Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Small Fry

Hi Everyone,

We've been having some freaky weather here these past two weeks. It's been in the 50's for a couple of days and will continue with warm temps for much of this week. The snow piles are rapidly disappearing and everywhere you go people have big smiles on their faces. I'll certainly take it but would not be surprised to see a big snow storm next week.

I have some updates for you today. There is a super cool little project called the SeedNeedle Planting Stick underway and those are nearly ready to go, just in time for spring gardening season. Also underway are new titanium BedBugs and the first of those should be completed in a couple of weeks. A newly designed steel Prybaby project is scheduled for cutting next week. Steel metric Crawdaddies are now sitting next to the grinder, so I have run out of excuses and will be making myself finish up the prep work and figure out what I want to do for grinding on those very shortly, but they are still weeks and weeks away from completion.

Also, the stainless mini 5 flute beads are finished and I will be tying up strings this week for them. There are two or three other projects going on as well so plenty of nifty new items are coming to keep us all amused this spring!

Today I have the textured titanium Small Fry tools done. These are very fun and I have been testing one daily for the past couple of weeks. The tool is small, only 2.5 inches in length, but very stocky at .210 in thickness, so just under 1/4" thick. Features include a 7/16 12 point wrench, broad pry tip, 5/16 wrench/cap lifter and StepSide grips. The angled corner on the pry tip has a small bevel grind which, although not particular sharp, is just pointy enough to use as a quick access tape popper on shipping boxes. A second wave of slightly different Small Fry tools without cap lifter is also already cut and underway, to be completed in the month ahead.

The Small Fries are plain finished without color anodizing. I figure people don't want to be wiping sticky glue off of the colored ones if they get used for box duty. If there is a big call for them I may make a few steel ones down the road as well, we shall see...also, forgot to mention, the grinds vary a bit on these and there are a few lefties too.

So these Small Fry tools will run $65 plus shipping and it's a sizable batch so I will make it a two per customer limit on them please. As always, I thank you very much for dropping by today and hope you have a great week ahead!

These are completely sold out, thank you!


Friday, February 16, 2018

Black Delrin Mini 5 Flutes

Howdy All,

It's a gray and gloomy one here today and it looks like we have some "weather" headed our way. But predictions are for two days next week hitting 65 degrees which would be amazing for this time of year. I'll definitely take it.

Well, there's some good news on the project front...the first wave of Small Fry tools are almost done so I will have those coming up very soon. Also a titanium measuring tool project is nearing completion. And I spent some time this week working on the nifty new ti BedBugs and so those will be coming up in the next couple of weeks as well. Progress! 

Today I have the Mini 5 Flute beads in Black Delrin finished. These are great for those times when you want something very light in weight and stealthy, permanent black in color. It's also nice to be able to toss a fine pocket knife or flashlight in your pocket and not worry that a metal bead might scratch up the nice finish.

Anyhow, the Black Delrin mini 5 Flutes will run $30 plus shipping and the link to purchase is below. The batch is fairly modest in size but I will limit it to four per customer please, and it is possible I might do another small round of these next bead run. Thanks for stopping by today, as always, and hope you all have a great weekend.

Sold Out, thank you so much!





 


Monday, February 12, 2018

Zirconium Mini Triangles

Hi Everyone,

Well, it's a dark and chilly day out there today. Typical gloomy February weather but we're supposed to see some intermittent sunshine and a bit warmer temps coming up this week. I'm looking forward to seeing some of this snow and ice melting!

Well, things have been slowly coming along these past two weeks. Much grinding has been happening and there is a big pile of worn out belts sitting down in the shop right now. I put a huge effort into prepping out some new batches of tools and many are awaiting milling this week. There have been some delays with milling the various ruler projects due to this horrific flu illness that is going around...my best wishes and hopes for speedy recoveries to everyone who has been sick.

Anyway, at some point we will be seeing some steel rulers and a nifty new ti measuring tool. Also in the works is that cute little Small Fry tool in titanium that I had posted a drawing of last month. And there is a second related version of the Small Fry coming that lacks the cap lifter and includes a V notch.

The past two weeks has been a very creative period for me and I'm happy to announce that out of the various drawings I selected an updated BedBug tool which will be coming very soon. I'm quite excited about this little guy as it will bring some interesting new design directions to the table.

Also on the way are the remaining batches of Mini 5 Flute beads and I am looking at some possible bead related designs as well. Fun stuff ahead for 2018!

Well today I finally have the long awaited Zirconium Mini Bermuda Triangles finished. These are similar to the previous version but I decided to give them a hexi edge design for great grip. They are slightly thicker than previous Mini Triangles so that meant that I had to make the pry bevel a bit higher in order to maintain a usable geometry. As a consequence there was no room for a name stamp on the front side of the tool, so I elected to put it on the back side instead. There is very little real estate on these so I did not make any tools with my decorative stamps. However, there is a wide variety of extra grinds on them!

The only bummer on these is that the center reamer was a little worn and so the 3/8 opening is just a tad loose for the spin cores resulting in a slip fit rather than a press fit. So if you are looking to use one of the MD Engineering spin cores (tall ones only due to the thickness, available from MD Engineering website) for these they will have to be glued in place. No biggie though, I used a super tiny wipe of Gorilla Glue applied with a q-tip on the example below, set it on the heater to dry for a few hours and it was a very easy install. The key is to use a very very very thin wipe of glue, let it set up for a few minutes to get tacky, slide the bearing in carefully and center it. After it is dried then you can use an exacto blade to remove any excess glue that was pushed forward by the bearing, then screw the button ends back on. Don't try to shove the whole assembly in there or you will simply glue the whole thing in place and it won't spin.

The Zr Mini Bermuda Triangles will run $65 each plus shipping. The batch is generous in size so it will be a limit of two per customer on them please. Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you all are washing your hands frequently and staying healthy this winter! 

Sold Out for now, few more coming shortly, thank you so much!