Titanium Gremlins!

My Dear Friends, 

I never mentioned this to anyone, not a single soul, but it happened one extraordinary night last September. I still don't know what to make of what I refer to now as The Incident, but I can tell you this: it's amazing how much can happen in the span of a single crazy minute.

It was a warm evening so the windows were still open. Light breezes wafted in bringing with them the delicious scent of decaying leaves and damp earth. Perfect sleeping weather, or so I thought.

I woke up in the early hours to strange glowing lights outside my window. At first I thought there was some kind of accident out on the road, but then I realized it was happening right on my lawn. I threw open the window screen and peered outside. Blinking rows of blue and red lights were coming from a large cigar shaped object hovering silently just above the ground with a small circle of crab grass and dandelions clearly illuminated below it. 

Just as I was considering running to the other room for my camera, out of the corner of my eye I spied my trusty Area 51 Chigger on the bedside table moving mysteriously of it's own accord. I tried to react, but I was too late! The Chigger danced just outside of my flailing grasp, then flew out the window as a powerful tractor beam pulled it rapidly towards the craft. Briefly the little tool was enveloped with a brilliant white light and then I lost sight of it completely as it disappeared inside. 

Suddenly, as quickly as it had appeared and without a single sound, the entire craft lifted off and then vanished, and the yard returned to an inky darkness. An distant night bird called and then all was quiet except for the ceaseless chirping of the crickets. I was left wondering, was this a dream or did it really just happen? I looked over at my table for confirmation and sure enough, my precious Chigger was gone!

Well, I'm happy to report that the Chigger was safely returned some months later in the US Mail, in a plain brown wrapper with no return address. Or maybe it was just an hour that felt like months... Whatever happened during that time we will never truly know, but it's safe to say that various bizarre and mysterious quasi-medical procedures, plus alcohol, were probably involved. 

Anyhow, the Chigger has recently given birth to a large litter of adorable bouncing baby tools (who knew that the Chiggers were female? Really, I had no idea...good thing I had named mine Sam...) so we can assume that the Alien experiments were a resounding success! I'm calling the cute offspring with their fat little cheeks Gremlins. 

Titanium Gremlins will run $55 plus shipping and the link to purchase is below. Thanks for stopping in everyone, have a great weekend, and remember...keep your windows closed tonight. ;)


Gremlins are gone for now, thanks again folks! :)

 

3V Mini Wedgies!

Hi Everyone,

Well a big happy Wednesday to you all! It's a lovely day here in Massachusetts and we seem to be well on our way to the earliest spring in memory. We'll certainly take it without complaint.

Projects have been rapidly rolling along towards completion here at Atwood Studios. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at some of the neat little items that are on the way over the next few weeks...the tiny little titanium Gremlins are just about done and will be revealed in another couple of days. The 3v steel Metric Prybabies likewise are nearly finished and will also be done shortly. Titanium Termites are not far behind either as are a cool new bead offering. Lots more is underway too so there will be no shortage of nifty new tools, accessories and toys in this next period of time.

Today is the big day that many have been eagerly awaiting these past several months. It took me a ridiculously long time to get to them all but finally the Mini Wedgies are done! These little monsters are made from the identical massive CPM 3v stock that I made the T-Wrex tools from so they are quite formidable. The thickness measures a respectable .280 on average so they are very thick indeed. The length is 3 inches. They feature a large pry tip with nail puller V notch, a snug 1/4 hex opening that accepts bits one way and an O2 wrench which doubles as the lanyard or key ring opening. There is no left or right on these, they are all stamped the same way. And no grind variations or decorative stamps, all are straight up.

The finish did not turn out quite as dark as the T-Wrexes so although most of them have an antique looking finish they tend to look more red than black in the crevices. I have not oiled these so if you want to keep them from developing surface rust then you should oil them with any kind of light machine oil, WD-40, household oil, even olive oil. Personally, I like the patina that develops on tool steels from the combination of surface oxidation, oiling, using and abusing over time and I would encourage folks who worry about such things to put such concerns aside and Embrace the Patina. Remember, In Rust We Trust. ;)

Mini Wedgies will run $80 plus shipping and it is a one per customer limit please. The order link is below. As usual the batch is probably not big enough but it would be nice if most of the folks who really want one of these can score one. Thanks to everyone for your great patience and enthusiasm and I hope a pleasant early spring is headed your way as well.

Wedgies are sold out! Thanks so much everyone. :)

    

 

Push/Pry: Say Hello to Little Jimmy!

Hi Folks,

Happy March to you all! That sun is getting stronger and the temperatures are starting to warm up a bit lately. Spring is definitely on the way, my favorite time of year.

Project Updates: The 3v steel Mini Wedgies are at heat treat now so will be coming back in a week or two. Same thing with 3v metric P10 Prybabies. Meanwhile there is all kinds of new titanium stuff coming as well, and some of those projects are in the final stages towards completion. Rest assured there are a ton of new items coming this month and the festivities will continue well into April!

So today I have an interesting new item to offer. This was something that was suggested to me last year by an older gentleman and I thought it was a great idea. He wanted a slim stick that he could keep on his keys or in his pocket that he and his wife could use to press elevator buttons, ATM buttons, etc in public places so as to cut down on the spread of germs, especially in flu season. I'm a little late in getting these out in regards to flu season which is winding down, but I figure it's a timeless concept as those nasty microbes aren't going away anytime soon.

Anyhow, at first I was thinking of making something round for this project. But after much thought I decided that I would be limiting myself in functionality because it's just too costly and too difficult to add useful features in lathe turning. So I turned back to flat stock designs and my favorite new Krinkle Titanium material.

The Little Jimmy (aka FluFob or SikStik) measures a slender .45 inches wide by 3.5 inches long and a hefty .200 inches thick. The features include a rounded push/pry tip, 1/4" hex opening and oxygen wrench/lanyard opening. There are plenty of grip areas along the tool that will make this a nice addition to your key ring. The tool could also be used as a last ditch self defensive tool or pressure point stick as well. And, a second variation design with even more features is on the drawing board and will be coming this spring.

These are anodized in my usual wide variety of solid colors and color fades. I can't promise certain colors, I'll send you whatever I send you, but they are all gorgeous! 

These will run $65 plus shipping and the batch is small, so one per customer please. Thanks for stopping by today and as always, thank you so much for your continued support.


Little Jimmies are gone for now, thanks again everyone!