Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Metric Tombstones

Hi Folks,

Happy Wednesday! Gray and overcast here today with a hint of cool fall in the air. I can't believe summer is already drawing to a close. I didn't do half as much as I thought I was going to but I did manage to see the beach twice (briefly) so that's progress I guess.

I'm scrambling to button up the current projects. More Tipplers are coming in a week or so once they are cleaned up and I can get to my finish work on them. I have more pin striped Mega Lanslides on the way as well, this time in bronze. A new item, the Roll Bar is on the way for next week...And of course the Tombstones are in the mix too. And to top it off I'm exploring several new drawings. Someday, who knows, maybe I'll even catch some sleep!

Today I have the first wave of Tombstones done. These have a light Raw Bar texture that in the right light sort of reminds me a little bit of concrete steps. Raw Bar is a term I coined for steel that has not been surface ground. So in this case the CPM 154 steel is exactly as it came from the hot rollers of the mill and you can expect a certain amount of scars, character marks and other imperfections. They looked good enough though that I couldn't bear to grind it all off and the added benefit is I preserved the full thickness of the parts instead of losing 10-20 thousandths from surface grinding.

Incidentally, I think Crucible has been changing their rolls out more often these days or something because I'm not seeing as much textured steel coming through as in years past. I talked to them about this a few years ago and when I asked the guy for textured sheets he couldn't believe it at first because generally people are calling him and ragging on them for sending sheets out that are too rough. So here I am asking for the rougher ones... go figure. :)

Anyway, these are Metric Tombstones with odd number wrench sizes 5-11mm. They feature a broad pry tip/scraper edge and cap lifter in a hefty but compact 4.5mm thick, 62mm long, 19mm wide package. That's 3/4" wide, 2.4" long and .176 thick for you metrically challenged folks. :) These little gems carry nicely on your keys but they look great on the included bead chain too and they are drilled for easy neck carry.

The batch is unfortunately quite small so these will be one per customer please. The good news is that a second batch of equal size is scheduled for cutting so more will be coming down the road. I have no idea what the steel will look like on the next ones so whether they will be raw or not I do not know yet. And the SAE batch is also forthcoming, same exact batch size and a second batch of those are on the cutting schedule as well.

The Metric Tombstones are $55 plus shipping, link is below. Thanks for stopping by my friends, I do very much appreciate the continued support and never ending enthusiasm for my little creations!

Metric ones are gone for now, thank you everyone!





    

 

13 comments:

Unknown said...

got one. Great!!!

Joe said...

Those are neat-looking! Sorry I missed this one.

Alex said...

Wow Peter, that texture looks fantastic! These little guys look awesome, congrats to all who scored one!

Slim said...

I didn't see the Metric Part until after I bought it. :-)

Liam said...

wow really like this one. will try again on second batch.

Unknown said...

Sweet got in under the wire. Thanks Peter

trevitrace said...

Love the finish on these, reminds me of the wraw bar wrunt. :)
Congrats to those who snagged one.

BrianK said...

Soooo so fast! Missed this one!

ffirg said...

ugly but useful

TRUCKLVR said...

wow, all gone already .Haven't been able to get a sale direct for over 2 years, man what a same . All i need is one tool simple and this was that . :(

207Copper said...

I'll take it of you don't want it.

John said...

Ah those are sweet! bummer missed it :-(

Alex said...

I love reading about the behind the scenes, technical information. So thank you for the write up explaining the raw bar texture!