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!