What's Coming?

In the weeks ahead this is what I have planned:

BugBites
Flat Ti Gasbabies
G2 Gasbabies
Crawdaddies
Bermuda Triangles
Triangle+
A51 Keytons (small batch)

Also a few new things are in the works, one is a SharkBite variant and the other a brand new tool with a cutting edge.

I'll be grinding for a few days so there won't be much action on the Available Tools page.

Wow!

OK, that was mighty quick, in fact it was a record. I had just under two dozen Nibbles ready, posted them and they were gone in less than 10 minutes. I swear you guys are going to eat me alive if I'm not careful .... :D Sheesh!

I ran out of Phillips bits this morning and have more ordered for tomorrow. So I was not able to finish the BugBites but will work on them once I get all these packages out. Thanks folks! I certainly do appreciate it. :)

Few More Nibbles and BugBites.....

....will be coming tomorrow if I can get them finished in the morning.

This time of year is always tough to keep to a work schedule because there's endless interruptions. Between the constant snow and ice storms we've had this year which have kept me busy on the driveway and the piles of paperwork from tax season I've been having trouble just staying in the shop for any length of time. Plus I never have gotten my heating situation totally straightened out in the shop and it's in the low to mid 50's for most of the day. Cold! But it looks like a lot of the worst is now past and I should be getting some good stretches of work done over the next few weeks. :)

Alright, this is Geeky :D

I was playing around a couple of weeks ago just looking for something a little different. I do not currently plan to make any of these, just exploring the idea a little. It is possible I may do something for a wrist though at some point or maybe a belt buckle or a titanium slide tool for nylon webbing. This particular piece is 44mm in diameter and uses a 22mm Maratac one piece Zulu strap.

My Apologies

I apologize to anyone who was offended by my last comments on the Ebay post. But the fact of the matter is, I learned as a young boy, if you poke a dog with a stick long enough he's going to bite you. I do have a temper.

I will no longer post comments from anonymous posters. I've had enough of people who would belittle me and others and whose sole purpose seems to be to stir up crap and act like bullies. You guys don't see plenty of comments that I have deleted in the past because of foul language and/or personal attacks but I allowed a few in that last posting so folks could see what comes in. But if you aren't willing to put your name on it I think that I am going to have to stop putting those comments up. Some of the anonymous stuff is downright vicious.

Also, I appreciate that many folks are well meaning in their suggestions on how I could improve my business and the processes related to it but I'm in good shape and have a clear vision. I'm doing the best I can, trying to satisfy the demand and keep everyone happy. So thank you all, I very much appreciate your business and your support and like I said, sorry if I turned anyone off with my responses.

Ebay Policy Spelled Out

OK, here’s how I’m looking at it. For stuff that I sell you this week and next week it shows up on Ebay at an inflated price…

First Time: You buy a tool and decide it’s not for you and so you put it on Ebay. OK, no problem, I understand, you’re moving on to some other Atwood product or something else entirely. I don’t have a big problem with this and I appreciate you checking my stuff out.

Second Time: This is not looking good but hey, shit happens. If I can identify the seller (and I usually can pretty easily) I will try to send a polite warning that they are being watched. That’s if I have time of course, I am very busy and frankly have no time for stupid games.

Third Time: OK, it’s pretty clear what you’re all about. You’re obviously more interested in trying to make a quick buck off my stuff and could care less about collectors who often are unable to get to my site in time to pick up something at a reasonable price for their collections. Part of the reason they couldn’t get the piece was because YOU were there cherry picking for your own selfish ends. Well, you’re now cut off from further purchases. Purchases will be refunded if you try to buy during a sale. And I will be saving names on a do not sell list for circulation to my dealers too.

So far I have barred about 5 or 6 people because of this kind of behavior. I hated to do it, I really did, but this is about fairness and I felt I owed it to my fans to try to rein in this kind of thing. And I should mention I’m not real crazy about the related practice of scanning the BST sections on the forums with the sole intent of turning things around on Ebay.

So please folks, have a heart and think about this. I’m really not trying to be a hard ass, I’m just trying to stand firm and do what’s right. It would be a shame if I started to have to spend all my time babysitting a bunch of jerks rather than making the next batch of cool stuff.

Triangle Plus

Here's a neat little addition to the lineup, the Triangle Plus. These are exactly the same size as a Bermuda Triangle but have the benefit of hex bit storage, something not possible with the original design. I've beefed up the bottle opener opening to 5/16" so it works a little better too. This tool lacks the big center hex hole obviously but it still makes a fun little spin toy on the end of a pen or pencil. Alternatively, the lanyard can be tied through the center hole if desired which is how I've been carrying mine lately.

I just finished a small batch of these in 1/8" thick titanium and will be posting them tomorrow. Most are stonewashed and a few will be bead blasted and anodized solid colors. No Tropicals this time around. Also, a huge batch of Bermuda Triangles will be coming in about two weeks so many more of the originals will be available soon.

What's a Nibble?

These will be coming sometime next week. Little brother to the SharkBite and Bike Tool..

Quick Tool Survey

Thanks for participating, here are the results. Will be doing another one of these soon. :)

More Anodizing Fun

These were a blast to do! The Splash Anodizing is a rather tedious process but the results are really cool. Well worth the extra effort I think. Each piece is totally unique and I tried to make the patterns as crazy as possible. Good stuff. Because it is time consuming there is a very limited number available so I'd like to keep it to one per customer.

Will be putting the batch on the site tomorrow along with some plain Bermuda Triangles with stonewash finish for the less adventurous. :D

Something on the Side

Every once in a while a little project not related to my stuff comes up that is worth doing. Recently such an opportunity presented itself. Those not familiar with the amazing flashlights of Don McLeish should certainly check out candlepowerforums.com and see for yourself what the King of Custom Flashlights is all about.

This is a sneak preview of one of Don's upcoming LunaSols:






This was a one off project, not doing any others. These flashlights will be costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 each to begin with, maybe even more. You'd have to contact Don to get one and again, this was a one off piece and I'm not planning to do any others. It was cool though and so I just wanted to do one and see how it came out. The future owner of the light likes it a lot! :D

SharkBite

Here's what the SharkBite tool will look like. A nifty little item with multiple uses. Kind of like the Bike Tool but scaled down to just 3 inches long so it's more pocketable and geared more towards general EDC functions. I also think of it as sort of an enhanced Generation Two Keyton. These are close to 3/16" thick and are made of S30v so they are rather beefy.

This is one that I finished up this afternoon for the picture but it will be going into a heat treat later this week with the rest of the batch:



Speaking of Bike Tools, I should have the rest of the O rings and 5mm bits tomorrow and can then start to do the final finish work and assembly.

Production Update

Here's what on the menu this week:

I have some Bike Tools that I will start the finish work on tomorrow but I am lacking bits for most of them so it will be Monday night at the earliest before the whole batch will be ready. I have to put in the order for bits tomorrow and they will be delivered in the afternoon on Monday.

I just cut more Bermuda Triangles today and so they will be delayed until Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest. I have a rather large batch of these coming.

I have a couple dozen Crawdaddies going into heat treat tomorrow. Also a few dozen G2 Prybabies. These will be finished and ready about the middle of next week.

I have a very small batch of special G2 Mini Gasbabies that will be ready tomorrow afternoon.

Never Get Enough

I'm going to be trying something new this winter. I've decided to make an enormous batch of maybe two or three items. I'm talking huge. Many hundreds, maybe a thousand if I can stand the monotony. I think this might finally allow me to keep just one or two things on the site.

In the past I've tried to make so many things that batches tended to be small. Lately the hard core collectors snap everything up in a short time and many folks never even see the sale. I've enjoyed this immensely for many reasons not the least of which is because with smaller runs I am constantly coming up with new designs and allowing the ones I have to evolve. This keeps things really exciting for me and is immensely gratifying. I think a lot of collectors love it too.

But I think it's time to pick a couple of things from my now huge collection and try to stick with just them for about three or four solid weeks of production time. Not an easy thing for me partly because I have a short attention span and ideas that never seem to stop coming. :)

I also have a constant barrage of emails from established customers asking me what is next and I often feel like I have to keep them happy and make new stuff. I do appreciate that very much but I am feeling the need to take a little time right now and concentrate on the fundamentals.

So I think for a certain period this winter the collectors will have to sit tight because there isn't going to be a lot that will be new and different. Maybe this strategy might also slow down the scalpers who want to buy several of an item and put them on Ebay a couple of weeks later, something that has really irked me.

So, still thinking about what I want to offer...probably will be Bike Tools, some version of my new Nibble or SharkBite, maybe Mini Gasbabies. Of course I have other things that will keep coming in smaller quantities but I'm serious: I want to have enough of a couple of items on the site that people can finally get their fill and leave a few for others.

One thing though, these will NOT be items with sheaths so please don't even ask. The knives are always going to be fairly limited in number, I'm only talking about a couple of tools here.

I'm thinking February might be the time to buckle down and really try to get it done.

Rested Tanned and Ready

Well, I'm rested yes, ready maybe, tanned definitely not. LOL, I'm gearing up to do some grinding over the next week and should have some new batches of tools starting in a week or two.

In the works I have: Some more Bike Tools, Bermuda Triangles, G2 Gasbabies, G2 Basic Prybabies, a few Keytons, and a brand new tool called the SharkBite which will be closely followed by a smaller compact version called the Nibble. Pics coming soon... And I have other projects on the drawing board. I'm accumulating materials and finalizing designs right now.

So won't be much available until at least mid week next week, maybe longer.

Whistles- SOLD OUT! Thank you!

I have so few of these left that I am limiting whistles to one per customer. That means one brass OR one stainless. Not one of each, only one period. I want to give folks a chance who have not been able to buy anything from me before. So I will refund any orders for multiples.

Sorry to be that way but these are the last of any variety of the stainless whistles and the last of the brass with diamond knurl whistles. Neither will be made again. I will have a few more brass with rifle knurl coming in January and then that is going to be close to it for whistles. Maybe a couple more titanium ones will straggle in too if I can find time to finish them.

So, what does this mean for the future of whistles from Atwood Tool? They are going to be discontinued. I have made over a thousand of them in the past five years and it's time to move on. The shop that turns them for me is a pain to work with, the whistles are very expensive to make (and the costs are going up) and it's just time to move on.

Thank You and Happy Holidays!

Just wanted to give everyone out there a HUGE Thank You for all your kindness and support this year. People have been unbelievably generous with their praise and with their dollars. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate my many loyal fans and I am feeling hugely blessed and deeply grateful. I raise my glass in a toast and I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season!

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and a very Happy and Prosperous New Year to you all! :)

Bermuda Triangle

When I was a kid growing up in the 1970's I used to be fascinated by all the stories about the Bermuda Triangle. The UFO theories, the lost squadrons of airplanes, all the missing boats. It was cool stuff that tickled my curiosity and made me wonder if there was any truth to these kinds of mysteries or not.

What's not a mystery is this nifty new tool that I'm calling the Bermuda Triangle. Made of 5/32" titanium it is an equalateral triangle with 2 inch sides, a 3/4" Hex hole in the center, a 1/4" hex bit holder with O-ring, a minimalist cap lifter and a lanyard hole. These are really fun to spin between your fingers and I have not been able to stop fiddling with it since I made the first one.

I'm about to order a bag of the proper sized O-rings. The one on there now in the pictures is too big. There will probably be all kinds of delays because of Christmas so I don't expect to see the O-rings before Wednesday of next week. So I'd say these will be done and available around the end of next week. This is a smallish batch but will be more coming if the interest is there which I'm kinda thinking will be the case. :D

Available Tools

I just made a new section of my website for Available Tools. This is the only place I'll be posting items for sale on my site from now on and that should cut down on the bandwidth issues a little bit.

UFO on Ebay...

This is probably the last folder of the year and it's on Ebay now. The green fishnet patterning on this one came out really nice I thought. :)