Zirconium Mini 5 Flutes

Hi Folks,

Happy Shortest Day of the Year! I'm always relieved when we turn the corner on this one and start getting some longer days again. Today we are getting some heavy rain here in New England...that's much better than the icy white stuff which is due next week.


Time keeps slipping by this year faster than I can keep up. It's looking more and more like some of the things I was hoping to finish will take a little longer than my optimism first predicted. That's OK, just means that there will be a lot of activity going into January which is often a slower period for me.

Today I have the remaining Zirconium Mini 5 Flute beads done. These little gems have a nice satin sheen and buttery smooth finish. With the dark gray/black heat coloring the overall effect reminds me of obsidian. Very cool material.

The Zr Mini 5 Flutes run $55 plus shipping and the link is below. As always, thank you for dropping by today and I hope everyone has a nice holiday week ahead!

Sold out, thanks so much!

Count Sporkulas with Cap Lifter

Hi Folks,

Wow, I can't believe we are almost at Christmas once again. Where did 2018 go?

After a rather chilly start to the month we are finally getting some slightly milder weather which looks like it will continue through next week. That's fine by me as it means we can still get out for our daily walks, and I'm sure months of snow and bitter cold lie ahead.

I'm still working diligently and trying to finish a few more batches before the end of the year. So please stay tuned for more cool items coming...

Today I have the second new Count Sporkula design ready to go. These are similar to the basic ones from last week but also feature a cap lifter, 5/16 wrench and 1/4 wrench as well. Not that you need a wrench to eat your lunch, lol, but they are part of my familiar features and work well here for purposes of grip and overall design. It's always so handy to have one in your wallet, there when you need it.

The Sporkulas with cap lifter run $45 plus shipping and once again I'll make it a two per customer limit on them. Thanks for stopping in today and hope your holiday preparations are going great!

All gone for today, thanks so much everyone!

Basic Count Sporkulas

Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday to you! It's a brisk one here again with temps around 30f which is where we have been for weeks. We've had an unseasonably cold fall this year, so in essence, our "winter" started in early November. I hope it doesn't portend an especially brutal winter but time will tell I guess. It's supposed to warm up a little bit next week though.

More PermaCorks are on the way, and hopefully will be ready to go next week. I'm scrambling to get a few more things done too before Christmas and then during the holiday week before New Year's. Even if I can't complete everything I would like to before year's end, all this preparation will set me up for a very active January. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that maybe this year I can avoid getting sick during the holidays, unlike the past 4 out of 5 years. Hand sanitizer is always ready and waiting in the car lately and I did have a flu shot.

Today I have the first wave of the new Count Sporkulas done. These are made of titanium and they are a bit heftier than the past runs which I made several years ago, measuring in at .067 inches thick. This first batch has a basic shape and features a refined four tine fork with flat spoon on the opposite end.

The whole idea of these is to actually have it on your person when you need it. So a flat utensil, while lacking some of the functionality of a traditional curved fork and concave spoon, is the only type of design that can actually be carried in a wallet. Despite the limitations of a flat utensil, they remain surprisingly usable. You can't eat soup with it, but you can certainly eat ice cream, yogurt, chili, salads, mac &cheese, etc. I have given these a hybrid stonewash/bead blast type finish so they will wear well and clean up easily.

A second, more "loaded" design featuring a cap lifter and some of my familiar wrenchy type shapes is on the way soon. And a stand alone tiny Count Forkula in two versions is also well underway and will follow these first two.

The basic Count Sporkulas will run $45 plus shipping. These batches are all quite modest in number, so I will make it a two per person limit on them. No worries though if you miss out on any of these runs because I will almost certainly be making more of these next year as it is currently a favorite here in my house...anyhow, hope you all have a great weekend and thanks for dropping by today.


All gone, thank you everyone!

  




     

Stamped Hangman Hooks

Hi Folks,

Happy Friday! I'm glad to see the weekend arriving after a long and busy week. It's seasonably cool here right now and not a hint of snow on the ground at the moment. I'm sure that will be changing soon though.

I made so much progress this week. The aluminum PermaCorks just went out to get their anodizing so those should be back in a week or so. There are some with the same rifle knurl design as the earlier stainless ones, and also some that are a new variation and those are quite cool I think.

In other news, a cute little pry bar tool in steel is well underway and will be getting milling very soon. They might be done before Christmas if I am lucky, but I'm still not sure. Maybe I can get the ti ones finished sooner. Other items are further along though and I'm hoping to get the first of those Count Sporkulas finished for next week. I have a variety of beads going and I just need to cut some cord and get down to tying this weekend during the football games. A new Mini Prybaby design has been cut and those are being surface ground this week but they will probably be ready mid January. Will be February for the second batch which is metric and about to be cut next week. There are several other balls in the air as well, so a lot of cool releases lie ahead.

Today I have the Stamped Steel Hangmen done! They are the same shape basically as the last release, but these have a smooth surface ground finish. The thickness is .160 so they are strong and beefy but not overly heavy. Designed to hang on the edge of your pocket and dangle the keys INSIDE to keep them from bunching up and from scratching up other items in your pockets. I find that I can't stand carrying my keys any other way now after years of using these various dangler hook designs!

Anyhow, I have stamped these with a wide variety of my decorative stamps. Almost all are multi stamped and there is a huge variety of them, Some are Mono Stamped with multiple stamps of the same image, but some have combinations of different stamps. I would say no two are alike but I probably did repeat some patterns. There is a tremendous variety here though...and yes there are  a few lefties, but none with extra grinds or any other shape variations.

In addition to this, I also have milled a small marker slot on the top edge that would hang over your pocket. The slot is 6mm long so it will accept 5mm tritium marker tubes if you wish to find some and glue them in with clear epoxy. Or you can fill the slot with a mix of epoxy and Superluminova glow powder, available from ReadySetGlo or other sources. Easy to do and a fun DIY project to personalize your hook.

Don't ask me where to get tritium tubes as I do not know. I know they are common in the EDC community and can be readily obtained from overseas. Here in the US they are regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and officially would require a license to sell, so I'm not interested in doing that. But they are kind of like blue dots in your tail lights, one of those gray areas, so if you want to mess with them you are on your own. ;)

Stamped Hangman hooks run $50 plus shipping and the batch is large so no limit on them. Thanks for dropping in as always and may your weekend be a great one!


All gone for now, thank you!

        

Stainless Mini 5 Flute Beads

Hi Folks,

Happy Friday everyone! It's cool and overcast here today, typical for late November weather in the Northeast. At least the few inches of snow that we had last week is almost gone for now. I'm sure it will be back before long but right now it's still good weather for taking some brisk daily walks for our health. I've been on a bit of a health and exercise kick this fall, more on that to come. ;)

I don't have much to report since the previous sale, but will be scrambling this weekend to get some more batches of items finished up. I will try to keep the sales rolling next week so please do stay tuned as I hope to make December a very busy month.

Today I have the remaining stainless steel Mini 5 Flute beads done. These are the same as the ones I released a while back and they have proved to be very popular for tying onto lanyards and zipper pulls. They look great on the plain black cord and will make for a nice stocking stuffer. This batch is good sized but not huge, so I will make it a limit of 4 please, and they will run $30 plus shipping. Thanks for visiting today and I hope you have a great weekend!


Sold Out, thank you so much!

 

Titanium Small Fry

Hi Everyone,

Well, I'm finally back. My computer hard drive decided to die the weekend before Thanksgiving. Arrrgh! It took over a week to have it fixed and get everything working properly again with the network. A total pain in the rear that took many hours to deal with and couldn't have happened at a worse time, but luckily most of my files were recovered and now everything is slowly getting back to normal. Man oh man, in some ways this has not been my year I guess, but hopefully there will be smoother sailing ahead.

I'm happy to report that the projects are moving right along again. I am close to finishing the first of the new Count Sporkulas and also the second Count Sporkula batch as well. A third version, Count Forkula, is also on the way and I just finished a fourth drawing last night. They are really cool and fun so stay tuned... Stamped steel Hangman hooks just came back from heat treat yesterday and so far they look great, will have them packaged up in the next day or two. And in my holiday down time I finished up a few bead batches so a whole bunch of those will be coming on very shortly as well. Also aluminum PermaCorks are almost done and hopefully heading to the platers for HAIII anodizing next week.

More new designs are also underway with a cute new mini pry bar in both steel and ti already cut and awaiting me on the work bench. I have a super cute new steel Mini Prybaby design in both SAE and later in metric that will be happening in January-February time frame. Also a few special small run surprises are ahead that are very different and that I think you will heartily enjoy.

Today I finally have the Small Fry tools without bottle openers finished that I cut way back in January. These are made of the same .200 thick titanium as the previous batch and have a rustic heavily textured raw bar finish on the flats. The main pry end with V notch features deeply milled scalloping on either side for a new and different look and they are slightly longer than the previous design at 3 inches long. An additional small boat tail shaped pry tip is tacked onto the end. The large 7/16 twelve point wrench opening doubles as a lanyard hole or key ring attachment point. I elected to leave these plain, without color anodizing, so they will make great user tools, and they have a smooth buttery finish with slight shine...there are a few lefties among these too.

The Small Fries will run $65 each plus shipping and I'll make it a two per customer limit on them please. The purchase link is below... There are still a handful in the polish tumbler this morning so please just drop me a line if you miss these today as there will be a few more available later this week...also a portion of this sale will be going to the local county survival center so hopefully a few folks won't be going hungry this holiday season. Thanks for dropping by today and I hope everyone is staying warm!

All gone, thank you so much!

Stainless PermaCorks: Round Two

Hi Everyone,

Wow, it was a rather late night for me packing up all the E115 tools. Thank you so much for the enthusiastic response to them! Some went out yesterday and the rest are already heading to the PO this morning.

I have a few dozen more of the popular stainless PermaCorks done and thought I would put them up this morning. A second run in HAIII clear hard coat aluminum is well underway and maybe some variations too, so please stay tuned...PermaCorks are $45 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks again everyone and hope your weekend ahead is excellent!

Sold Out, thank you!

Element 115 Tools!

Hi Everyone,

Fall is in full swing now up here in the Northeast. The trees are almost all bare, just a few gnarly oaks holding onto their sad brown leaves. It's starting to get cooler too and I think we might have seen our last day in the 50's F for the next six months. Time to bundle up!

I've been busy preparing the house for the winter months but still cranking away on projects in between draining water hoses and raking leaves. Now that most of that domestic stuff is buttoned up and ready to go I will have more time to jump back into shop activities. I'm almost there on the new Count Sporkulas and those will be coming up next, along with various beads. Titanium Small Fries without the opener will finally be coming up later this month as well. And heavily stamped smooth steel Hangman hooks are coming along too.

Today I have the long promised and newly redesigned Element 115 tools done. I first made a small run of these many years ago and always wanted to revisit the design. Features include a stout pry tip/screwdriver and SAE wrench set sizes 1/4-9/16. For this run I decided to go with hefty 3/16 thick CPM 3v steel, which is a fine powder tool steel with tremendous strength and toughness.  Perfect for a pry tool although it is less corrosion resistant than most of the other steels I use. Oil it now and then and embrace the rich patina as it develops from wear and use.

Speaking of patinas, I've given these a head start, with a blackened Vintage Industrial finish, very similar to the recent R37 Rulers. In addition, these tools have a wide variety of Area 51 style grind combinations as well as decorative stamps, so they are quite interesting, and no two are exactly alike. For those who are looking for something unique and a little out of this world, this is it!

The E115s will run $75 each plus shipping and it's not a huge batch, so one per customer on them please. There are a small number of lefties as well...thanks for dropping in today and hope you all are having a good week!

Sold out, thank you everyone!

PermaCorks!

Hi Everyone,

Well, fall is finally in full swing here and we've had a couple of frosts this past week. The leaves are very late this year and were kind of lackluster in color for much of October, but we're finally seeing some bright reds and yellows. I envision a bunch of raking in my near future!

The projects continue to roll along. I'm almost done with the first round of the new Count Sporkulas and should have those coming maybe late next week. A second version is also nearly done. Bronze Magnum 5 flutes are just done turning and so those will be coming on soon, as well as some stainless Mini 5 flutes. And E115 tools are due back from heat treat any day now, so those will be coming up next week.

Today I have the first round of PermaCorks done. Oh man, these came out so nice...solid 303 stainless steel with a great heft to them, they weigh in at a whopping 2.8 ounces! The rifle knurling is crisp and the slightly conical top adds some sweet visual interest. These little gems will literally last forever....and they will fit most wine, beer and spirit bottles. I have tested quite a few, and so far I have found only one oddball 22 oz bomber beer bottle that was slightly too narrow. But these will fit 99% of standard bottles and to be honest I was quite surprised to discover just how uniform most bottles are.

Use the PermaCorks to dress up your fine whiskey collection or cap off that half bottle of wine. They are great for keeping bugs out of your beer at a picnic, avoid spilling your beer, and you will have no trouble identifying which beer is yours at a party. These will make great gifts as well. 

I tested a few different o-rings and decided that silicone provides the best combination of tightness and lubricity, and they are foodsafe of course. I do recommend an occasional light application of olive or similar cooking oil if the corks seem too tight. Just dab it on and then wipe off as needed, and that will be enough to give them a nice smooth action and perfect seal.

The PermaCorks will run $45 each plus shipping and since the batch is large there is no limit on this sale. I may make more before the holidays too if there is a strong response to them, so plenty are coming. Thanks again for dropping by today and hope you all are enjoying the World Series this weekend!

All gone for today, thank you so much everyone!

Steel R37 Rulers

Hi Everyone,

I'm back! I know you probably thought I fell off the face of the earth and I apologize for the long stretches with no updates. It's just been a crazy time this past few months, full of frustrations, seemingly endless delays and unexpected family responsibilities. All of this has been draining and makes it hard to get into a work routine when your day is constantly being disrupted. But things are finally starting to settle down and hopefully get back to a more even keel.

Project Updates: I'm happy to report that there is some really cool stuff on the way. The E115 tools are at heat treat right now and should be coming back maybe by the end of this week. They will require a bunch more finishing before they are ready to sell, but here is what they looked like a couple of weeks ago before sending out:

Next update, the PermaCork. This is a super cool turning project that I have been dreaming about for more than a year. It's finally happening and they are going to awesome! They are heavy, solid stainless steel, and will fit most beer, wine and spirit bottles. Coming in a week or two:

Next update: Titanium Count Sporkulas. I have three new designs for these on the way. Basic minimalist, fully loaded and adorable mini Count Forkula. Pics coming soon...also almost ready to go to heat treat is a big batch of steel Hangman hooks which are heavily stamped and feature a milled trit slot. More beads are on the way in Mini, Mega and Magnum styles. And an elegant new mini pry bar design has been cut in both steel and titanium and those will be on the way before Christmas. Still on deck are Small Fries without opener, just taking forever to do the grinds.

 ...........................................................................................................................

Today I finally have the heavy duty CPM 154 Steel R37 Rulers with pry tips done! Man, these were cut in January and I was starting to wonder if I would ever get to the end of the project. But they are ready to go at last and I'm really happy with the way they turned out. These were heat treated as usual but this time I asked S&W to do a black oxide coating at the end. After getting them back, I tumbled off most of the black to give them a greater contrast for the lines and stamps, and overall the steel appears darker than normal. I would call this a "Vintage Industrial" finish.

The tumbling also revealed ghosted images on about half of these from heat treat, where other tools lay up against them in the fire. The result is a really neat look that reminds me of fossil rubbings I did as a kid...almost a batik like effect on some of them. I have left these unoiled so that they don't spoil the product cards but you can increase the contrast a bit by applying WD-40 or similar household oil when you get them...and yes, there are some lefties among these as well.

The steel R37s will run $75 each plus shipping and I will make this a two per customer limit on them. Thanks as always for dropping by today, and of course for your immense amount of patience...and lastly: Go Sox! :)

Rulers are all gone, thank you!

Copper Mini 5 Flutes

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the loooong silence! I hope your summer has been going great and that you guys were able to take some relaxing days off. Summer is very much still here in New England and we were getting temps in the 90's last week, which is rather warm for what we typically see this time of year, but it's cooling off suddenly and going to be rainy for a few days. Best of luck to the folks down south who will be dealing with far worse this week.

It's been extremely slow here for several weeks and I've just been having a devil of a time getting anything finished. At a certain point you kinda have to sit back and accept that things are continually delayed and simply go with it I guess, but that is always hard for me to deal with. So it has been more than a bit frustrating...Hopefully all this uproar is about to calm down though and finally let me get production back on track. At any rate, rest assured that I have been working hard over the last several weeks to get projects moving along and I will be starting up with some tool sales again very soon!

Updates: The Steel R37 Rulers with pry tips are nearly done and will be heading to heat treat by the end of the week. Same thing with the 3v Roid E115 tools which are awaiting their extra grinds. I also have a big batch of smooth surface ground steel Hangman hooks, with some minor design tweaks and already heavily stamped, heading to heat treat later this month. Small Fry tools in titanium are also finally close to being done, just need a little further grinding before their final finishes. A couple of new Count Sporkula designs are still being worked out (I screwed up the first try) but I am close to finalizing those designs as well and will be cutting them soon.

There are several other small steel and titanium projects also about to be cut, a couple of older things being dragged off the shelves to finally get them finished up. Also I'm about to start a brand spanking new turning project that I am super excited for, if it works out as I think it will, which it should. So lots of interesting goodies are ahead for this fall.


Today I have some copper Mini 5 Flute beads completed. These run $30 each plus shipping and I will make it a no limit sale as there are quite a few of them. Some more Mini 5 Flutes in other materials are coming up as well as more Mega and Magnum beads. Thanks as always for dropping by today and also for your endless patience.


Sold out, thank you everyone!

 

Metric Crawdaddies

Hi Everyone,

Hope your weekend was great! We've been having some very unsettled weather here all last week, with frequent intermittent downpours, followed by bits of sun and much higher humidity than we've seen so far this summer. It was starting to get rather sticky out there but right now things are back to being more reasonable.

Updates: All last week I got thoroughly caught up in a several day long fun family event that took up a lot more time than I anticipated. Ended up being sort of an impromptu vacation week which was nice, but I am back to work now and trying to get things moving again. Tools are slowly moving along and I just got a super cool brand new idea this weekend that I am going to get started on right away, details coming shortly.

Today I finally have some of the CPM 3v Steel Metric Crawdaddies done! These took seemingly forever and there are still more that I'm working on in the shop, but I have enough finished for a sale today. The Metric Crawdaddies are an open ended wrench/multi tool featuring metric spanner sizes 7,8,9,10,11 and 12mm. In addition the tool holds a captive phillips bit with separate 1/4 hex bit opening and the rear sports a straight screwdriver/pry bar in my usual arrangement.

These guys are a bit beefier than prior Crawdaddy versions at nearly 3/16 thick. The finish is slightly matte, rugged looking and perfect for a working tool. I didn't oil these so you will want to do that with the oil of your choosing should you wish to slow down the patina process, with either WD-40 or any type of household or petroleum based motor oil. I elected not to do any extra grinds on these other than on the pry tip end, and there are none with decorative stamps or wrench end grinds so as to preserve maximum wrench teeth grip. I didn't make any lefty specific ones in this run either.

The Metric Crawdaddies will run $75 each plus shipping and it's a sizable batch so I'll make it a two per customer limit on them please. Thanks for dropping by today. I hope you have a great week ahead (how can it almost be August???) and stay cool!

Sold out, thanks so much everyone!

Red Magnums!

Hi Folks,

It's another fine summer day here in the Northeast. It's been rather warm lately with the mercury rising over 90 for much of the past week. It's supposed to be a little cooler for the next week or so though which will be nice, and a little rain would be much appreciated as well since we've been rather dry lately. Today the skies are darkening and we are supposed to get a big storm this afternoon with a half inch of rain...

I don't have any further tool news just yet but I'm going to try to finish up metric Crawdaddies towards the end of the week, however it may be Monday before they are finally done, we shall see. I'm waiting on more o-rings and hex bits so I can do up the packaging and they are not shipping very fast. This is always a slow time of year because a lot of companies are taking time off or are short handed because employees are on vacation. So it's hit or miss trying to make arrangements or order supplies, get heat treating done, and shipping is often slowed down.

Well today I have some Red 5 Flute Magnum beads for you. These are single name stamped only. They have that same gorgeous deep velvety red anodizing that the smaller ones had earlier this spring and they look amazing on the black and white "checkered flag" cord.

The Red Magnums will run $35 plus shipping and the link to purchase is below. It's a pretty big batch so I won't put a limit on them. As always, I cannot thank you enough for stopping by today and hope you all are getting some days off and staying cool this summer!


Sold out, thank you everyone!

Steel Ringbabies

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all are having a great summer so far. It's been quite warm here but with low humidity so it has been quite bearable. Very little rain so I have had to go out every morning to water my tomatoes and peppers but looks like we might get some showers this weekend. The blueberries are starting to come in and I got the first zucchini of the season yesterday. Good times coming if I can stay ahead of the slugs, beetles and squirrels all of which have been enjoying the buffet.

The new E115 tool and one other new design are due to be cut anytime now. I have been finishing up more Magnum fluted beads and digging out some other neglected projects, so there is much more on the way this summer. The metric Crawdaddies just came back from heat treat so I will be working on finishing them up this weekend.

Today I have the Ringbabies with stamps done. Finally! These are CPM 154 steel and this project is one that I started several years ago and just never got around to working on the batch. Some of the older collectors may remember my earlier runs of captive bit RingMasters and RingThing knives that I made about 10 years ago, and this batch continues on with the exact same theme but in a shorter package. These little guys are less than 3 inches long and are about 1 inch wide at the widest point, and the steel is normal 5/32 thickness. So darned cute!

The batch is heavily stamped and I have to say, this is one of the best stamp runs I have made. I had to go slow on the stamping and spread it over a few days since that is something that has really been bothering my hands. So there are some really nice ones here with clear deep images and a few cool seldom seen examples as well. And there are a few lefties too.

The Stamped Steel Ringbabies will run $70 each plus shipping and the link to purchase is below. It's a good sized batch so two per customer limit on them please. Thanks as always for dropping by and I hope you have a great weekend ahead!


Sold Out, thank you so much everyone!

Deep Six Bronze Megas

Hi Folks,

Sorry for the long quiet spell. I've been working my brains out lately but also doing my best to enjoy the lovely weather while it is here. It appears that we are about to get a long heat wave starting this weekend though so I am very glad to have spent so much time outdoors recently.

So, onto the long overdue tool updates! I just sent stamped steel Ringbabies out to heat treat late last week. They should be back sometime after the 4th of July. And, earlier this week I finally sent out the Metric Crawdaddies to heat treat. So figure around two weeks away on those as well. Titanium Small Fry tools without openers are on the bench now so I will be trying to get through the grinding on those over this next week. No news on the steel rulers with pry tip but those will be coming later this summer I hope.

Also on the drawing board is a second wave of new steel Hangman hooks, with some minor tweaks. These will be surface ground smooth, stamped, and maybe have some grinds too. And I have a new version of a seldom seen older tool coming in 1/4 thick CPM 3v for later in the summer, more details coming soon on the newly updated Element 115. ;)

Well today I have some more fluted beads for you. These are 5/8 diameter Bronze Megas with 6 flutes, and the flutes are deeply milled to give a super aggressive grip. They have a sweet patina started on them already which will further deepen with time and use. A hand rubbed oil finish brings out the color and leaves them with a slight sheen and rich tone which my quick crappy picture probably does not convey very well...I really like these and will be doing a batch in titanium very soon as well although those will probably be getting color anodizing.

The Deep Milled Bronze 6 Flutes will run $35 each plus shipping and I'll make it a 4 per customer limit on them please. Thank you so much for looking in today and I'm wishing you all a great summer weekend ahead!

Sold Out, thank you so much everyone!

Titanium 5 Stampers

Hi Folks,

Wow, absolutely gorgeous weather here this week. Probably the best days of the year with temps in the 70's, blue skies and low humidity. We'll enjoy it while it lasts.

I don't have too much to report on the tool front, although I am almost done with the grinding on the Ringbabies. Hopefully I will get those finished up and out to heat treat later this week. No other progress on tools though...I'm very slow to get tools going right now because grinding continues to aggravate my sore fingers. They are getting better btw, but every time I get into a stint of grinding the tendonitis acts up. So I've been told by my doctor to go easy for a while, which of course is nearly impossible to do. This getting old stuff is for the birds!

Well I bit the stamping bullet this past week and today I have some beautiful titanium 5 Stamp Magnum 5 Flute beads for you. These are anodized in a wide range of brilliant colors with some solids and others with stunning rainbow and marble type effects.

The 5 Stamp Ti Magnums will be $40 each and I'll make it a four per customer limit on them. Thanks for stopping in today and for your endless patience. Have a great week ahead everyone!

Ti 5 Stampers are all gone for now, thank you so much!

Five Stamp SS Magnums!

Hi Everyone,

Absolutely gorgeous day here with nice sunshine, low humidity and just a few lazy clouds drifting along. I probably ought to be outside enjoying it but I already have done a bunch of running around this morning and just came in for a few hours. Good time to slip a very small sale in...

Today I have a handful of multi name stamped 303 Stainless Steel Magnum beads for you. This is a small batch and I doubt I will be doing many like this since it's a little tedious. But I think they do look cool with all five of the lands (the land is the high part of a fluted or knurled edge pattern) stamped "Atwood". Or who knows, maybe I'm just in love with my own name, haha... :)

At any rate, the multi stamped 5 Flute Magnums will run $35 plus shipping and I will make it one per customer since there are only a couple dozen or so. Thanks for taking time to drop by this morning and have a great weekend ahead!


Gone in a flash, thank you!

       

Steel HangMan 18

Hi Folks,

Hope your holiday weekend was great. It was a bit dark and gloomy here for most of it, but we got some much needed rain for the gardens so I can't complain. And the precipitation was not white for a change, which is a major step in the right direction.

It was good to take a few days off, but that means that very little got done over the weekend unfortunately. I really must make myself get back to tool grinding this week...in the meantime however, I do have more Magnum 5 Flute Lanslide beads on the way for later in the week.

Today I have the new steel Hangman 18 hooks completed. These are made of heat treated 17-4ph stainless steel with a rustic raw bar finish. After using and studying the past Hangman designs for several years I have concluded that the original flex function is really not necessary and in most cases only serves to weaken the design. So I elected to ignore the flex issue and just go for solid strength in this new non flexing steel pocket key hook.

The deep hexi edge design complements many of my other tools and provides a generous finger grip area that makes your keys super easy to retrieve. I even added a small lanyard opening at the top in case people want to experiment with adding a stubby lanyard and bead combo. At .200 thick they are quite beefy indeed, yet slightly more compact than the previous Ragman design. A 5/16 hex wrench at the bottom provides a generous opening for attaching to your key ring. I am already contemplating a possible second run in surface ground CPM 154 steel with some small tweaks and further embellishments, but these ones today are all in the plain textured stainless steel you see below.

The steel Hangman hooks will run $55 plus shipping and I will put a limit of two on them so lots of folks get a chance at them. Thanks for looking in today and hope your work week is short and sweet!

Sold out for now, thanks so much!

    

Stainless Magnums

Howdy Everyone and Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

We've been having some glorious weather here finally and I've been flat out with all kinds of yard work, gardening and seasonal equipment maintenance projects. She does keep me busy...hehe.

I don't have much to report on upcoming tools as I have not spent too much time in the shop this past week. I will probably be down there a bit this weekend though to escape the hottest days of the year which appear to be coming starting tomorrow. So I'll be getting going on the RingBabies and other tools shortly. I did just get the steel Hangman hooks back from heat treat though so will be packaging them up this weekend.

In the meantime, the first wave of the brand new Magnum 5 Flute beads are done. I've had many requests over the years for a larger fluted bead so I thought I would make some. These 303 stainless steel monsters are the same diameter as the regular Mega 5 Flutes, but are longer, measuring in at 3/4 inch in length. The added length takes the grip aspect to the next level as your fingers can really engage with the deeply milled flutes. They are super nice tied onto a larger knife or tool.

Of course, the additional length means they also weigh more, and these stainless ones come in at a whopping 18 grams! The upcoming titanium, Zr and red aluminum ones will be considerably lighter though.

An added bonus is that with the extra length I can finally do a name stamp! The older designs just didn't have enough room but these bad boys are more than big enough to take a stamp.

My costs of production this year are once again rising. Machining is costing more, and even with domestic steels not being subject to tariffs the suppliers immediately took the opportunity to raise prices. So these larger beads will have to be a little more than my usual ones. The stainless steel Magnums will run $35 plus shipping and it's a big batch so I'll make it a limit of 4 on them please.

Thanks so much for dropping by today everyone and I really hope you have an awesome long weekend ahead!

Stainless ones are all gone, thank you so much folks!  

Six Flute Ti Megas

Hi Folks,

Surprise, I'm back again, haha. I already spent a few hours working outdoors this morning while it was still cool. Actually it won't be very hot today but I figure it was time to come in and do another little sale this morning.

Thank you so much for the big sale yesterday for the Hypno Game Coins! I appreciate the many kind words and enthusiastic response very much. The Hypnos all shipped yesterday afternoon so should be reaching most of you by this weekend.

Today I have some new Titanium Mega Lanslides for you, these with 6 flutes instead of the usual 5. These are the larger 5/8 diameter beads. I'm pretty sure the previous batch of 5 flute ti Megas were all anodized, if I remember correctly, so I elected to leave this batch with a simple stonewash finish for all the plain vanilla fans out there.

Also, over the years I've had many people asking for a slightly larger size bead, so I will be making some small batches of brand new Magnum 5 Flutes in various materials. Please stay tuned for those as they will be coming shortly.

The ti 6 Flute Megas will run $30 plus shipping and it will be a limit of 4 per customer on them. Thanks as always for dropping by today and here's hoping for a lovely Mother's Day weekend ahead!

All gone, thank you everyone!

Hypno Game Coins!

Hi Everyone and Happy Thursday!

Spring is FINALLY in full force here this week. Last week we went from freezing cold to nearly 90F in just two short days, but now things are settling down to more comfortable and seasonally normal temperatures. Looks like maybe we are done with frosts so I am cautiously putting some young pepper plants out, covering them at night just in case, and trying to get some yard work done in between all these shop projects. We're loving the warm weather and sunshine I can tell you.

As far as projects go, I sent the steel Hangman hooks to heat treat last week so they will be done soon. Steel Ringbabies are now on the bench and steel metric Crawdaddies will follow those. It's good to finally start getting caught up with these steel projects some of which, like the Ringbabies, were cut almost three years ago and have been patiently waiting their turn.

I'm also finishing up some new bead projects this week. I've had some tendonitis and other minor nagging finger issues that have been slowing me down at the grinder and also in tying cord. Stamping tools has been quite difficult lately too because the antique hand stamps all have to be held tightly and at odd angles with my uncooperative fingers. I guess I must be getting old, lol...the good news however is that the 6 Flute Titanium Mega Lanslides are nearly done as well as some Copper Mini 5 Flutes. And, a couple of brand new fluted Mega designs are turning as we speak so there are some interesting items coming up in the bead department.

Today I have some very special Spin Coins for you. These are Titanium Game Coins with a deeply milled Hypno pattern in the center. There is a wide variety of stamps as well as complex color anodizing effects on these. And to make it even more complicated there are some with the spirals in reverse direction too. Fun stuff and they are absolutely stunning! 

Hypno Game Coins will run $95 plus shipping and the link to purchase is below. It is a limited size batch so one per customer on them please. Thanks as always for stopping by today and I hope your weather is as sweet as ours this week!

Sold Out, thank you everyone!

 

Zirconium Mini 5 Flute Beads!

Hi Everyone,

Well, spring is getting a late start here as I mentioned before, but it's better late than never. It's finally starting to warm up a little and this morning when I look out the window at the light April rain I can see lots of buds getting ready to pop on the bushes and trees in the yard. We'll have delicate pale green "squirrel ear" leaves on the trees by next week I'm sure. It's always my favorite time of year, bar none...at least until the black flies arrive that is. Unfortunately I think they are scheduled to hatch next week, haha.

I've been grinding tools for a few days and the upcoming steel Hangman hooks are nearly ready to send to heat treat. Ringbabies are coming along well too and those will be ready to go to heat treat next week, followed closely by the metric Crawdaddies. I predict much dust and noise in my future. Also coming up will be copper mini 5 Flute beads, and a special small batch of titanium 6 Flute MEGA Lanslides.

Today I have the Zirconium Mini 5 Flute Lanslides done. I took my time on them and made sure they have a particularly nice buttery finish on them. They're on premium black 550 cord which gives them that great stealth look. So nice that I already snagged a few for myself!

The Zr Mini 5 Flutes will run $55 plus shipping and it's a sizable batch so I will make it a 4 per customer limit on them. Thanks for dropping by today and hope you're enjoying the lovely weather this week.


All gone, thank you everyone!

    

  

Fancy Titanium BedBugs

Hi Folks,

Well, it's another below freezing morning up here in "paradise"! Will Spring ever arrive? Apparently next week we'll see some warmer days (and maybe even some days without snow flurries!) but we are all a bit skeptical until we see it for ourselves.

Things are starting to move along a little bit at last. I'll be getting some tools ready for heat treat next week but will also mix in some sale days hopefully. I'm not sure yet how it will go, but things are finally starting to fall into place and I should be getting quite busy this spring.

Today I have the other half of the Titanium BedBug batch ready to go. I spent a few days on these tools giving them plenty of extra grinds and also stamps, so they are much more ornate than the previous release. The grinds and stamps vary tremendously so there is everything from pure A51 style to some crazier asymmetrical looks. Fun stuff and many cool combinations!

The fancy ti BedBugs will run $70 plus shipping and the link to purchase is just above the pictures  below. There are some lefties available too. As always thanks for stopping by and here's hoping you have a great weekend everyone!

Sold out, thank you so much folks!

Basic Titanium BedBugs!

Hi Everyone,

Wow, Old Man Winter just won't give up here in New England! We woke up yesterday morning to a couple of inches of heavy wet snow. It's pretty much gone from the roads and driveway this morning but is still clinging stubbornly to the yard. This is the latest I have ever seen more than a flurry or two, so yesterday's icy blast was a little surprising. Needless to say, we are all quite disgusted up here and more than ready for some warmer spring weather. 

Well I'm finally starting to get some stuff finished. It's been maddeningly slow on every front lately, with delay after delay on each project that I attempt to start. Honestly it was beginning to get kind of funny because no matter what I did this last month I knew it wouldn't get too far before some monkey wrench or another would get thrown into the works. Anyway, the worst delays appear to be behind me now so I think I can FINALLY get back to a more steady schedule going forward. I certainly hope so anyway. Now, if the nagging tendonitis in my index finger that has plagued me all winter would just calm down all would be right in the world again.

Today I actually have the first wave of new Titanium BedBugs finished! This is an updated design that I have been thinking about for several years but couldn't quite figure out how I wanted to do it. At 2.5 inches long including the bit, they are only 1/2 inch longer than the original BedBug design, but with the advantage that the bit is always instantly available for use. The hefty 3/16 thick titanium is the thickest stock that I can use in this type of captive bit design tool in order to hold onto the tool bit securely. Much thicker and the bit just flops around loosely in the slot.

It was a challenge to get it all working the way I wanted it to but after considerable trial and error I finally dialed it in. These little guys work exactly as I had envisioned. The bit has some flex to it so is able to reach into places that a conventional screwdriver could not reach while still delivering plenty of torque. If more torque is desired then it is easy to remove the bit and place it perpendicularly in the rear of the bit slot which now has a hex shaped end for the bit to nestle into. All bit slots in any future captive bit tools will probably have this nifty new feature which allows for the elimination of a separate dedicated 1/4 hex opening. 

Obviously one of the big advantages to my o-ring based captive bit design is the interchangeable bit aspect. With this new configuration though only a narrow neck shaped bit will fit. Most #1 phillips bits will fit but I found that manufacturers can vary quite a lot. So some bits are too thick to fit through the neck slot area, especially if they are #2 or larger. I was able to find some slim neck Irwin #2 phillips bits that fit though and that's what I will supply with these. If you were to lose the bit however, most hardware stores will have a #1 replacement readily available that will fit.

Other features to these new BedBugs include a rear screwdriver/pry tip. So I kind of combined the old BugBite concept with the original BedBug to come up with this hybrid multi function tool. I needed a lanyard opening as well of course, and a plain round hole wasn't quite exciting enough, nor was an O2 wrench. A hex opening seemed like a good choice that would be in harmony with the overall design. Then I realized that by increasing the hex to a larger 7/16 size and flaring the sides to create a subtle "wings" shape it would give you a little more leverage for turning the bit. The difference seems rather small on paper but it was actually huge in effect. An aggressive edge grip texture finishes the design nicely.

So anyway, there you have it. These Basic BedBugs will run $60 plus shipping and it will be a two per customer limit on them. There are a couple of lefties among them too. I have a second batch with extra grinds and stamps that are in the finish tumbler now so they will be coming later this week...also coming very shortly are Zr and copper mini 5 flute beads. Thanks for your endless patience everyone and hope your spring has been warmer and sunnier than ours so far! 


Sold out for today, more coming soon, thank you!