Count Sporkula: Broad Fork Edition

A Happy Monday to you all,

We're looking at some moderate but typical winter temperatures this week. It won't be too terribly cold, but still quite cold enough. At least the sun will make a few appearances throughout the week which always cheers me up.

Speaking of folks who need to be cheered up...these fires out in LA are absolutely insane and will probably be the biggest disaster the country has ever seen. The needs of everyone, rich and poor alike, are intense and will only be more so in the weeks and months to come. So I've been trying to think of little ways to help. I don't entirely trust huge charities to necessarily deliver the biggest impact since they tend to be so bloated, but I figure the old manure analogy probably applies: The more you spread it around the more good it will do. So in keeping with that idea, a portion of today's sale will go to the Los Angeles Food Bank, because without a full belly it's going to be hard to rebuild anything.

Today I have some brand new Count Sporkulas for you. These are made of 301 half hard stainless steel, which offers both excellent rust resistance and enough stiffness to be up to the job of light tableware. This alternate Sporkula design has broader fork tines. It also has a wider spatula/spoon end which features two different radiuses on the corners for a variety of scraping and scooping tasks. This is a nice little tool for camping or simply daily wallet carry and it has a satisfying heft to it.

Stainless Count Sporkulas will run $50 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for stopping by today and hope your week is a great one.   

All gone for now, thank you again!

 

 ****Over $800 raised so far guys, thanks so much! I know it's just a drop in the bucket, but every little bit helps. Funds went to the LA Food Bank, Red Cross, an air purifier for a classroom in LA and basic supplies for two teachers in Altadena who lost their entire schools. I will do more of these this winter, thanks again!

WrapStars!

Howdy Folks,

It's cold and breezy here today, but at least we will be seeing a little bit of sun. The days are already getting longer, and amazingly we don't have a single flake of snow on the ground at the moment.

Today I have something really fun for you. I actually cut these tools a couple of years ago, but because they were laser cut as opposed to waterjet, they were a bit rough around the edges. I dithered for a long time whether I should try to fix them up or just give up on them and move on. But, after looking them over recently, I decided that at least some of them were worth saving even if it meant a whole bunch of tedious hand filing and numerous extra steps to make them presentable. The results are still not quite as clean as I would have liked, but they are very usable indeed, particularly for their intended purpose. 

The WrapStar is a chunky key fob tool. Normally I use tool steels or other harder metals for wrench tools, but here I decided to go with a full 1/4 inch thick 304 stainless steel, simply because these are so massive that they can take a lot of abuse before you would ever wear them out. They feature 9/16 and 5/8 inch box wrenches as the main hex openings, as well as O2 and Acetylene B tank wrenches in the narrower waist area. However, my main intent with this project was not so much to make wrenches as the other functions that are possible.

As a 4.125 inch OAL key fob, these give you a massive handle grip for your keys, and I will include an oversized heavy duty key ring...Instantly turn your keys into a devastating self defense flail with this tool. I definitely would not want to be on the receiving end! Plus, there is plenty of length, girth and weight for the "loaded fist" principle.

But the main focus is what you can wrap around this Wroidy beast. I envisioned a handy organizer spool for your favorite device USB charge cables. You could also wrap a foot of emergency tape around the middle and then wrap whatever else you wanted around the rest. I can easily fit 6-8 feet of paracord without breaking a sweat, and if you play around with different wrapping techniques you could even go as high as 14 feet or more. This nifty ToolSpool doesn't have to live on your keys, you can keep it in a pack or purse with spare tools on the ring as well and the large ends make it easy to clip to a pack or belt loop with a carabiner. There are so many possibilities here, only limited by your imagination.

WrapStar Key Fobs will run $65 plus shipping and the purchase link is below. As always, thanks for checking in and I wish you warmer and brighter days ahead.    

Sold out for now, but I will be making more soon, thank you!

 

 

***********A portion of today's sale goes to the Red Cross for the devastating CA fires!**********

More Zirconium Satellite Beads

Happy New Year Everyone! 

I hope you all had a great holiday. It's a frigid Monday out there this morning and we are in the grip of some more cold gray days this week. At least it looks as if we will be spared the heavy snows they are predicting elsewhere though.

I've been sorting through some of my ongoing projects and am trying to bring things to the finish line. I'm being held up by Staples printing up the product cards, but I hope to have some of the WrapStar key fob tools ready later this week. I also have some more small batches of odds and ends coming up this month.

Today I have the other half of the Zirconium Mini Hexy Satellite beads for you. These have been well tumbled and then electrically anodized. The coloring is subtle and difficult to accurately capture in photos but it adds a nice touch to these little guys.

Anodized Mini Satellite beads will run $35 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for coming by today, and I hope your New Year is already heading in a great direction.

All gone, thank you so much!

 

 

Original Steel MikroStiks

Howdy Folks, and Happy New Year! 

It's another dreary winter day out there for us, with heavy overcast skies and the drippy remnants of overnight rain. I will gladly take it over snow though, and we do very much need the moisture after our  fall drought. Tomorrow night will be warm as well with more rain coming in.

I'm busy finalizing some projects for 2025, so lots of activity is coming up. An older project that I had abandoned is being revived, the WrapStar, and I should have some of those done in a few days. I will take a couple of days this week to catch up on year end paperwork and inventory, but that stuff shouldn't take too long...

Today I have a handful of the Original Steel MikroStiks for you. These are CPM 154 and have a variety of stamps on them. Their small size makes them very cute, but still useful for small scraping and prying tasks.

Steel MikroStiks will run $55 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks once again for a terrific 2024, and I hope your 2025 is fantastic!

All gone, thank you!   

 

Small Titanium Wring Tools

Hey again everyone,

I have a couple dozen of the smaller sized Titanium Wring Tools. These are stamped and have a plain non colored finish. The opening is 5/8 (Oooops, opening is 3/4 on the smalls and 7/8 on the Large ones. I was going on memory and had them wrong!) rather than 3/4 (actually 7/8!) of the larger version. I also have one unstamped piece left and two with coloring as well.

Stamped Small Titanium Wring Tools will run $50 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks again for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

All gone, thanks again!

 

 

3V Steel E115 Tools!

Howdy Folks,

Brrrr, nasty cold out there again today. I took the garbage out and by the time I was done, the cold was stinging my face and my fingers were cold as ice, even inside my gloves. I wouldn't hate winter so much if it didn't hurt! :)

Well, the holidays were great and I am winding down for the year. I will probably try to get one more sale up next week, but I can tell you that there is lots of stuff on the horizon. I mentioned a few things in the last post and I'm working on more. It will be an interesting winter for sure! 

Today I have a tiny handful of 3V Steel E115 tools for you. These were stashed away years ago and are some of the best examples with A51 grinds and stamps. They have a nice oiled Dungeon Black finish with plenty of character. Some have the 1/4 hex and a couple of others are without the hex.

3V E115s will run $85 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for coming by and I hope your holidays have been going great!

Gone in a flash, thank you so much! 

 

 

Titanium MikroSpikes

Happy Freezing Cold Monday! Brrrrr. It's 1 below zero here this morning, so a brutally cold one for sure. We will have a couple more very cold nights and then it should start moderating a bit.

I'm still sifting through and gathering up various small batch remnants for the last week of the year. I'm also making some new drawings and planning projects for next year including a new Keyton design and something brand new called the SideWinder that will be very cool. A new batch of titanium Count Sporkulas is coming this winter as well. I really want to get going on something I drew up two years ago called the SupaWrench and I think steel will be the ideal metal for that one. I am also thinking about a brand new triangular pocket tool design in Zr... And there were a couple of projects here at the shop that I was not able to complete this year but will be nice winter and spring projects including Wroid thickness E115 tools in Zr, Timascus Tombstones and those 3V steel Prybabies that are still halfway done but that I keep putting off finishing. KingPins in titanium and copper have been sitting here for years and I am looking at grinding the pins for them very soon. It looks like some of my newly tested ceramic glazes are going to pan out so expect more crazy cups and other pottery projects coming next year as well. 

Today I have a small batch of Titanium MikroSpikes for you. These are all anodized and stamped. I also have a few stray MikroStiks in various materials if anyone wants to email me for them.

Titanium MikroSpikes will be $65 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks so much for making this a great year for me! Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and prosperous New Year!

Sold out, thank you so much everyone and safe travels this holiday season!  

 

 

Titanium Count Forkulas!

Hello again my friends.

Here is a baker's dozen for you of another older item: The Count Forkula, aka the Prince of Forkness, returns...these are titanium and have a buttery tumbled finish. The perfect little wallet carry item for that lunchtime salad or other entree to go. I also have a half dozen of these with cap lifter handle if anyone wants to email me for them. And, a big batch of full Count Sporkulas is on the schedule to be cut for sometime this winter.

Count Forkulas will run $55 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for stopping by yet again, and hope the rest of your week is a good one. 

Basic Forkulas are all gone, thanks once again!

 

Copper Dice!

Well Happy Wednesday Everyone,

Another bright and mild day ahead for us today. Might have a few light breezes at mid day but otherwise should be an uneventful day weather-wise with nice sunny skies.  

Some of you might remember my drilled Heavy Metal Dice project from years ago. I made a big batch of metal dice in titanium and also bronze that we were drilled for bead chain. I may still have a couple sets of the bronze ones left.

At the time I intended to make a second batch of solid dice which I planned to stamp with my tiniest antique stamps to create some custom pairs. I did actually follow through with the milling and created a bunch of solid blanks. But when it came time to do the stamping I realized it was going to be a real PITA so I only ever completed three sets. Today I bring those sets to you :) 

These Heavy Metal Dice are solid copper with a nice patina, and I have leaves, skulls and gnats. They will run $75 for each set plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for swinging by this morning and have a great day!

Sold out, thank you so much!