Sunday, December 20, 2015

The List!

Thanks everyone, I always appreciate all the participation and kind words! You guys are the best. :)

So without further ado, drumroll please...

33    PUZI
37    Glen
86    Mark B
100    Randy
125    JohnnieBlade
139    wellthisiskj
164    double-edge
175    Rayray
188    Ladusway
189    Billylin93
207    markdjr
259    Merry Christmas
273    Thorn
282    DismalScientist
291    snowewhite00214
293    Cerhio
310    blueumbrella
322    Strured5
325    Jimmmyz
338    Andydoc
353    STLWill
355    Nibs and Coffee
391    whopperjr
406    bebrown1075

I will send out emails in a few minutes. Thanks so much everyone and Merry Christmas to all!

Fancy Stamped Nibbles: SUSale

Hi Folks,

Hope you all are having a nice relaxing weekend! The holidays are often a bit stressful but it's also a great time of year and one that I look forward to. Spooky warm this year though.

So, how about something a little different? I was having fun when I stamped this batch of Nibbles and I went a little crazy on some of them. As I was doing the stamps it occurred to me that some of them seemed to tell a little story. Or maybe they suggested a phrase or perhaps a title to me.

Anyway, I finished the batch and sent them off to heat treat but I kept thinking about the multi stamped ones and those words kept running through my mind. So when they came back from HT and I finished them up I decided to put these aside and write a little something on each card. Some are pure whimsy and some are very descriptive, others are simple stream of consciousness and association; whatever came to mind in the moment. Kind of a performance art kind of thing I suppose...I hope you enjoy them!

There are a total of 24 of these and I will send you whatever I send you, they are all cool though.

The Fancy Nibble SUSale will run until 11AM Eastern Time so one hour. After that I will shut it down and pick the winners via random number.

These special multi stamped Nibbles will run $85 plus shipping and the Sign Up Sale link is below. If you have not participated in one of these before please do read the rules! There is a strict one entry per person and please make sure your email address is valid or I won't be able to contact you in the event that you are one of the winners.

Sign up is over and I will post the winner list shortly. Thanks so much everyone and have a great holiday week ahead! 



List of Entrants

Sign Up Sale Rules: Please Read!



     

Friday, December 18, 2015

Ti Multi Grip Beads!

Hi Folks,

Happy Friday! I'm looking forward to the weekend myself and taking a day or two off. We're supposed to have a little bit of sun too which is always nice during these darkest days of the year.

Today I have a sweet treat for you. These Multi Grip Beads in titanium came out so nice, absolutely gorgeous colors. I was able to figure out some new anodizing tricks this week and so the majority of these are rainbows, color fades and multiple colors of all descriptions and combinations. There are a few solid colors mixed in as well but by far most of these are multi colored. So much fun.    

The Ti Multi Grips will run $33 each and the link to purchase is below. The batch is modest in size so I will make it a two per customer limit on them. Hopefully this winter I can do another run and get some more of them out there, maybe even a batch of plain ones, but for now these are all anodized.

All gone for now, thank you so much everyone!



Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Stamped Stainless Steel GripCoins

Hi Folks,

And a happy Wednesday to everyone! We're finally getting a break in the gloom and a little sunshine is brightening up the day here. I can't believe we've escaped that fluffy white stuff so far but I will certainly take the mild temps this winter. And they are predicting almost 60F on Christmas, crazy! Thank you El Nino.

I'm slowly but surely making my way through all these projects. I'm not yet sure what else I will be able to finish this year but almost certainly the titanium Multi Grip beads will be happening in a day or two. If we are lucky I might get one more tool sale of some kind in before Christmas and there is a strong possibility I might have something else done in the week between Christmas and New Year's. We'll see how it all shakes out and how ambitious I am. Whatever the case, so much is going on that January is certainly going to be a busier than usual start to the New Year so please stay tuned.

Today I have a small batch of 303 Stainless Steel GripCoins done. These have a variety of my familiar antique stamps as well as a few carefully chosen modern newcomers. I dug up several seldom used examples of the antiques too so there is an interesting variety of images here. Fun stuff and I think you will really enjoy them.

The stainless GCs will run $45 plus shipping and the link is below. One per customer on them please. Thank you so much as always for coming by today and hope you all aren't too stressed out from the holidays yet!

Stainless are gone, thank you everybody!





 

Friday, December 11, 2015

Multi Grip Bronze Lanslides

Howdy Folks,

Yup, me again! Did I mention that I have been a very busy boy lately? Oh so busy...this is what happens when I start too many projects, they inevitably have to all be finished. I'm just taking advantage of the gray and gloom again today to get one more sale in because we are supposed to have glorious temperatures in the 50's and partly sunny skies for the next week and I intend to take at least one day off and enjoy it while it lasts.

I've been mulling the possibility of creating a brand new bead design for quite a while. I wanted something a bit smaller than the very popular 5 Flute Mega design which we have enjoyed so much this past year. But what would this new design look like and what sort of features should it have? What materials to use and what exactly am I trying to accomplish? I gave this new challenge much thought and this is the kind of design problem that I really enjoy. I think about it at various times such as when I'm driving, standing at the grinder, sitting around or in the shower. Incidentally, I get some of my best design ideas in the shower it seems.

Anyway, for this new design I went back to the basics. Years ago I coined the term "Lanslide" to mean "Lanyard Sliding Bead". To my way of thinking, this type of bead should serve various functions...primarily I want the bead to act as an additional grip, so if it is used as a zipper pull on a gear bag or jacket it should be easy to grasp with thumb and forefinger and afford a positive grip. If it is to be used on a knife or tool as a lanyard aid it should be easy to nestle into the small fingers as an additional safety to prevent drops and add control for the user. Or it can act as an easy to grasp pull for retrieving a knife from a sheath or pocket. That's the functional part, but of course it also needs to look cool.

This new item could almost be called a Multi Grip Bead. It offers two distinctive looks and modes of function. The elegant hourglass shape provides multiple grip points and though small, ample room for your fingers to conform to the shape. If you wish, you can alter the look and the feel by adding a small rubber O-ring. The O-ring also can provide additional grip for wet conditions. Lastly, a double row of rifle knurling adds a classic beauty and even more non slip goodness. Go ahead, I absolutely DARE you to try to drop this thing! :)

The first wave of Multi Grip Lanslides are in 655 silicon bronze. Bronze is one of the most durable of the red metals and the lovely warm patina that it develops as it ages is very attractive indeed. These new beads measure 1/2" in diameter and are a little over 1/2" in length. The optional tiny black rubber O-ring is included. 

Bronze Multi Grips will run $30 each plus shipping. I will make it a limit of 3 on them and for now this is going to be the only batch. Up the road I will be making titanium and aluminum Multi Grips as well, coming soon, but today all I have finished are the bronze ones. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend ahead.


Bronze beads are gone, thank you everyone!



 

        

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Steel Mini P15 Prybabies

Hi Everyone,

It's a gray and gloomy day here in New England. The air has that raw feeling this morning, the kind of weather that makes you want to curl up with a good book and a hot drink, although no amount of coffee will completely wake you up. But alas, looks like I'll be working instead...

I'm making steady headway on projects. Brand new bronze beads are on deck followed shortly thereafter by stainless GripCoins and then new titanium beads. The new HangMan tool is underway too and hopefully I can get the milling and finish grinding done before too long.

Today I have CPM 154 Steel Mini P15 Prybabies done. These are the SAE version and are identical in size to the earlier titanium ones released this year, but they are the "normal" .160 (5/32) in thickness. Still, they have a satisfying heft in the hand and maintain a slim and unobtrusive profile on your key ring.

The finish on these minis is a little different than usual. For these tools, the back side of the sheet had many scratches but the front side had a pleasing light raw bar texture. So rather than surface grind both sides I decided to give this batch a sort of Jekyll and Hyde two tone effect. Front side is light raw bar and back side is surface ground and stonewashed. Kind of fun!

This whole batch is fairly uniform. No stamps, no extra grinds, nothing unusual with these. A couple have raw bar on both sides, a couple are surface ground on both sides.  

The steel Mini P15 Prybabies will be $65 plus shipping and the link is below. Once again, smallish batch so it will be one per customer on them. Thanks for stopping by folks, and may your week shape up to be a great one!

These are gone for today, thanks so much everyone!




Friday, December 04, 2015

Return of the Steel Nibbles

Happy Friday Folks!

We're enjoying relatively mild temps here in Massachusetts this week and looks as if this trend will continue through next week. Let's hope El Nino gives us an easy winter this year.

Well, I've been slowly plugging away on current projects and finishing some tools up this week. Coming up will be steel Mini P15 Prybabies, a cool new titanium bead design for next week and maybe a SUSale or two. Just starting the milling on the new Krinkle ti Hangman tool as well. And I am working on a new round of drawings with some interesting directions for 2016.

Today I have a blast from the past! Old timers will no doubt remember the original Nibble and the closely related Sharkbite tools. I always liked that design as it is kind of a Keyton on steroids with a captive bit function added in. Anyway, the first Nibbles were made quite a few years ago, the batch was small and I thought it might be time for a reprise.

For this updated Nibble I decided for once to leave the original design relatively unchanged. I made a few small tweaks to soften the O-ring grooves and chamfer some of the corners but basically the design is true to the original.

The Nibbles are made of .160 thick CPM 154 steel and measure just under 3 inches long by 1.125 inches wide. In addition to the large main pry tip there is a smaller secondary pry/screwdriver tip on the bottom corner, a 5/16 wrench opening that doubles as a cap lifter and an oxygen wrench/lanyard opening.

Other features include the captive bit slot that will retain any standard 1 inch long by 1/4 shank hex bit. The bit is held in place by two large #204 O-rings and I am including a #1 or #2 phillips bit, whichever size I have on hand. A separate 1/4 hex opening will accept the bit and hold it in place with smaller #203 O-ring grooves. The bits fit tightly on most of these so the optional #203 O-ring is not necessary on most of them but I will include one anyway. Incidentally, I am including two full sets of O-rings so that you have a spare set as well.

Speaking of O-rings, to make the Nibbles flatter for shipping purposes I will give people the pleasure of assembling their own. This image shows the simple way to get the O-rings on. I really like this little trick and it can be used on any of my tools where there is an interruption that makes the O-rings hard to put on. Just slip a piece of string or paracord through the O-ring and pop it over the opening:

       
So not only do we have the Nibble reprise today but I played around a little bit with them too. There are a couple different combinations of grinds on them as well as a limited selection of my cool antique stamps. I have a few unstamped Nibbles in reserve as well for later but today I am offering the stamped ones.

The Stamped Nibbles will run $75 plus shipping and the link is below. There is a very limited number of these so it's one per person as usual. Thank you everyone and I hope you have a great weekend ahead!

Stamped Nibbles are gone, thank you everyone!