned G2 Ghosts will run $75 plus shipping and there are a total of 18 of them. The link to sign up for this sale is below where it says "Patterned G2 Ghost Sign Up Link". Click on the link and it will take you to the Sign Up form. The Sign Up period will last for about one hour so will be over at 1PM Eastern time. At that time I will close the sign up and pick the winners at random and will send out emails, winners have 3 hours to get back to me or forfeit their turn. Please read the Sign Up Sale rules at the link below and it is ONE ENTRY PER CUSTOMER PLEASE. Thanks for stopping in everyone!

Sign Up is over, thank you everyone! I will post the list shortly...

List of Entrants

Sign Up Sale Rules

The List!

Wow, another great turnout, thank you everyone!

Here's the list of winners, emails will be sent out in a few minutes and winners will have until 10PM tonight to get back to me. (5:25 PM, all have been paid for, thanks again!) Have a terrific weekend folks. ;)

SUSale: Fancy Ti Dreadknots

Hi Folks,

Thanks again for the terrific participation earlier today in the flat Metric Prybaby sale. All six of those tools are spoken for.

Please do remember, if you sign up for one of these sales, please check your email after the end of the sale to see if you are one of the winners. And of course, you must provide me with a valid email or I won't be able to get hold of you to send you the purchase link. ;)

OK, I'm not the best person with software, spreadsheets, etc so it takes me a while to adapt to any kind of changes involving my website, sales, etc. That is why Jenny set me up with the Flash Sale model, so that I could do the sale entirely myself and not have to ask her to help me. But I know that people want to see their entry in the list and see who else signed up for the sale and also see how many others they are up against so they can weigh their odds of winning etc. With that in mind, I'm going to try a hybrid SU/Flash Sale. The main thing here is to make things so I can do them completely by myself and to have a timeframe so that I don't have to wait forever for the winners to get back to me. Anyway, I think I'm ready to tackle it so here goes...

This afternoon I have a baker's dozen (that's 13!) of these fancy titanium Dreadknots. Each one is stamped, patterned and anodized. No two are alike and they are stunning if I do say so myself. All the stamps, patterns and color combinations are different so I'm not going to give a choice on what I send, they are all gorgeous and I guarantee you will love them all. ;)

They are going to run $85 each plus shipping. The Sign Up period will be for 1 hour (ends 3:30 Eastern time) and the response time will be 6 hours. That should give everyone plenty of time to get back to me. I will post the list of people who entered and will post the winner list after the sale is over. Thanks again everyone!

Sign up is over, will post the winner list shortly!


List of Entrants

Sign Up Sale Rules

   

  

Flash Sale: Flat Metric Prybaby(R) Prototypes

Hi Folks,

Fall is definitely here. The leaves are coming down in piles and the nice color is already gone. I hate to think about what is coming in a month or two but right now at least it's not too cold and it smells good in the woods.

I haven't done any kind of Flash Sales in a while so I thought it might be nice to do one. Today I have just SIX of these flat raw bar S30v steel Prybabies(R) available. These were samples for a design that I was playing with this past spring. I finally decided against making the design because it simply wasn't as pleasing to me as the G2 Metric Atwrench design. They are still pretty cool though so I figured I'd put them up as a Flash Sale. They have the same metric wrench set as the Metwrenches, odd numbers 5-15mm and they come with a length of bead chain so there are multiple carry options.

The flat Metric Prybaby(R) Protos are $60 each plus shipping and the sign up link is below. If you have not done this before please read the rules in the link below. It is ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PLEASE! The sign up period will be just 30 minutes (ending 10:30 AM Eastern Time) and the response time after the sale is over and I send out emails to the winners will be 3 hours.

Flash Sale is over, thank you for all the entries, over 400! I will send out emails to the winners shortly...

Whew, took me a little bit to figure it all out again, it's been a while...but all emails have been sent so the winners have until 1:45 Eastern Time to get back to me. Thanks again everyone, much appreciated! 

All are spoken for, thanks again folks!


Flash Sale/SUSale Rules 

Rainbow Dreadknots

Hi Folks,

Well I'm finally just about over my bad cold/flu that I've had for the past week. It was a tough week and I haven't had such a nasty virus as that for years. Not fun...

Anyhow, I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things this week. Today I have another small wave of titanium Dreadknots done. These are anodized in rainbow colors and they will run $60 plus shipping. One per customer as usual since it is such a small batch. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope everyone is staying healthy this fall!

Rainbow Dreadknots are sold out, thank you very much!

  

Titanium BitBuckets

Hi Folks,

Happy Fall to everyone! It's gorgeous this week and I'm probably nuts to be inside working today but I hope to make some time later this week and next week for some walks in the woods and a little photography. The leaves smell so good right now and the peak color is almost here.

Today I have some ti BitBuckets done. These are pristine and shiny, no anodizing. I was having a devil of a time keeping my name stamp centered on the bottoms so some of them are a little off centered just so you know...

Like the previous aluminum BitBuckets, these handy accessories have an open top and the #1 and #2 phillips bits are held in place via the S-biner clip. Simple and functional for their one sole purpose which is to act as a compact bit caddy that can be easily attached to a keyring or any other object. For those of you who wanted a pill fob or spy capsule with a water sealable top, that is another project for another day. Hopefully that day is coming, perhaps later this year or this winter. I have a few ideas cooking. ;)

At any rate, the ti BitBuckets are $60 plus shipping and the link is below. The batch is good sized but not huge so it's a one per customer sale. Thanks everyone for stopping in and I hope your week is shaping up to be a good one despite the current events!


Ti Bitbuckets are gone for now, thanks so much everyone!

 

MetWrenches Return

Howdy Folks,

The lovely fall weather is upon us at last. The sumacs are starting to turn red and here and there the maples are turning various shades of yellow, orange and red too. But I would say we are still at least a week or two away from the peak foliage. Hopefully it won't get rainy and windy and ruin the show too soon this year.

Today I have more of the S30v Metwrenches done. These are the same as the last batch, nice chunky .160 stock and again, they have the odd number metric sizes from 5-15mm. These tools had a long series of tumbles in a variety of media types which softened the edges and left them with a lovely feel in the hand. Definitely an heirloom tool.

The Metwrench batch isn't huge so it will be a one per customer sale. They run $60 plus shipping and the link is below. As always, thank you for stopping by!

Sold out for now, thank you again everyone!

BitBucket Keyfobs

Hi Folks,

Well, the weather forecast looks a bit ugly today so I'm going to sneak this sale in early and hope that I get all the labels done before we may have to shut down the computers or possibly lose power. Supposed to be severe thunderstorms with high winds but we'll see...so far we have been really lucky this year, unlike in years past.

As you all know, I spend a lot of time coming up with new product ideas and this is one that I have been mulling over for a long time. I'm happy to finally bring it into reality. The concept is very simple and I think the solution is quite elegant. I wanted an easy and unobtrusive way to carry extra 1/4" hex bits and this method came to mind. The BitBucket is 2.5" long by 1/2" diameter container, same size as my whistles and the ribbed design is very similar. Two standard 1 inch long hex bits will fit inside and they are retained with a #1 NiteIze S-biner clip for easy on and off access. Or you can put the BitBucket directly onto your keyring although the bits are then not as easy to get to.

At any rate, the aluminum BitBuckets are anodized with a warm bronzy gunmetal colored finish and are supplied with #1 and #2 phillips bits and a black S-biner clip. Of course you could put any bits you want in there ranging from torx to metric (4mm and 5mm bike) to any of a multitude of specialty bits that are available through a simple internet search. The first wave of these is aluminum but there will be another wave of aluminum ones up the road in a different anodized color. And there are titanium BitBuckets being turned right now. Perhaps a few others may show up in other materials as well.

BitBuckets run $55 plus shipping and the link is below. If you don't see the link that means that the sale is over and they are sold out. Thanks again for stopping in folks and hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead!


BitBuckets are Sold Out for now, thank you again!

 

More G2 Ghosts

Howdy Folks,

It's feeling like Fall is right around the corner today...the weather suddenly cooled down 15 degrees since earlier this week. Won't be long before the leaves start turning. Where oh where did the summer go?

So, projects are proceeding right on schedule. More Metwrenches will be returning from heat treat probably around the end of next week. I am close to finished on the rest of the ti Dreadknots and should be able to get those together in the next few days. In addition, the first wave of the new round item, the BitBucket(TM), will be coming back from the anodizer probably early next week and those will be quite interesting. Ti ones to follow as well and perhaps some other metals. More news on them when I actually get some finished examples in my hand.

Today I have a few more S30v steel G2 Ghosts done. These are the same as the previous waves: stonewashed, no variations, no stamps, etc. I have more on the schedule as well so there will be several more waves finished here and there through the autumn. Hopefully a lot more people will get a chance at them.

Anyway, the G2 Ghosts are $60 plus shipping. Purchase link is below...thanks once again everyone and I hope your upcoming weekend is a great one!

This wave is mostly gone for now but more coming soon. Thanks as always everyone! 

M is for.....Metric!

Hi Folks,

Thanks for patiently waiting for new releases these past couple of weeks. I've been working steadily on numerous projects and have made a huge amount of progress. It's looking like September will be the busiest month of the year so far with a couple of brand new offerings and also some older ideas brought back to life. Exciting stuff is on the horizon once again!

I had mentioned today's tool on the Facebook group last week but didn't have a finished one on hand to post a picture. At any rate, I'm very pleased to bring this one back from the dead. Several years ago I made a series of tools called the Atwrench which many of you probably remember. I did a bunch of SAE version tools in steel and also made a few titanium pieces. Then I decided to do a metric offering and I made just one small batch of them in S30v steel. Needless to say, those metric pieces have been in high demand over the years and I have received MANY requests for another run of them or to make a brand new metric tool.

Well, for the past several years I have had an old titanium Atwrench sitting on my kitchen counter and it is a constant reminder to me of how handy this tool is. I have used it to pop more than a few beers of course but it has also been useful as a pry tool on numerous occasions. At 3.25 inches long (82mm), the size is perfect and the ergonomics are very satisfying indeed.

So earlier this summer I was going through some older drawings and I came across the Atwrench and Metwrench designs and it was yet another reminder to me. The time is definitely ripe for a revival of these great tools.

For this version I have left the original odd number Metric size wrench set in place. Wrench sizes are 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15mm. Up the road I may do a variation and try to include the most ideal frequently used sizes only but I'm not there quite yet. For now, the original wrench set will have to suffice.

Anyway, I played around for days with various configurations and ended up with a rather nice design update. This new tool features more aggressive, deep cut crenallations on the edges for a secure grip. The cap lifter is perfectly sized for smooth single pop action and I moved the distinctive "M" to the small end of the wrench set so it is less obtrusive and much stronger. Careful chamferring on all corners and edges ensure the most comfortable grip possible and indeed, this tool will melt into your hand. They are made of .160 S30v steel so have plenty of heft to them and they have been thoroughly tumbled to a nice stonewashed finish. All in all, a very satisfying tool and one that you will really enjoy carrying.

This is the first wave of the double sized batch. The other half of the batch is at heat treat right now and will be back in about two weeks. In addition, a double sized batch of SAE Atwrenches with the exact same footprint have already been cut and are getting surface ground next week. So the first of those will be coming in about 4-5 weeks. Lots of Atwrenches on the horizon!

The Metric Atwrenches will run $60 plus shipping. It's a one per customer sale and I'm doing this one early in the morning so our European, Aussie and Asian friends have a chance at them....
no worries, the next wave will be at a more West Coast friendly time, I promise. ;)


First wave is sold out, thank you so much!

                

Anodized Ti DreadKnots

Hi Everyone,

Raining like heck here today and quite humid. We'll survive I'm sure, but it makes for a gloomy summer day.

Speaking of gloomy, the light is lousy so I apologize in advance for the crummy pics below. Couldn't find good light today to get the colors looking right...anyhow, today I have the first wave of titanium DreadKnots done. These came out very nice. I have anodized them in various color combinations, mostly rainbows and color fades although there are a few solid colors in the mix as well. Basically though they are mostly all different and unique so I will send you whatever I send you, no color choices this time around.

I've been working on a second batch of ti DreadKnots to be finished shortly and those will probably be a plain stonewashed batch, we'll see what I feel like doing and what I have time to get done.

The ti DreadKnots will be $60 each plus shipping...The batch isn't huge so it will be one per customer on them please. The link is below. Thanks for stopping in as always and I hope everyone's summer is going great!

All gone for now, thank you!

Stainless BedBugs

Hi Folks,

We're heading into another hot and sticky summer week here in the northeast. So I figured I better get another sale in today since I'll probably not be very productive for the next few days.

Today I finally have the small batch of stonewashed 316 stainless steel BedBugs done. These have been sitting around for several months and I just haven't had a chance to get them finished up and packaged until now. Anyway, the BedBug series are nifty little bit caddy tools and they make nice keyfobs or zipper pulls for your gear bags. It's a tiny batch so one per customer please...have a wonderful rest of the weekend and stay cool this week!

Sold out, thank you so much everyone!

Time to Tie One On!

Hi Folks!

I hope everyone is having a terrific Independence Day holiday weekend. It's in the 90's F. here with high humidity so definitely the dog days of summer...

As mentioned previously, I've been very busy lately with new drawings and getting new projects underway. Today I have the first wave of one of those projects ready to go...

I designed this new tool with two groups in mind: the paracord/knot tying crowd and traditional sailors. The DreadKnot is an ultra compact 3 inch pocket tool that features a universal shackle key for loosening those thumb screws found on the U shaped shackles on sailboats. lt works very well for working standard wing nuts too. Also featured is a small marlin spike which I have intentionally left just a little bit blunt but still quite pointy. Fantastic for loosening tight knots in either paracord or ropes! And of course it has a cap lifter and a 1/4" hex opening.

Because I envisioned this tool going to sea, corrosion resistance is an important consideration in the choice of materials. I chose 5/32" thick 316 stainless steel for the first batch as it is excellent in salt water environments. The second batch will be coming in a week or two and they will be in titanium.

The DreadKnots will run $55 plus shipping and it will be one per customer on them for this small first wave. I will be making a bunch of these as time goes on so expect a few releases and possibly a 4 inch version as well up the road.

Thanks for stopping by today and stay cool folks!


All Gone for now, thank you folks! :)

  

Short Wave: G2 Ghosts

Hi Everyone,

It's a hot and lazy weekend here. Actually not too hot but quite humid so it feels hotter than it is. Although I could waste the whole weekend lying around and watching the Red Sox while drinking a cold beer, I thought instead maybe I should be productive, sneak a little sale in and then catch the last few innings.

Today I have another small batch of G2 Ghosts ready to go. These are S30v with a stonewashed finish. There are still tons more of these to go as soon as I can get the time and energy to grind them and get them out to heat treat. Then there will be several huge waves of 3v Ghosts after those. Lots of grinding ahead for me in July.

Anyway, the purchase link for the Ghosts in right above the picture. They are $60 plus shipping... Newbies: If you don't see the link that means you were too slow and the sale is over. Thanks for stopping in folks. Stay cool this weekend!

Sold out for now, thank you everyone!

Rest of the S30v Cryptos

Hi Folks,

It's a hot and muggy week here in western MA with temps around 90F. It's a good week to hunker down in the relatively cool basement and get a few things done. 

So today I have the first wave of S30v steel Cryptos done. These are .160 thick so they are nice and chunky. SAE wrenches sized 1/4-9/16 with Prybaby(R) front end.... Due to the compact yet beefy size of this tool, they have a pleasing weight to them, around 1.5 ounces. On this batch of tools I decided to reverse direction and put the grinds on the opposite side rather than the way I did the titanium version. These have had the V notch milled into them as well as the extra grinds and they are hardened to 57-59 Rockwell with cryo treatment. The finish is a fine stonewash with a slightly subdued shine. 

The S30v Cryptos will run $75 plus shipping and the purchase link is below. As always, I greatly appreciate everyone's interest so thank you for stopping by and stay cool!


All gone for now, thank you everyone!

G2 Ghosts with Stonewashed Finish

Hi Folks,

It's been a little quiet around here lately but that's about to change. Things are shaping up nicely, lots of goodies are on the horizon, and indeed it's looking like a very busy summer lies ahead.  It's been good to have some long stretches of recent shop time and much preparation has been getting done.

Today I have some more of the stonewashed G2 Ghosts finished. These are the same as the first batch, all S30v steel, .160 thick with regular grinds. There are a lot more of these on my bench now, still in the process of being ground and sent to heat treat so this is simply the next of several forthcoming waves. They will run $60 plus shipping and the purchase link is below. Thanks for stopping in and I hope everyone is having the same lovely weather we have here in the Northeast this week!

These are gone for now but more soon. Thanks Everyone!

Emails Sent!

Another remarkable turnout, thank you so much everyone. It's a shame I don't have enough to send everyone an email but I did just send them to the lucky 8. (5:15 EST cut off time) Please check your emails, and your spam filters...thank you once again for your interest and for your patience. Eventually I will get a big batch of stuff together and get some regular general release sales going again but for now it's just these little ones for the odds and ends.

Thanks again and have a great day!

All are spoken for, thanks again!

Rainbow Wedgie Flash Sale, One Sign Up Per Person!

So, everything finally got squared away last night with my site, at least I hope so anyway...sounds like there were denial of service attacks against several big internet providers this week. I guess this is one of the hazards of this new digital age.

One Sign Up Per Person Please!

Well, today I have another little Flash Sale for you. This time it's the last of the titanium Wedgies with raw bar finish. These have a special surface treatment on the raw bar which gives it a bit of added shine. They are all anodized rainbow. I believe this is the end of the ti Wedgies and at the moment I have no plans to make any more of them so this is your last chance to score one directly from me. There are only 8 of these tools available. 

One Sign Up Per Person Please!

Anyhow, the ti Wedgies will run $65 plus shipping and the Sign Up link is below. The Sign Up period will be 30 minutes (ends 3 PM EST) and the response time for the buyers will be 2 hours. If you sign up please remember to check your email including your Spam Filters as people keep signing up and then not getting back to me after I email them. I'm giving a reasonable length of time to get back to me so remember, you will forfeit your chance if you don't respond within two hours and then someone else will get the chance to purchase.   

One Sign Up Per Person Please!

And in case you didn't get the message, one sign up per person please! I will simply discard all multiple entries including the first entry for the abusers who submit a half dozen.  ;) Thanks!

Flash Sale is over, emails with instructions to purchase will be sent to the 8 buyers shortly, please check your emails and your spam filters! Thanks again Folks!

Site is Down...

I did hear back from two people before my site went down. It's been down for at least an hour now and I can't even get hold of anyone in tech support at the IP so they must be having some major issue... So I will extend a grace period for the remaining two folks until my site comes back online...

Emails Sent!

Wow, over 500 people signed up in just a half hour, amazing! Emails sent to the 4 folks...they will have two hours to get back to me (4:30 EST) and if anyone does not get back to me I will pick replacements. Thank you everyone!

They Call It Stormy Monday...

..but Tuesday's supposed to be just as bad. Yo Mother Nature, what's up with all this rain lately? :)

Hi Folks!  I've been busy grinding and tumbling all this past week. I just sent out a big batch of S30v G2 Ghosts to heat treat and so those should be back in about two weeks. I also sent out a batch of beefy S30v Cryptos to heat treat. Next week another batch of both tools will go out as well so there are TONS of tools coming just as I promised. It's taking a little while to get them going which, as anyone knows who has been following the Atwood Circus for any length of time, is pretty much always how it is.

Anyhow, fun times at Atwood Knife and Tool. I have had several weeks of very productive drawing time in between all the grinding and there will be some promising new designs coming as the summer goes on. It's a funny thing about drawings...months can go by and I start to think I will never have another cool idea and then all of a sudden a bunch of interesting stuff will come to me. Some ideas are viable and have "legs" and others sit there and fester for a while before ultimately being discarded or put on the back burner. I think a couple of the recent ones are a definite go though, so as soon as I figure out the details and settle on materials, etc. I will be letting you know.

Today I have a little Flash Sale for you. These are old stock titanium Prybabies (R) and are the last of them. These have a light glass bead finish and are anodized rainbow. There's only 4 of them. They will run $70 plus shipping and the Sign Up portion of the Flash Sale will run for 30 minutes (ends 2:15 EST), the response time will be 2 hours. So if you sign up for this today, please do check your email and your spam filters after the sale is over and I have sent out the emails.

As always, thank you for your patience and for the great interest in my little creations!

Sign up is over, will send emails out shortly to the 4 buyers. Thank you!

Round Two Emails Sent!

OK, I didn't hear back from a few folks so I just sent out the second round of emails for the few remaining blue Cryptos. Response time will end at 8:35 EST. So check your Spam filters just in case! Thanks.

All spoken for, have a great evening folks!

Emails Sent!

OK, that was quite a few that signed up in 30 minutes, amazing!

So, emails have been sent out and response deadline is 5:15 EST. Thanks again and have a great afternoon!

Flash Sale: Blue Cryptos

Hi Folks,

Last weekend we were freezing, now we're broiling in the 90's. Crazy weather...

Today I have a few more titanium Cryptos done, this time anodized a deep blue. The sun was out this morning when I snapped this picture so leaf shadows are not included, you'll have to supply your own. Hehe..

OK, so the blue ti Cryptos will run $70 plus shipping. There's only a couple dozen so we'll do this as a Flash Sale. How about we make this for a 30 minute sign up period (ends 2PM EST) with a generous 3 hour response time so that folks have a chance to check their emails? The link to sign up is right above the picture and if you don't see a link there then that means the sale is over and you can no longer sign up for this item. Thanks for stopping by everyone and have a terrific weekend!

Sign up is over, I will send emails shortly and announce the start of the response time. Thank you everyone!

Golden Cryptos!

Howdy Folks,

I hope everyone had a great weekend! It started out quite cold and rainy here in New England and then finally turned nice yesterday. Odd weather this year though for sure...

Well, the weekend started out so lousy that it seemed like a good time to get a bit of work done. So today I have a few more of the ti Cryptos finished. These are stonewashed and are anodized a lovely rich gold color. They will run $70 each plus shipping and the link is below...it is one per customer on this sale as there aren't too many of these but I wanted to do them in a regular sale rather than a flash sale to keep things mixed up. Thanks for stopping by today and have a great short week ahead!

Gold Cryptos are Sold Out, thank you again folks!

Second Round Emails Sent!

All spoken for, thank you again everyone!

Emails Sent!

Thanks everyone, it was a LOT of folks who signed up for this one. I really appreciate it. Emails have been sent and you have until 4:30 EST to get back to me. Thanks again folks and have a great day! :)

Flash Sale: Raw Bar G2 Ghosts

Hi Folks,

Spring is coming to the northeast in fits and starts this year...it's been darned chilly here lately but at least everything is green since the recent rains and I've mowed my lawn twice already. In a normal year though we would have mowed probably a half dozen times so that tells you how cool and dry it's been.

Well, I have been puttering around the shop a bit and slowly getting some stuff going. The big batches of G2 Ghosts were cut this week so I will start working on them soon, prepping them for surface grinding and then doing the grinds and finishing for heat treat. I will be working on a large batch of S30v steel Cryptos in the next week or so as well and also making some time to finish more of the earlier ti Crypto batch. A couple of other odds and ends may make their way into Flash Sales too.

I have had an explosion of interesting ideas recently so have been frantically working on new drawings. I will make some decisions soon on which ones are worth pursuing. I think you will love the direction that they are going and I can tell you that I am VERY excited about a couple of them in particular. Did I mention I was excited? Hehe...

Also, the Super Secret Mystery Project is coming closer to fruition... It's going to be an amazing summer! ;)

Just a note: My email has been changed recently so if you tried to reach me at the old address and didn't get a reply don't take it personally. My new email is here: http://www.atwoodknives.com/home/contact.php

OK, so, today I have more of the first S30v G2 Ghost batch done. There are a couple of dozen raw bar pieces that I managed to salvage. The texture is light but it is the best that I could do. The thickness is almost in Semi Roid territory at .176 so very beefy indeed!

The Raw Bar G2 Ghosts will run $65 plus shipping and the sign up link is below. This flash sale will run for 2 hours (ends 11AM EST) and I'll give a 5 hour response time so hopefully that gives people plenty of time to check their emails and not distract you too much from work, school, etc. Remember, one entry per person please, duplicates will be discarded. Thanks for stopping by today and hope everyone is gearing up for a terrific weekend!

Thanks everyone! I will send out emails shortly. Make sure lottagear2000-pp@yahoo.com is on your safe list and check your junk folders so you don't miss it.

Wroaches are Gone!

They are all spoken for, thanks again folks!

Round Two Emails Sent!

I had 5 people not get back to me in time....sooo, 5 more folks get a chance!

Thanks so much to everyone who particpated today!

Emails Sent!

Thanks again everyone, I appreciate the enthusiastic response! Emails have been sent and Response Time starts now (until 1:48 EST)!

Flash Sale 3: Titanium Wroaches!

So we're on a roll today...the three flat Ghosts and three flat Weevil protos found their new homes. Now for some slightly bigger and much older fish:

I have 24 New Old Stock Titanium Wroaches available. These were originally made 2 or 3 years ago and I have had them kicking around for quite a while, always meaning to get them done but never finding the time. So, no time like the present since the Flash Sale system is in high gear.

The Ti Wroaches are made of 5/32 stock and are 3.5 inches long with a simple stonewashed finish. They feature a pry tip with wire stripper notch, Acetylene B-tank wrench, 5/16 and 1/4" hex openings, O2 wrench, cap lifter and rear screwdriver/pry tip. No O-rings with these, just plain.

This is a 30 minute Sign Up (1:20 EST) with a 15 minute response period. The Wroaches will be $70 each plus shipping and the sign up link is below:

Sign up is over! Thank you everyone. There were a lot of sign ups so it will take me a few minutes to get it figured out...

Emails Sent, Go!

Emails sent, your 15 minutes starts now!

Flash Sale 2: Flat Weevils!

Hehe, y'all thought it was over didn't you? I think I was a bit early today with the Ghosts as I didn't hear back in time from a few folks who are no doubt now disgusted that they missed the response times. But, those are the rules...

Anywhow, here are three proto flat S30v Weevils for your consideration...these will run $50 plus shipping. The Sign Up period will be for 30 minutes and after the sign up is over (11:30 EST) and emails have been sent, the response time will be just 15 minutes.

One entry per customer please, duplicates will be discarded. 

Sign up is over, emails will be sent shortly. Thanks again for all the interest everyone! 

Thank you!

They are all gone, thank you! It took a little while so maybe these early morning ones are too much for folks who are getting ready to go work. ;)

More Emails Sent!

Only heard from one guy so new emails sent for the remaining two!

Emails Sent!

OK, emails have been sent, you have 10 minutes and the time starts now!

BTW, check your spam filters just in case these get misdirected...

Thanks. :) 

Flash Sale: Flat G2 Ghosts!

Hi Folks,

How about a little rise and shine action? I have just three of these flat raw bar S30v G2 Ghost Prototypes. I had thought of doing a longer area of the jimping on top but decided to shorten it for the final design.

One Sign Up per customer, duplicates will be discarded!

Anyway, these will be $45 plus shipping. The Sign Up period will be 15 minutes and the response time will be just 10 minutes so this is a quickie...link is below:

Sign Up is over, will send out notices shortly, thanks so much!

 

G2 Ghosts

Hi Everyone,

Yes, it's true, the long awaited G2 Ghosts have arrived!

This is just the first of many waves that are coming over the next two months or so.The steel is S30v and they average about .166" thick so are quite robust and the weight feels nice in the hand.

For the redesign I decided to update the cap lifter to a round hook shape and it is an effective single stroke popper. The round hole of the original has been replaced with a 5/16" hex opening but the 1/4" hex opening and O2 wrench are the same as the original design. The footprint is identical to the original size as well. The hex shaped side cutouts have been replaced with a unique sine wave style of jimping which provides a nice grippy texture and is something new in the world of jimping...or at least I've never seen jimping exactly like this before at any rate. ;)

These Ghosts have a bright stonewashed finish and they come with a #1 NiteIze s-clip. There are no stamped Ghosts or extra grinds on any of this batch, they are all just regular. We'll see what happens on future batches but there isn't a lot of appropriate real estate on them so probably stamps are out for this design.

This is the first of many waves of these that are underway. It will be a while until the next ones come about so for this first wave let's make it a one per customer sale please. The G2 Ghosts will run $60 plus shipping and the link is below. Thank you as always for stopping in!

..............................................One Per Customer Please, thank you!.............................................

These are sold out for now, thanks everyone!

They Are All Spoken For, Thank You!

I did hear back from everyone in the second round time frame so they are all spoken for. Thank you again folks, it's much appreciated! We'll try this again soon.

Second Round Emails Sent!

I didn't hear from a small number of folks so their chance has expried and a new round of emails have been sent for the remainder. The second round expires at 1:20 EST. Thanks again folks. :)

Emails Sent!

Ready, set, go! :) You have until 12:57 EST to respond. Thanks again everyone for the cool new test drive!

Flash Sale: Flat S30v Raw Bar Bedbugs

Dear Friends,

As you all know, recently my fans have been snapping up my batches of tools in record time. Of course, I am deeply flattered to have that kind of demand for my products and I am immensely grateful for the business! However, I hear from folks constantly who are frustrated that they have tried for ages and just cannot get a break and catch a sale in time. So, to address this concern, for smaller batches or for special batches of limited items I sometimes do a Sign Up Sale.

Well, the SUSale system certainly makes things more fair but it is often a bit tedious for me on my end. It takes a lot of time to go through the entries, discard duplicates, pick the random numbers and send out the emails. It's more work than you might think and it takes quite a bit of time. It would be nice if there was a way to simplify the process and speed it up. So I asked Jenny for assistance. She was incredibly kind to help me work out a new type of sales model and she wrote some new software to do it. (Thank you Jenny!) The result is a sort of hybrid of the SUSale and a General Release sale but with a restricted time element added. With this new sale tool I can now be both fair but also more efficient at the same time. We're calling it a Flash Sale. I think this is a cool idea and it will be rather fun as well. Now, I will continue to do both General Release Sales and SUSales, but this new idea offers us an interesting third option, especially for small batches.     

How the Flash Sale model works:

1. Similarly to a Sign Up Sale, you fill out a form with your real name, real shipping address and a valid email address. It is very important that you make sure your email is spelled correctly or you will forfeit your turn! Likewise, your address must be the shipping address the item will go to. Unlike the SUSale system however, no list of entries or list of winning numbers will be shown. Remember, I'm trying to keep all this as simple as possible on my end and not so cumbersome to manage.

2. The sale will be for small batches of items, no specific quantity, it's for however many pieces I have on hand. The duration of the Flash Sale Entry Period will be however long I decide but generally these are SHORT sales for small quantities so anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes might be a typical duration of a Flash Sale Entry Period.

3. After the specified Entry Period is up I will select the winning buyer numbers via a random number generator.

4. Emails will then be sent to the buyers containing the purchase link.

5. As soon as all the email notifications have gone out I will announce on the blog that the Response Period has begun. You will then have only a short time to respond to the email and purchase the item. That time will be announced at the same time that I set up the sale. So for example, for a 30 minute sale I might give just 15 minutes to respond to my email containing the purchase link. For a 15 minute sale I might give only 10 minutes to respond. It will depend on how many items I have to offer and how long I want to run the response time.

5. If I haven't heard back from you within the given time frame (no exceptions!) then you forfeit your turn and I will select a second round of buyers from an alternate list of randomly selected numbers. The process will then repeat until all the items are sold.

This is as fair as I can make it. Everyone has the same chance. People who have software advantages or Facebook alerts and who get to the sales in the first two minutes EVERY SINGLE TIME are put on the same level playing field as everyone else. I will have more control over the sales of small batches and will eliminate the overselling and subsequent refund problem. The problem of the disappearing SUSale winners who don't get back to me for 2 days because they signed up and then went out drinking with their buddies or are scrambling around to raise the funds for the purchase is now over. There will no longer be leftovers after the sales so all batches can be more efficiently sold out and I will save many hours of answering emails after the sales. This will be a fun approach and above all, as I mentioned, it's as FAIR as fair can be for my fans! It's also fair to me and to my valuable time.

So there you have it. How about a test run? :D I'll give a little longer than 30 minutes on this first trial sale so that everyone gets a chance to read through the rules above a couple of times.

Today I have a couple dozen flat S30v Bedbugs with raw bar finish. These were sample pieces that were cut a while back and I just now finally got around to finishing them. These will run $45 plus shipping and the Flash Sale sign up link is below. The Entry cutoff will be 12:30 EST. Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is enjoying the glorious spring weather before the black flies come out!

Sign Up Period is over and I will send emails shortly and then announce the start of the response time. Thanks so much everyone!