Roid Keytons

Hi Everyone,

It's rainy and chilly here today, good day to stay inside and finish up some tools.

Today I have the first wave of S30v Roid Keytons ready to go. These are .210" thick so they are very close to 1/4", quite massive. These are the first G2 Keyton design so that tells you how long they have been sitting around before I finally got into working on the batch...over a year in fact! But done they finally are and all the extra time and care that I gave them shows in the buttery smooth final finish.

This is a ONE PER CUSTOMER sale please as the batch is not nearly as large as I wish it was. So, they will run $70 plus shipping and the link as always is DIRECTLY above the picture below. If you see the words SOLD OUT instead of the link that means that I took the link out and the sale is over. I know the old timers all know this but I get dozens of emails every week asking where the link is. Anyway, have a great weekend folks and thanks for stopping in.

Roid Keytons are Sold Out, thank you!

Three Rib Brass Lanslides

Hi Folks,

It's the first day of fall here in New England and the weather is suddenly a bit cooler. The leaves are barely showing any color yet but I'm sure in another week or two that will all change. It's a good time to get some work done right now though.

So, this weekend I have some brass Lanslide beads finished. These are the full sized 1/2" diameter ones in the Three Rib design. They have a great heft to them and are perfect to tie onto tools, knives, flashlights and zipper pulls. They are the usual $15 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for stopping by today and I hope everyone has a nice relaxing weekend!

All gone for now, thank you so much everyone!

Old Yeller

Hi Folks,

Sorry for the long radio silence. I've been battling a persistent cold/flu that had me laid up for a few days and I'm still trying to shake the last of it. Then, this past week I was busy grinding, tumbling and processing parts for literally the entire week. The upside of all this is that I finally got those long overdue S30v Roid Keytons off to heat treat on Saturday. The rest of the 3V Semi Roid G5 Prybabies went to heat treat today. So, in about two weeks or so I will have TONS of heavy duty steel tools.

There are some other cool things in the works as well. It's still too early to talk about a couple of the projects but I can mention one that is a definite go and is already underway...remember how on my G5 Prybaby cards it says "made of steel or titanium"? Well, I finally got around to doing a batch of titanium Prybabies! So those will be coming in around a month or so. I'm very excited about them and have wanted to make some for quite a while as it is one of my all time personal favorite designs.  

In the meantime I also worked on the rest of the titanium G2 Keytons over the weekend. Today I have a batch of them done with stonewashed finish and deep gold anodizing. They run $65 plus shipping and the link is below...thanks for your never ending patience and interest, much appreciated!

Gold Ti Keytons are Sold Out, thank you! 

Patterned Ti Wrunts

Hi Folks,

Happy Friday! Hope you all are gearing up for a nice relaxing Labor Day weekend. It's going to be a beautiful weekend here and I'm looking forward to it.

So I'm getting things heating up here a bit and starting to get projects moving forward. My time off slowed things down but I'm getting braced for the upcoming fall season... I've got some ti stuff coming today and over the next week. At the same time I also need to get some grinding time in so that I can finally get some steel stuff in the pipeline. It's all a juggling act each and every day but hopefully it all gets done in the end. :)

Today I have a little wave of ti Wrunts done. These have plain basic grinds, just accents grinds on either side of the main bevel, no extra grinds on any of them. No stamps either...but, they do have patterns and anodizing. They are all different, with many different patterns and all different color combos ranging from simple one color treatments to all sorts of rainbow, fades and multi colored pieces. So, no choice here, I'll send you what I send you, but they are all very nice. A length of bead chain is included with each Wrunt....

The patterned ti Wrunts are a small batch so they will be one per customer please. They run $65 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks and have a terrific weekend everyone!

Patterned Wrunts are Sold Out, thank you!

UV Dice

Howdy Folks,

Well, I'm back from my vacation finally. Jenny and I have never really taken a real vacation, ie, one longer than a couple of days, so this was something that was long overdue. We took a 5 day cruise up the coast of Maine on the Lewis R. French, an 1871 antique sailing schooner. Aside from the broom closet sized cabins and cramped bunks it was a fabulous experience and the food was great. The endless numbers of little islands covered in evergreens, classic lighthouses and hard working lobstermen zipping around from buoy to buoy were really cool and made for unbelievable scenery. It's hard to climb out of that mindset and get back to the world of work but I'm slowly coming around. ;)

So anyhow, today I have some more titanium Dice finished. These are drilled and on bead chain. They are anodized a rich UV purple. I'm getting close to the end of the dice and not sure I'll make any more of them or not, we'll see what happens in the next month or two. These are the usual $30 for each single die and the link is below. Thanks for your patience (as always!) and I appreciate folks stopping by.

UV Dice are Sold Out, thank you!

 

More Flat Wrunts

Happy Friday Folks!

It's rainy and muggy here today, typical summer weather....good day for a sale though. But first a brief update:

I've been doing some grinding this week and making a bit of progress on the S30v steel Roid Keytons. Probably a good estimate on them would be mid September or so but at least they are finally moving forward. Same story and similar timeframe for the remainder of the 3v steel Semi Roid G5 Prybabies.

So today I have more of the flat Wrunts with light raw bar finish done. These have a set of small grinds on the pry end of the tool. And before anyone asks, they are all the same, no variations, no stamps and no other styles of grinds on these. Because I did the grinds after heat treat I ended up having to lightly bead blast them to even out the finishes.

Anyhow, these Wrunts are $50 plus shipping and as usual the link is below. Thanks for stopping by and hope your upcoming weekend is a relaxing one!

Flat Wrunts are Sold out for now, thank you again everyone, always very much appreciated!

Stainless Count Sporkulas

Good Morning Folks and Happy Weekend!

We've been having a warm spell lately so I've been staying close to home and getting a bit of work done. Today I have the first wave of stainless steel Count Sporkulas finished. These are made of 301 half hard stainless steel, the same material used to make better quality kitchen spatulas and other implements. This is a great steel for this application as compared to 304/18-8 (which is what your flatware at home is made of) because it is just as stainless... but because it has been work hardened to some extent it is much more rigid, so you're not going to bend it like you would a cheap spoon. These are .060" thick so are thin but they still have a nice weight to them.

I have testing them quite a bit for all kinds of meals and they perform well for everything from ice cream and yogurt to salads, cole slaw, baked beans, mashed potatoes, even steak. A handy item to keep in your wallet and a terrific conversation starter. :)

So the stainless Count Sporkulas run $45 plus shipping and the link is below. Stay cool this weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

First wave is gone for now but I have lots more of these coming in the weeks ahead, thank you!



    

Solid Titanium Dice

Hi Everyone,

Well, they're calling for severe storms tonight so I thought maybe I better sneak a quick sale in today just in case we lose electricity. In years past I didn't worry about storms too much because we never seemed to lose power but in the past couple of years it seems like this has become a more common event. Probably everything will be cool though, these weathermen have a tendency to overblow this stuff lately.

So today I have some plain stonewashed titanium dice finished. These are solid, no holes, and there will not be any colored ones as there is no hole to hang them from in order to do the anodizing. There's probably a way to do it but I'd have to rig up a new system of some sort so it's not really worth it for a one time batch.

Anyway, the solid ti dice are $30 plus shipping and the link is below...thanks for looking in today and stay dry, cool and safe!

Solid ti dice are Sold Out, thank you! 

Solid Bronze Dice

Howdy Folks!

It's a warm but pleasant day here in New England...we could really use some rain so if you have some extra please send it our way. :)

Today I have some solid bronze dice done. The alloy is 655 bronze which is one of the more machineable grades, relatively hard and as heavy as copper.These have a nice antique finish on them and they look a bit like the previous copper ones except the copper dice were a little bit redder in color and these have more brown tones.

It's funny how this stuff tumbles out...I had a few solid bronze ones earlier this month and those were really dark in color whereas these are lighter. The bronze with holes proved to be slightly redder than these for some reason and were hard to tell apart from the copper dice. It's a mystery since both the solid and drilled dice were all turned from the same bars and tumbled in the same media and the duration of tumbling was about the same on them. Oh well, they are all nice looking and will continue to develop even more character and patina over the years.   

Anyhow, the bronze dice are $30 each plus the shipping. I appreciate everyone who stops by and I hope your summer is going great!

These are GONE, thank you so much folks!

Flat Wrunts!

Hi Folks,

Happy Friday! It's nice and cool here today, a welcome relief from the sweltering temps and high humidity of the past week. I'm looking forward to a pleasant weekend ahead as well.

Progress Update: So, due to the heat, I've been going kind of easy this past week or two and also trying to squeeze in a little vacation time here and there as well. I'll probably be doing the same throughout the rest of the summer so it may not be quite as busy as it has been in the past few months. I don't want to turn into a grumpy basement troll with a pasty complexion who blinks everytime he sees the sun! :D

However, stuff is getting done slowly but surely. I am finally close to completing a large batch of stainless steel Count Sporkulas and those should be coming along towards the end of the month. Also coming up are more dice, some solids and some drilled. As far as regular tools go I am working through the batch of flat S30v Wrunts and that's what I have done for today:

Basic flat S30v Wrunts with light raw bar finish. These are .076" thick so are a bit on the thick side for screwdriver function, however they will pop the lid off a paint can with ease. Otherwise they are identical in function to the previous Wrunts and are drilled for bead chain, a length of which is included. These are nice and light but still have a bit of heft to them and they have been well tumbled so feel good in the hand. Lots of little surface blems and imperfections as you would expect with a mild raw bar finish but still quite attractive in appearance. I could have surface ground them to make them prettier but did not want to sacrifice the thickness any more than I had to. These will be great as a wallet backup or a light neck carry piece, just thick enough to be comfortable on a keyring as well.

The Basic Flat Wrunts run $45 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for stopping in today and I hope everyone is looking forward to a wonderful summer weekend ahead!

First Wave is Sold Out, thank you so much!

Quickie

Hi Folks,

We're entering a hot spell here in MA and it's going to be in the 90's for the next week or so. Good for hunkering down in the shop and getting some stuff done...might make a beach trip here and there too throughout the rest of the summer. 

So, who's up for a quickie sale tonight? I have a very short run of aluminum dice anodized with OD green hardcoat on a matte finished "stealth" beadchain. I'm going to do these in pairs only and it's ONE PAIR PER CUSTOMER please on them since there's only a couple dozen. I will try like heck to not oversell my stock...these run $60 per pair plus the shipping and the link is below...thanks for stopping in tonight!

Sold Out, thank you so much everyone!

Tell Me, Which Metric Scale, Odd or Even?

Hey Folks,

I have been hearing you asking for a metric Wrunt or Prybaby. Here's my problem...in order to maintain a neat and orderly stair step design in the wrench cut out area I can only do 2mm increments in size. That means you get either odd or even numbers. I know 10mm and 12mm are common sizes but there are odd ones as well that get used a lot.

Yes, I could do something weird like 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 (making that list up since I don't use metric much) or something like that but it would look like crap. I really don't want to make a compromise on the design particularly so I want to avoid irregular steps. But if there are truly frequently used sizes in there I might reconsider.    

So, give me your vote in the comments area for an odd or even scale. I do moderate the comments so just post once and I will eventually catch up with publishing them.

Not sure when a metric tool would happen but this is for research... ;)

Thanks,

Peter

Blue Ti Dice!

Howdy Folks,

We're settling into the warmer part of the year here in the northeast, the dog days of summer. Even when it's hot and muggy though, I NEVER EVER EVER wish it was winter. But in winter I find myself wishing for summer every single day... :)

Well today I have some red hot dice for you, actually blue hot. These titanium dice are drilled for bead chain and are anodized a rich blue. They run the usual $30 each plus shipping and the link is below. Stay cool folks and thanks for checking in today!

Blue Dice are all gone for now, more dice in other colors and materials will be coming soon though. Thank you so much and have a great weekend!  

G5 Semi Roids

Happy 4th of July Everyone! It's a warm one here as it usually is on the 4th and I'm looking forward to heading out to the fireworks tonight... if I have any energy left after this sale that is. :)

Alright, today I have the first wave of G5 Semi Roid Prybabies(R) done. These are made of CPM 3v steel, hardened to 58-60 Rockwell, cryo treated etc. As many of you know, this material is tough as hell and perfect for wrenches and pry tools. At 3/16" thick these are not quite as thick as the previous batches, hence the "Semi Roid", but they are nevertheless a lot beefier than my normal 5/32 stock. They have a slightly RUSTIC stonewashed finish, perfect for a hard use tool that will be taking abuse... so don't be sticking these away in a safe somewhere, take them out and beat on them! :)

Today I have just a part of the batch done. There's still a large number that haven't even gone to heat treat yet so this will not be the end of them and more will be coming during the summer ahead. That said, it's not a vast amount so in order to give a lot of folks a chance at them I will make this a ONE PER CUSTOMER sale please. They will run $70 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for stopping in on this fine holiday afternoon and I hope the fires die down out west and power gets back on soon for you guys in the midwest and DC/VA areas!

Folks, sold out again, thank you so much and once again, Happy 4th of July! :)

Copper Dice!

Hi Everyone,

So the hot and lazy days of summer are here finally! It's a good time to hunker down and get some things done in my cool basement shop...

Today I have some solid copper dice finished. These are not drilled for bead chain. They are made of grade C147 which is a sulphur copper alloy and it is much harder and more machineable than ordinary pure copper. A great choice for this application. I have given them a super long tumbling session which gave them a beautiful antique patina. Not only do they look nice but they are quite heavy and solid feeling in the hand.

The copper dice are $30 for each single dice plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for stopping in on this fine holiday weekend and hope everyone has a safe 4th of July!

Copper Dice are gone, thank you!

Plain Ti Wrunts

Good afternoon everyone! Hope your week is going well. It's a bit gloomy here this afternoon but at least the temps are comfortable.

So, the party continues. :D Today I have more stonewashed titanium Wrunts finished. I decided to leave these alone and not do any colors because I know there are lots of folks who like them plain. Indeed these would make great user pieces. The grinds are like the first couple of batches and there are even more variations in this group. I was having fun with them... :)

Anyway, these are once again a bit limited in number so it will be a one per customer sale. They run $65 plus shipping and the link is below...thanks for dropping by!

Sold out , thank you!

Pink Belly Wrunts

Hi Folks,

OK, let's see if I have the blogger software figured out and have paragraphs again...I had a setting wrong the last few times and so ended up with run on paragraphs.

Tool Updates: More ti Wrunts (in plain stonewashed) are almost ready to go after these ones below...a few more ti Dice are coming up (with holes) and around the end of the week or weekend I should have solid (no holes) copper dice completed. In addition, I am told that the CPM 3v G5 prybabies (semi Roid) are close to finished at heat treat so those may be back by the weekend or early next week. Now, I can only do one thing at a time, contrary to what my wife thinks, so I'll be getting this stuff done as quickly as I can but it will not come all at once. It's going to take a while to get the batches together and I have to pace myself. However, it promises to be a very busy couple of weeks ahead...very busy indeed!

Soooo, tonight I have a short batch of light UV anodized "Pink Belly" titanium Wrunts with extra grinds available. Same kind of grinds as the earlier bronze anodized Wrunts, very fun stuff and many different configurations. There are just a couple dozen of these so it will be a one per customer sale please...the Pink Bellies run $65 plus shipping and the link is below:


Sold out, thank you so much!

Shake It Up Baby!

Hi Everyone! Hope your week is going well...it's quite hot here today and tomorrow so I'm hunkering down and trying to get a little bit of work done indoors. So today I have the first wave of something new and a little bit different...now, dice have been done before by various makers and even dice beads have been made in the past but to my knowledge these are the first TITANIUM dice beads ever made. These are something that I have wanted to make for a long time and finally things came together in such a way that the project could move forward. Anyway, these are turned and milled from a solid bar and the final size is .46", so they are slightly under 1/2" cubes. I intentionally kept the bead chain hole as small as possible for several reasons, both for fit of the chain, aesthetics and to affect the weight of the dice as little as possible. Using one end of the hole for the 1 was a no brainer and having it come out on the other side at 6 means that the number is always instantly readable so that worked out very well. And of course, the dots are placed on the dice in the usual way, each opposite side adds up to 7. Now, these are definitely NOT regulation weight and all that stuff so they are being offered as cool objects and I'm not making any claims as to whether a pro thrower should use them for gambling. But in my own tests at home they seem to throw just fine with no numbers coming up in anything but what appears to be a random fashion. I'm thinking I will make some without holes though in one of the subsequent waves for the purists out there who want to be sure the dice are as fair as I can make them. Now, even though most dice games involve just two dice, I am going to offer these up SINGLY because there are certain games that call for anywhere from 1-5 dice and I recognize that folks may want varying quantities. So, these dice will be $30 each plus shipping and you may order as many as you like while the limited supply lasts...I also want to mention that I have some bronze and copper bar stock ready to go so those versions will be coming in a week or two as well. Fun stuff ahead! Green Dice are SOLD OUT! Thank you! I will have more of these and perhaps in other colors, in about a week.

Matte Brass Whistles

Good Morning and Happy Weekend! I've had these whistles kicking around the shop for a year or more and just couldn't seem to get around to finishing them. Anyway, I was getting tired of looking at them sitting on the shelf so I decided it's time to finish them up and move them on out. As I was putting them together I decided to try a little experiment and give them a light bead blast and I really like the resulting matte finish, something a little different and they should patina very nicely over time. They are on bead chain. This is a very small batch so it will be one per customer on them please and they will run $45 plus shipping. SOLD OUT, thank you again folks! Show here on a background of flat S30v Wrunts... they will be coming up later next week! :)

Super Juice

Hi Folks, Well it's been a couple of great days in the shop. I spent quite a bit of time NOT working on tools for a change and instead doing some much needed and long overdue cleanup and organizing. Also some important maintenance stuff that I have been putting off for months. The good news is that I should be able to work a little smarter this summer and be able to keep myself somewhat sane in the process but perhaps that is too much to ask. ;) Anyway, I did manage to get some stuff underway and keep it moving through the processes. Today I have some more anodized aluminum Longslides done and this time they are in a brand new color. I'm calling this one SuperJuice because it reminds me of a certain well known sports drink...or maybe what happens after you eat a bunch of B vitamins...hehe. At any rate, this color is absolutely electric looking and I have put it on black cord to show off the contrast even more. The SuperJuice Longslides will be $25 plus shipping and the link is below. As always, thank you so much for stopping by and for your very kind emails and comments both here and on the ToolBook. Much appreciated! SuperJuice are sold out for now, thank you!