Another Proto Sumo

This one is smaller than the one below. These are kinda neat knives and I'm considering making a short run of them.

One for Me!

This one is actually on the way to someone but it is nearly identical to the one I'm carrying.

Closeup of Tibaby

Big Haul

One very patient customer gets his patience rewarded this week.... :)

Proto Sumo

This was the prototype study piece for my upcoming Sumo model. I may make these a limited run, not sure yet. The knife is physically HUGE although not very long, measuring around 5 inches OAL but thick S30v stock that is very broad and fills the hand nicely. Reminds me a lot of a pumpkinseed or bluegill in the hand, broad and a little flat but with a distinct palm swelling feel to it. This is a sweet tool knife. Fun stuff! :) I have an even larger one that I will post as soon as the sheath is done. :O

Sneak Preview

Here's a sneak preview of the new Mini Son of PryThing. It's so cute I can't stand it myself. :) Hopefully I will be making the first batch of these this week.

Hey Atwoodites, I need a big favor...

My wife has recently entered her latest novel "The Dark Lord's Heir" in a writing contest sponsored by Borders and Simon and Schuster on gather.com. It's kind of like American Idol for writers and the winner will have their book published by Simon and Schuster.

What I'm wondering is would some of you be so kind as to go over there and give her a vote? It takes all of 5 minutes and would mean an awful lot to her. And of course I would be forever in your debt. :)

The link to the Novel chapter is HERE

To vote, scroll down to the bottom and select a number where it says "rate this article". You'll then have to register for Gather which is a minor pain, but they don't spam.

Once registered simply go back to the rate area and pick 10. :D

Please vote only once. If people try to vote more they will disqualify her.

Thanks so much folks, really appreciate anyone who will take the time to do this.

Feeling Abandoned?

Well buck up little soldiers, I have lots of cool new stuff coming along for your amusement and consideration. :D Hoping to get a heat treat in this week and get some of my regular stuff back in stock including Mini Prybabies, Wedgie3, Bug Out Bars, Micro Bug Out Blades. Will be working on regular Prybabies next week as well as Son of PryThings and brand new Mini Son of PryThings.

Also, new for 2007 will be a slightly redesigned version of the Goblin. I have made it a tiny bit longer and sleeker and pumped up the thickness to 3/16. These are going to have really nice ergonomics and I can't wait to start grinding them.

More damascus is in the works too. I have about 20 pieces cut out and in progress and will be slowly making my way through the pile. I'll be shooting for getting 4-5 into each upcoming heat treat. This year I will be trying out some new patterns too so it should be a lot of fun.

A few other brand new designs are in the works too and I will be revealing them over the next few weeks so stay tuned!

Microscopic Damascus

A good customer of mine is a professor at the University of Arizona. He snapped a few shots of one of my Damasteel whistles at approximately 8X magnification and sent me the results. So cool! Thanks John, very much appreciated! :)

International Orders...

I hate to do it but I'm just getting hammered with lost orders overseas. So my new policy this year is anything over $35 is going to be going Global Express mail for a cost of approximately $25-30. At least it has tracking. It sucks for me because it's a major pain in the ass with the paperwork and it sucks for you guys who are overseas because it's pretty expensive. But the reality is I can't go on losing larger orders and then having to replace them particularly when they are for one of a kind items.

It is frustrating but this is how it has to be. Why the postal service can't get a small envelope there is beyond me. Maybe they are getting stolen by customs or unscrupulous postal workers or maybe a couple of customers have been lying to me and actually got the stuff (I kind of doubt it but who knows). Anyway, it is an unhappy situation and I'm sick of it.

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone has a terrific 2007! I know I'll be doing my best to have fun this year and try to keep up with everyone's requests. :)

The beginning of a new year is an interesting time. It's an opportunity for me to look at what I did last year and think about the direction that I wish to go in for the next.

I'm thinking that this year will see several new items, a few of which may be entirely different from anything you've seen before from the Atwood shop. I'm itching to do more patterning and embellishment on selected pieces. I'd like to see a few new knife shapes and sizes. Maybe a couple of brand new keychain tools. More round things. And more damascus for sure!

So stick around and stay tuned, it's gonna be a really fun year. :D

Uncle Howard

I thought I'd say a few words about my dear old Uncle Howard. He passed away a few years ago at the age of 90 or so and I wish I had gotten to spend more time with him before he died.

Uncle Howard was my great uncle, my Mom's uncle. He lived in CT and worked at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft for many years in the experimental engine department. Before that he had worked at Chance Vaught in the 1930's, one of the early aviation companies. He had met Amelia Earhart on a few occasions and he knew Igor Sikorsky very well and used to have lunch with him sometimes. In fact he was present at the very first helicopter test flights. Pretty neat stuff.

Anyway, Uncle Howard had a wonderful workshop in a barn next to the little 1830's house in Vernon, CT. I used to love going there as a kid and hanging out in the shop. It was mostly a woodworking shop as I remember it with workbenches covered in shavings and sawdust. Uncle Howard would give me a hand drill and some wood and set me to drilling holes just for fun. Upstairs in the barn there was a loft full of all sorts of junk, antiques and trunks of all descriptions. He had a little office up there where he could go to get away from Aunt Mary and smoke his cigars. On the end wall of the loft he had hung a dart board and I remember standing there many times throwing darts. I used to really love that and still do!

Downstairs he had an experimental car that he had built. The body was entirely of fiberglass and it had a motorcycle engine to power it. I don't think it ever saw much time on the road but it was pretty cool. I remember how he showed me the little pieces of fiberglass on which he was testing coatings. He told me that the first pieces had failed which is why it was important to test on pieces of scrap before committing to the whole thing. That was good advice and I have never forgotten it.

He retired in the late 1970's I think. He and Aunt Mary sold the house in Vernon and moved to a small town in VT. There he set up a very impressive home machine shop and continued to tinker for years. I wish I had been more interested in these things as a young man because Uncle Howard could have passed on so much knowledge to me. Unfortunately I didn't really get into this stuff until after he had declined and by the time I was fully involved with knifemaking Uncle Howard had passed. It's a shame that he never knew how valuable the time spent with him was to me. He gave me a wonderful gift and I'll always cherish it.

Sick of Damascus Yet?

Gotta love that Sunstorm damascus! These were left dark, love the way they came out.

More Dam Whistle Shots

This is a new Damasteel pattern. Don't know the name but it sure does make a purty whistle. :)

The Man with No Butt

That's right, I'm working it right off lately. :) LOL, trying to keep up with all the Christmas requests so I've been a little quiet lately. Have a few new items to post this week and I will as soon as I can snap some pics. I'm looking forward to taking a few days off after Christmas but right now it's strictly all work all the time with a small dose of football in between.

Into the category of failed experiments goes the carbon fiber whistle. We tried to do one this weekend and unfortunately it just disintegrated into a mass of hairy fibers. Oh well. It was the thought that counted! Too bad because the outside was looking pretty good but as soon as we went to bore it, pooof!

I'm still not ready to conceed defeat on the titanium whistle. The outside of the one we tried looked fabulous, better than any of the steel ones in fact. But the boring turned out to be a problem and I think we did not have the proper tooling or feed rates so we stalled out halfway into the piece and fried the bit. I think that can be solved fairly easily though and someday it just might become a reality.

Another Son of a PryThing!

Another Son of A PryThing rescued from the Old Shed in the Area51 complex. This one definitely shows signs of Alien intervention.... :P

High Voltage Imp

Five Turn Twist

Five Turn Twist Damasteel has a very natural looking wood grain kind of pattern that I find most appealing. Especially when it's on a teeny tiny Son of PryThing with rubber cordwrap. This is my personal carry piece lately. :)

Whistle Closeups

Had a couple more Whistle shots so I thought I'd post them.

Closeups!

Here's a couple of closeup shots of an Odin's Eye Damasteel Nano card. I really liked the second one in particular.