Plain Titanium Prybabies

Hi Folks,

Well it was a glorious weekend here in New England. I participated in a rare wood fired kiln session yesterday and that was quite an interesting experience. Salt and baking soda are sprayed into the kiln at the end which create a glaze on the pots and subtle color flashing effects that are highly coveted by traditional pottery enthusiasts. It's hot and grueling work, certainly a labor of love for those who wish to preserve the old ways. I only had a couple of my most crude test pots in the kiln as I have no idea how they will turn out, but other people had beautiful items in there so will be fun to see how it all finished up. The kiln will cool down enough by Wednesday to open it and I will try to get over there for the opening...meanwhile, today it's pouring rain yet again.

Today I have a small batch of plain titanium Prybabies for you. This newest version is about the same size as the originals, so a full sized tool, just a tad over 3 inches long, my traditional 5/32 thickness, V notch and rear pry tip. I opted for my favorite crenelated thumb rest area and added a 1/4 hex for the lanyard opening. This is a plain ground batch with basic grinds on the front end, and no anodizing or stamping. I am working on stamps for the next group of these as well as various A51 style extra grinds, and will be anodizing them. There are a few lefties today and in the next group too if anyone wants to email me.

Plain Ti Prybabies will run $70 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for dropping by and hope your week is going to be awesome!

Gone in a flash, thank you guys! Fancy ones coming later this week!

 

 

Friday Update

Well hello everyone! Coming to you today from soggy New England where we are finally drying out for a few days after two months of near daily rain storms. The only creatures happy this summer have been slugs and mosquitoes, lol. The rest of us are ready for some sunshine and less humidity!

I've been puttering along on projects. New Steel Mini Superbugs are almost done with the milling. I have prepped out steel Atomic Wedgies and they are now ready to be milled. I have a nifty new drawing called the SupaWrench, and am mulling whether to cut them in steel or not as it would be very expensive, but I might make a small run...the rest of the Zircuti MikroSpikes have just been cut and are in my hands so they will be finished in a week or two. I will be cutting a few Prybabies in exotic materials this fall, but in the meantime I do have a big batch of 3v steel Prybabies that are already cut and are awaiting further preparation and milling.

Some of you might be aware that 20+ years ago I was an avid high fire ceramic artist for several years. I stopped making stoneware pots when I got into the knife and tool thing, but over the years I often have missed playing with clay. Recently I stopped by to visit an old friend who owns a pottery studio and shop in nearby Shelburne Falls, and I discovered that she now runs a community clay studio in the old Lamson Knife Factory building (more on Lamson later). Since there was an opening, I promptly signed up and have  made a few dozen mugs this past two weeks. It is taking a little while to get my pottery chops back, but I'm having a blast and can't wait to share some of these with you! These are definitely not dainty little tea cups for fussy ladies at the bridge club btw, and I suspect you will be quite surprised with what is coming. Think wild textures and custom stamps... ;)

I was going to have a sale today but due to a scheduling conflict I have to postpone until Monday. I have a small group of plain Titanium Prybabies ready to go and am starting the stamping for the rest of the Prybaby batch today. I will be cranking out some of the previously mentioned Zircuti MikroSpikes very soon as well since they are already quite far along. Have a great weekend folks!  

 

 

 

Fancy Wroid Wedgies

Well I'm back already my friends. :)

Not much else to report since yesterday, but I see the hurricane is starting to hit FL this morning and I hope all our friends down there are safe today. It seems like nowhere is truly safe these days from these continuous big weather events...

So today I have the remainder of the Wroidy Wedgie batch done. These have my usual wide assortment of stamps, although the material is really kind of hard so I had to choose stamps carefully since some would not work quite as well on this crazy Beta Titanium....grinding it wasn't too much fun either. On the plus side though, the anodized colors were very interesting. The first pass yields a very bright color response but is a little boring, and then after further surface finishing the second color pass to achieve the contrast effects tends to be more subtle and in a precise range. The final results are really beautiful though, with a glassy smooth feel to the tools and sparkling highlights in the texturing that magically come and go as you turn it over in the light. Too bad I can't get more of this stuff because it is pretty neat.

Fancy Wedgies are $75 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for visiting today, and hope you all stay safe and sound out there as we head into the holiday weekend.

All gone, thank you everyone! 

Super hard to capture the colors on this dark and gloomy morning...

 

Plain Wroidy Wedgies!

Hi Folks,

Hard to believe the end of summer is drawing near. We continue to get tons of rain and this will no doubt go down in the books as one of the rainiest summers on record. Hope it doesn't continue into one of the snowiest winters on record!

I keep on chugging away on the projects. I have a little more grinding to do on titanium Prybabies and then I can start finishing those up. Hope to have them completed by next week. I just got more of the Zircuti MikroSpikes cut, so those will be coming in a few weeks. The larger Atomic Wedgies in steel were just surface ground, so I will get them prepped out and ready to mill very soon. Those will take me a month or two to complete...I just drew up a new tool called the SupaWrench and that little gem will be getting cut in thick steel very soon. I haven't forgotten the puzzle project and hope to get some of those done in the next couple of weeks. And, I just signed back up for the community clay center because I am dying to make some new coffee mugs which I haven't made in 20 years, so hoping to bring you guys a few dozen of those later this fall for a little something different. ;)

Today I have some brand new tools for you. These Mini Wedgies are crazy thick, over 1/4", and are made of a unusual titanium alloy. I was told this stuff is Beta Titanium but I have not been able to find out much info about it. At any rate, many years ago, when I first started out making tools, a local friend told me that his dad owned a knife company. That company happened to be Mission Knives in California! I believe they are still in business, although the original owner, former Bell Labs engineer John Moore, passed away a number of years ago. Anyhow, my buddy John persuaded his dad to send me a sheet of the special material that they used for folding knife blades, and that sheet has been sitting around for many years gathering dust and waiting for me to decide what to make out of it!

These Mini Wedgies are rather robust as I mentioned....they measure .265 inches thick, so that makes them among the most heavy duty Wroid Class tools that I have made, and certainly the thickest titanium tools. They are about 3.25 inches long and feature a large pry tip, plus rear offset pry end with 5/16 wrench and opener. If you ever wanted a solid block of titanium for your key ring this is it, lol...the Mini Wedgies have a rustic feel to them, a light raw bar finish with plenty of character marks, and a glassy tumbled finish. I decided to do a small release of plain Jane ones first without stamps (Atwood stamp is on the back) or anodizing, but a much larger batch is nearly done and will be coming in a day or so with stamps and color anodizing....and yes, there are some lefties here as well if anyone wants to drop me a request.

Plain Beta Titanium Mini Wedgies will run $65 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for stopping by (as always!), and I hope your week is going great.

Woah, gone in a jiffy! No worries, tons of stamped and anodized ones are on the way. ;)

 

 

 

 

Zircuti MikroSpikes!

Hi Folks,

Heading into a slightly muggy weekend here. This summer has been a wild one that's for sure, bouncing between cool temps, drought, smoky skies, and now frequent rains. At least I have my first decent large tomatoes in a couple of years, which are currently finishing their ripening on the kitchen counter.

Not too much to report on the project front, but I will have some misc small sales coming up next week for sure. New Mini Ti Wedgies are almost done with the milling, so those will be coming along pretty soon.

Today I have a very special small batch for you, Zircuti MikroSpikes! These are made of Zirconium/Titanium damascus which is a truly exotic material. It's been a trip to finally work with a good sized quantity of this stuff, and I've been having a lot of fun learning the quirks of shaping and finishing it. It's a little different from ordinary titanium and it requires a number of tricks to get what I want, but the results are so interesting...anyhow, this batch has extra grinds and stamps, as well as anodizing. 

Fancy Zircuti MikroSpikes will run $99 plus shipping and the link is below. This is a tiny initial batch so one per customer on them please...I do plan to make more of these later this year btw, so no worries, this is just the first wavelet of them. And I have several other runs of tools planned for the coming months using similar exotic materials as well...thanks for dropping by today and have a fantastic weekend!

Whew, gone in a flash, thank you everyone! 

****A portion of the sale today will go to the Aloha United Way for the victims of the horrific wildfires in Maui!****

 

Count Sporkulas Return!

Happy Rainy Monday Folks!

It's another gray and gloomy summer day here, although the weekend was absolutely gorgeous and things finally got a chance to dry out from some of the recent deluges. But we'll be getting another inch or two of rain today and tomorrow. It's a rather soggy scene out there but at least I haven't had to water my garden very much lately, hehe...

The projects keep crawling along. I will have some fancy MikroStiks coming up shortly, and I will continue cleaning up the timascus Mini Poltergeists this week to get them going on their long road to completion. The puzzle piece project is also inching closer. I will try to get started grinding new ti Prybabies later this week too.

Today I have a big batch of titanium Count Sporkulas for you. These have a buttery smooth fine stonewashed plain finish on them. This is a perfect little flat tool for your wallet, and a heck of a lot nicer to use than crummy plastic ware when you're on the go.

Ti Count Sporkulas will run $55 plus shipping and the link is below. As always, I'm glad you stopped by today, and I hope you're making the most of the week ahead!  

All gone for now. I do have a handful of the earlier version with center hex available, and a few Count Forkulas from a few years ago as well if anyone wants to email me for them. Thanks so much!

 

 

Fancy Titanium Tombstones

Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday! We have had a rather sudden cooling here in the Northeast and it went from being oppressively muggy and warm to feeling almost fall like for the past few days. And although mother nature finally stopped pouring rain on us this week, another storm is heading our way today...But then it's supposed to be a glorious weekend ahead so that should be great.

I've been grinding away on the projects, pun fully intended! I'm just wrapping up a big batch of new titanium Count Sporkulas and the last of them is in the tumblers as I type. I just started working on some fancy Mini Poltergeists and will hopefully get those going soon. Almost done with milling on the new beta titanium Mini Wedgies and hope to get them completed this month. And I just finalized the drawings for a new tool called the Atomic Wedgie which will be getting cut in 1/4 steel next week. Fun stuff ahead!

So today I have the other half of the titanium Tombstone batch completed. These guys are fully loaded with various extra grinds, lots of crazy stamps and contrast anodizing. There are a few lefties here as well so please email me if you want a lefty and I'm happy to hook you up. I also kept back a couple of plain ones without stamps and grinds in case anyone missed the earlier ones.

Fully loaded Ti Tombstones will run $70 plus shipping. Thanks for popping in today and have a fantastic weekend ahead!

All gone, thank you so much folks!   

 

Plain Titanium Tombstones!

Hi Everyone,

It's been a warm and steamy week up here in the Northeast, as I am sure it is in most of the country right now. This has been quite the summer so far... Last weekend we had 6 inches of rain in just a few short hours which did a lot of damage to local roads, and indeed a few are going to be closed for the foreseeable future. Farmers in low lying areas near the rivers and creeks are having an awful time and a lot of crops have been ruined from flooding. Meanwhile we keep getting dumped on, and pretty much the only things happy are the slugs in my garden, and the mushrooms which seem to be popping up everywhere throughout the forest.

I'm slowly picking away at projects. It seems like machine maintenance is endless, especially with tumbling equipment and other finishing tools. But, I am making good progress and I should be well set up for the rest of the year now. Tool batches are moving along despite the disruptions, and I have a nice batch of titanium Count Sporkulas that are well underway and will be coming soon. Ti Prybabies are on the bench and are next up for grinding. I should have some new titanium Wedgie tools ready for grinding soon. Steel MiniBars are still sitting on the bench where they have been waiting patiently for months and I need to tackle the grinding on those next week. And I'm testing yet another Wedgie variation to hopefully have cut in steel this summer.

Today I have a big batch of titanium Tombstones done! I decided to give stamps and anodizing a break for these and so all you plain vanilla fans should be pleased to see some old school style tools. :) 

These Tombstones have a lovely buttery smooth finish on them and feature a small SAE wrench set, broad pry tip with V notch and cap lifter. I'm pretty sure I made most of the originals years ago without the V notch, so this is an upgrade to the older design, plus the cap lifter arm is more robust. A sweet little tool with plenty of function...I will have a second wave of these with stamps and anodizing in a few days. And there are some lefthanded Tombstones here if anyone wishes to email me and request one.

Plain Ti Tombstones will run $60 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for popping in today, and I hope you're staying cool this summer!

All gone, thank you everyone!

 

 

Titanium MikroSpikes!

Hi Everyone,

Well, it's a hot and steamy morning here in New England. We have been having crazy amounts of monsoon type thunderstorms here for the past two weeks and it has been very hot as well. The combination has caused a lot of flooding in some areas although I am up in the hills and away from streams so have not been in any danger. But it's been ugly. I think we got 4 inches of rain just yesterday and might get another 1/2 inch tomorrow. At least the slugs are liking it, much to the chagrin of my garden plants.

I've been quite busy in the garden lately, installing a bunch of deer fencing and building up some beds. It's nice to do some work in the shop then take a break and putter around in the garden in between the rain storms. This week I will be harvesting a few veggies and finishing some tool batches at the same time, so it's feeling like a very productive period.

Last week I got steel Mini Superbugs and steel Tiny Tims with pry tips prepped out and they will now get milled. So I should be getting those finished around mid August. In the meantime I have titanium Tombstones on the bench right now and am about halfway into grinding them. Full sized Ti Prybabies are in the wings and will be up next after those. A batch of 3V steel Prybabies awaits further prep steps and those will be coming in the fall. I have a few Zircuti MikroSpikes coming up shortly, and then a larger batch will be on the way in a month or two....and I have some new tumbling equipment so have been playing around with new finishes as well for all my tools.

Today I have a batch of Titanium MikroSpikes for you. These are similar to the previous MikroStiks, but are about 50% larger, so they feel great in the hand and are up for bigger tasks. The MikroSpikes are a great tool for light prying and cleaning duty as well as making an excellent marlin spike for rope and knot work. They have my usual wide variety of crazy stamps and wild contrast anodizing on them, and the finish is buttery smooth. I do have a handful of plain ones also if anyone wants to email me for them.

Titanium MikroSpikes will run $60 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for popping in today and I hope you're staying cool this week!

All gone, thank you!

 

Titanium Keytons

Hi Everyone,

Well Happy Summer! It's finally feeling more like summer up here in New England. It has been warmer and the humidity has come on suddenly, along with several inches of much needed rain. It will be stormy on and off for the next week probably.

I've been putting in lots of time in the shop recently. I have been playing with new equipment and finishes which are going to be very helpful going forward. Also, numerous projects are getting moved along towards the finish line and I will have lots of cool stuff to bring you over the next couple of months. My puzzle project is well underway and I'm looking forward to revealing that very soon. The MikroSpike project will be coming up next, followed by ti Tombstones, PuzzleTiles, and ti Prybabies.

Today I have a sweet batch of titanium K23 Keytons for you. These are very similar to some of the more recent Keyton designs, and they give me a nice palette for stamps and distressed finish anodizing. There are many interesting combinations here, as well as a couple of plain ones, and a half dozen lefties for anyone who wants to drop me a note. 

Titanium Keytons will run $75 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for checking in today, and hope your week is shaping up to be a great one!

All gone, thank you everyone!

 

CPM 154 PieceMakers!

Hi Everyone,

Well summer is nearly here, but you almost wouldn't know it. It's been an unusually cool June so far. At least we finally got a couple of inches of rain last week to relieve the parched yard and garden. And it looks like temps will finally briefly get into the 80's later this week.

Anyhow, I've been keeping quite busy down in the workshop. I have some titanium Keytons nearly done and those are coming next. I have a slightly larger version of the MikroStik, the MikroSpike, ready for stamping and final finishing. I have a very special batch of rare Beta Titanium Wedgies in a new design coming soon. There is a big batch of titanium Tombstones on the bench right now awaiting grinding. I still have a batch of steel Stubby MiniBars partially ground and awaiting finish work before sending to heat treat. There is a sweet batch of new titanium Prybabies in a slightly larger size (closer to the Original Prybaby size) that have already been milled and are just awaiting grinding and finishing steps. And a big batch of steel Prybabies in the same design has also just been cut. I will be doing a new steel Tiny Tim design later this summer as well as some new Mini Superbugs with pry tip. And interesting little Puzzle Tiles in various metals are still in progress and will be coming very soon...I also have some timascus tools to get to later this summer which are going to be a lot of work.

Today I have the remaining CPM 154 PieceMaker knives ready to go. They are identical to the Elmax batch except for the "L" stamp on the back side. They were heavily bead blasted and then tumbled, so they have a low luster Antique Satin finish on them. These are stout working knives, yet are small enough to easily carry.

There will be a few more stray PieceMakers after these, but this is the bulk of the batch, and I have already sold quite a few to folks who missed the Elmax batch and who had emailed me. These tool knives are really cool, but they will not be made again as they are from very old stock. I may have a few more fixed blades coming up later this year, but I need to take a break from sharpening and sheaths and get back to the many other tool projects that are piling up, as mentioned above.

CPM 154 PieceMakers will run $220 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks again for coming by, and I hope your summer is going to be great!  

Sold Out, thank you so much!

 

 

Elmax PieceMakers!

Hi again my friends!

Well, it was a wonderful holiday weekend here, and now there are some more lovely days ahead for us. It will be getting quite hot this week though and will feel much more like summer for a couple of days. I have planted out most of my garden vegetables and flowers, and all is going well so far.

Today I have something rather special for you! These PieceMaker captive bit knives were cut many years ago, probably almost a decade ago. But I'm finally getting around to finishing the first run...

The first batch of PieceMakers are made of Elmax steel. The broad, big bellied blade is 2 inches in length and they are V ground. Overall length of the knife is 4.25 inches. These are nice slicers and are comfy in the hand while maintaining a fairly small footprint. They also have a ton of utility as you can see, with a captive bit handle and rear pry tip. The large opening in the blade provides an excellent  forward grip point for fine work, and allows for good sheath retention, at the same time allowing the bit to be removed while the knife is sheathed. Of course, you shouldn't use any of the tool functions unless these knives are safely nestled in the sheaths. ;)

The Elmax ones are marked with an "L" on the back side since I didn't have a dedicated identifying stamp for this steel back when I made them. The CPM 154 ones will be coming in a few weeks and those do not have an "L" stamp on the back side, so that is how you can tell them apart. At any rate though, these are sweet little tool knives in either steel and they are shaving sharp!

This first run in Elmax is only four dozen pieces and will be $225, but the larger batch of CPM 154  coming shortly will run slightly less. The Elmax turned out to be quite expensive to make, both in material costs, and also Smith and Wesson had to run a whole special oven cycle for them in the heat treat as this steel has a different schedule than normal CPM steels. But I thought it would be worth trying something different for this one small batch....

The PieceMakers feature my usual wide variety of stamps, and since these were made a very long time ago I only used the older and smaller stamps as there wasn't much open real estate to play with. The entire batch is stamped, and there are no left handed specific knives, although with a V ground blade it doesn't matter so much. 

Thanks for dropping by today and I hope the rest of your week is fantastic!

Sold out, thank you so much!

 

 

 

 

Jeweled BabySharks!

Hi Everyone,

Hope you had a nice weekend! We're finally getting a glorious spring week here with low humidity and comfortable temperatures. This has been a chilly spring for the most part though, with the weather alternating between rainy stretches or no rain at all. But we're finally in the clear for planting I think, after having a frosty overnight low of 27F just last week! Brrr...

I'm barreling along on my projects. Ti Keytons will be coming very soon as I am nearly done grinding them. I have some slightly larger sized ti MikroStiks coming up and those are ready for stamping and final finishes. Other ti tools are about to be milled, and steel tools will be getting cut next week for the summer months  lineup. And sharpening continues with a few more small fixed blades coming up in the next few days as well.

Today I have the final batch of BabySharks to offer you. These are drilled on the front side like the glow dot ones, but have various gem stone inlays! They are stamped on the back side just as the glow dot series was. The gem stones vary but are all pretty cool...there are beautiful garnets, a few opals, couple of emeralds, rubies, sapphires, amethyst, jade and black MOP. A super cool little addition to these tools and something different for you.

The Jeweled BabySharks will run $195 plus shipping and the link is below. Once again, it is a small batch so one per customer on them please. Thanks for popping by today and I hope your week is starting out great!

Woah, these are all gone, thank you so much folks!

 

BabySharks with Glow Dot

Hi Everyone,

Absolutely lovely week ahead with perfect temperatures and sunny skies. I will take advantage of it and do a few spring painting and touch up chores out on the deck this afternoon. I think last night was the last of the 30f temperatures so some pepper plants will be going into the ground this week too.

So I've decided to cut some steel over the next month and new Prybabies are on the menu. Also new Superbugs and a new Tiny Tim design. In addition, I will be cutting a new Wedgie design in both steel and a special super tough grade of titanium. And the puzzle piece project is proceeding as well in bronze, stainless, brass and zirconium. I also just got finished milling titanium Keytons, so those will be forthcoming in a week or two. So there are lots of cool projects are ahead for the summer and fall.   

Today I have a small batch of fixed blades for you. These BabySharks have a glow dot inlaid on the front side, and are stamped on the back side. Since these were heat treated well over a year ago the stamps are all of the slightly older variety, so no Bigfoots or dinosaurs in this group, but some great images nonetheless. A larger second group of these are coming shortly, but with gorgeous gemstone inlays rather than the glow dots.

BabySharks with glow dots will run $175 plus shipping and it is one per customer on them please. Thanks for checking in today, and hope your week is a pleasant one!

 Gone in a flash, thank you!

 

 

 

 

Zircuti MikroStiks

Hi Everyone,

I'm back! It's been a cold and rather rainy two weeks here in New England, but the doldrums have finally broken and we are now looking at some warmers days with abundant sunshine for the next week. I am more than ready, and I think I can cautiously start putting some plants in my garden as long as they are covered or hardened off.

I've been quite busy lately doing a serious and long overdue spring cleaning in my shop. I still have lots to do, but at least I made some great inroads on the accumulated junk and disorganization. I also started several new projects and those tools are underway right now. I will have new titanium Tombstones, ti Keytons and a new ti Prybaby design coming up over the next several weeks. I also will be cutting some new steel tools soon, and will probably cut the new Prybabies in steel among other designs still to be decided...I should have some interesting new puzzle stuff coming up shortly too. There are several new tools coming this summer in exotic materials, and I am doing some sharpening right now as well. So tons of cool stuff is coming up, please stay tuned. 

Speaking of exotic materials...Here is a tiny batch of original style MikroStiks in Zirconium Titanium Damascus! These have been stamped and are all quite unique in their anodized colors. There are only a dozen of these little guys today, but there will be other tools coming this summer in similar materials. 

Zircuti MikroStiks will run $85 each plus shipping and it is one per customer on them please. Thank you for checking in today, and I hope you have a great weekend ahead!

Gone in a flash, thank you so much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Titanium PryDaddies

Hi Folks,

Another stellar day out there! I will continue my spring clean up activities this afternoon and then take a couple of days off to enjoy the lovely spell of weather. ;) I just got my taxes and paperwork updated and caught up on, so I'm definitely feeling relieved today. And I have some newly cut titanium parts to work on so will spend a bit of time on those as well...

So, today I have the remaining Titanium PryDaddies done. There are just a couple dozen of these, and they feature my wide variety of stamps as well as color anodizing.

Titanium PryDaddies will run $85 plus shipping and the link is below. Thank you as always for swinging by today, and hope your week is shaping up nicely!

Sold out, thank you so much!

 

 

Steel Tiny Tims

A glorious week is unfolding here in New England. It will be sunny and in the 70's and even maybe reach the mid 80's as the week goes on. Perfect weather, and a great week to get some gardening and spring cleanup done, before those darned the biting flies wake up. I have a few minor repairs to make and a tree or two to cut down, but it's all easy stuff... And of course, taxes, bleh! :)

Today I have a handful of steel Tiny Tims for you. These little guys are one of my long time favorites and certainly have a lot of utility for such a tiny tool. These are all stamped.

Tiny Tims will run $65 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for popping in, and hope you have as nice of a week ahead as we do!

All gone, thanks so much!

 

 

Titanium Fleas

Hi Everyone,

We're shivering again this morning, and it will only be about 50f today and tomorrow. But then it will start warming up over the next week. It's so nice to be out in the yard and garden again, and I will be getting my tomato seeds started this weekend.

Today I have a couple dozen titanium Fleas for you. These have a wide variety of stamps and anodized colors. I also have one left handed piece available, and a couple of pieces without stamps or anodizing if any one wishes to email me for them.

Titanium Fleas will run $70 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for popping in today, and I hope you have a great Easter weekend ahead!

Sold out, thanks again folks! :)

 

 

Brown Micarta 6 Flute Megas

Hi Folks,

It's a cool and wet morning out there today. But it is supposed to go up to 70f later on with a chance of showers. After this though, we should have a string of sunny days for the next week and temps will climb into the 60's and maybe even 70's. I can't wait!

Today I have the remaining Brown Micarta 6 Flute Mega Lanslide beads for you. This is my personal favorite of the synthetic materials, and it makes for a very good looking bead that is both durable and light weight. These are light in color but you can easily darken them if you wish by applying a little bit of oil. I will be looking into making a run of mini size ones later this summer.

Micarta 6 Flute beads will run $30 plus shipping and the purchase link is below. Hope your week has been going well and you are looking forward to a relaxing weekend ahead.    

Sold Out, thank you very much, and have a nice Easter Weekend!

 

 

 

 

Steel MikroStiks

Hi Everyone,

It's a cloudy one out there today, but at least it's mild. We did a bunch of spring cleanup chores yesterday and it felt so good to finally be outside working in the warm(ish) sunshine for a change. I think it's finally safe to put away the snowblower for the season!

The projects are moving along slowly. I will be making a new Prybaby run this year, and the drawings for those are now finalized. Also a new Keyton batch is coming...and I decided to dust off another older design, so an updated Tombstone will be coming back as well. I'm also in the middle of testing an unusual new puzzle concept, so watch this space for more on that very soon.

Today I have a few dozen steel MikroStiks left. These are CPM 154 steel with a light raw bar texture. A very handy little tool for all sorts of poking, scraping and light prying tasks. They have a wide variety of stamps on them, and there are a couple of plain ones without stamps too if anyone wants to email me for them. I also have a half dozen of the smooth but slightly thinner stamped ones left.

Steel MikroStiks will run $45 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks as always for swinging by today and I hope your week is warm and sunny too!

All gone, thank you everyone!

 

 

 

 

Steel PryDaddies

Hi Everyone,

We still have a couple of tiny spots in the shady areas of our property where a few lingering piles of snow remain. But they are disappearing fast, and there are 4 days in the 10 day forecast that are promising temperatures above 60 F., so those piles are not long for this world, and we will not be sorry to see the last of them!

Today I have a few steel PryDaddies left. This is a very small batch, but there are some great stamped ones here...steel Prydaddies will run $85 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for coming by today, and hope your spring is coming soon where you are too!

Gone in a flash, thank you so much!

 

 

Steel Mini Wedgies

Hi Folks, and Happy Friday!

Looks like a typical late march weekend is in store for us here. It will be chilly and rainy tomorrow, followed by cloudy and 50's on Sunday and Monday. At least the snow is receding from our lawn except for a few piles here and there, mostly on the north side of things where the sun doesn't come round until the afternoon. I did spy a few crocuses yesterday and some daffodil shoots, so that's a pretty good sign that we are heading for some warmer days.

Today I have a little batch of steel Wedgies left over from last year. These are 17-4ph stainless steel and feature a drilled divot for DIY glow dot if you so choose. A handy little tool and quite stout! These are mostly all stamped, but there are 4 plain ones without stamps as well if anyone prefers that.  

Mini Wedgies are $65 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks so much for coming by today, and I hope you have a great weekend ahead!   

All gone, thank you so much everyone!

 

 

G10 6 Flute Megas

Hi Folks,

It's still quite chilly out there this morning. So even though the calendar says spring, the reality is that it will take a month or two before we can really believe it. There is still a couple of stubborn inches of snow on our yard and some big frozen piles that the plow pushed up, and that will be around for at least a few more days, or possibly weeks.

Today I have some more of the 6 Flute Olive G10 Mega beads for you. These really look great tied onto many of the popular folders from Benchmade and Spyderco, and indeed I have been enjoying several myself. They also make terrific lightweight zipper pulls for gear bags and garments.

G10 6 Flute Megas will run $30 each plus shipping and the purchase link is below. Thanks as always for coming by today and I hope your week is shaping up to be a good one. 

All gone, thank you so much everyone!

 

 

 

Fluted PermaCorks!

Happy Spring Everyone!

Yes indeed, that long awaited day has arrived! As of 5PM today it will officially be spring, my favorite time of year. Can't wait to see the last of Polar Vortexes and nasty snow storms, and I'm really looking forward to seeing some green grass again.

My recent shop cleanups and organizing continues to pay dividends as I uncover more older projects. I will get into the shop for some finishing operations this week and hopefully get some of this stuff done.

Today I have a few dozen PermaCorks that I had completely forgotten about. These are the 6 Flute Aluminum ones with the clear HAIII hardcoat anodizing for that cool Surefire/Military kind of look. 

Bottle openings do vary a bit, but these will fit most beer, wine and liquor bottles. I often will moisten mine under the tap if the fit is on the tight side. Once in a while I find I cannot use them either because the wine bottle is a little too narrow, or sometimes on beer bottles it might be a tiny bit loose. But for the most part they do perform very well. 

PermaCorks will run $45 plus shipping and the link is below. There are a half dozen of the version with black round head and knurling left as well if anyone wants to email me for them. Thanks for dropping in and have a great week ahead folks!

Sold Out, thanks again everyone!

 

 

Bronze MultiMags

Hi Folks,

Well another Friday is upon us. I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend after this rather busy and stressful week we just had. It looks like the temperatures will be moderating here and that just might be the end of the big snowstorms for the season. I sure hope so!

I don't have anything new to report on as far as projects go. But, I will be putting in a few days in the shop next week for sure.  

Today I have a small batch of bronze MultiMags left from a couple of years ago. These are a dandy little fiddle toy, and they also make really nice fridge magnets. I have a few with bead blast finish and a couple with dark tumbled finish.

Bronze MultiMags will run $55 plus shipping. Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you have a great weekend ahead!

Gone in a flash, thanks again my friends!

 

 

Titanium Wrunts

Happy Snowy Wednesday Everyone!

We're still cleaning up after a massive snow dump for the past 36 hours. Heavy, wet and nasty. It brought down a lot of power lines in the area and many folks are still out of power this morning. We got lucky and only were down for a few hours yesterday, but seem to be back up and stable so far today. I'm not sure how much we got but it was about a foot probably.

Today I have a small batch of Titanium Wrunts for you. These were unfinished from the earlier batch a few months ago that I recently got around to getting done. All have extra grinds and there is a wide variety of stamps. I have a half dozen without color or stamping if anyone prefers that. There are also a half dozen lefties as well if anyone wants to email me (lottagear2000-pp@yahoo.com) for them!

Titanium Wrunts will run $75 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for popping by today, and I hope you are having a great week!

All gone, thanks everyone!

 

 

 

 

Titanium Game Boards!

Hi Everyone,

Well, looks like a doozy of a storm is heading our way tonight and tomorrow. We're supposed to get a foot or so of heavy wet snow, accompanied by gusty winds up to 50mph. I have a lot of emergency stuff ready to go just in case of power outages, so I know I will be fine, but it sounds like it could get a bit unpleasant for a day or two...

Today I have something very fun for you, the OG GameBoard! Everyone knows the game Tic-Tac-Toe, but it turns out this game has quite ancient origins and can have much more strategy involved than the basic X and O game that we all played in the dirt or on paper as kids. Some variants have been played since Roman times or even earlier, and apparently it is common to see early boards carved into the choir pews in certain cathedrals in Europe. Different versions have been called Nine Holes or Three Men's Morris and the rules are slightly different for each one. 

Basically, each player takes turns placing three men on the board. If there is no three in a row after all 6 pieces have been placed, then the players takes turns moving one man at a time until someone achieves three in a row. Some versions allow the piece to be moved only to an adjacent spot, others allow to move the piece anywhere on the board, so you will have to decide how you want to play. Some versions say that diagonal rows aren't allowed to win, only the horizontal or vertical, so again, you have to decide how difficult to make it. Just do a Google search for Nine Holes or Three Men's Morris to get all the different rules of play so you can decide how you want to do it.

These OG GameBoards would have delighted the original players I am sure...Made of 1/4" thick titanium plate and measuring 3 inches by 3 inches. These are quite heavy. I elected to lighten them up a bit by drilling 9 large holes and using marbles for the game pieces. Milled lines indicate the rows. And they can be used as table coasters as well when not playing. Given the 9 square inches of material, these may be the heaviest titanium items I have made. Also, they were quite expensive just to cut them and do the milling. So this is probably a one time run unless I can figure out a more economical way to manufacture them.

The OG GameBoards are stamped and anodized with a wide range of images and colors. I did leave a few of the stamped ones without anodizing, and there are two or three without stamps as well, so if anyone wishes to have a plain version just drop me a note please.

OG GameBoards will run $90 plus shipping. Thanks for swinging by, and stay safe out there this week if you in the path of the storm!

 Sold out, thank you so much folks!

 

 

Hi Folks,

After a snowy weekend we now have typical moderate March temperatures and some nice sun today. I can tell spring is well on it's way and it won't be long until the bulbs are pushing up in the flower beds.

It's super busy here right now with tax season coming up and much scrambling around. But the projects continue rolling along. I will have a new batch of Count Sporkulas in a week or so. The titanium Game Board project is on the bench today and I will be working on that for much of this week. I have lots of  miscellaneous batches on the shelves that I need to get to, so I will be putting up a series of these smaller sales during the next several weeks for sure. Still trying to decide what to cut next in steel, but I have several sheets kicking around and I would really like to use them up this year.

Today I have a few dozen Black Delrin Mega 6 Flute beads for you. This is one of my favorite synthetic materials and it is wonderful light weight with good strength. It's nice too in that it will not scratch or mar delicate items.

Black Delrin Megas will run $30 each plus shipping and the link is below. Thank you for looking in today, and hope your week is going to be great.

Gone in a flash, thank you so much!

 

 

 

 

Titanium Mini Poltergeists!

Hi Folks,

Well, another snowy week is definitely in store here. It's spitting a few fine flurries this morning and we will get maybe an inch or two of accumulation today. Then Friday night we're supposed to get another 8 inches or so. Winter in New England!

Things are moving along here. I have my fun little titanium Game Board batch coming up in a few days. I'm nearly done with a fresh batch of ti Count Sporkulas. I just drew up a new key fob design and will be testing it out soon. And I have a couple of other items brewing as well, along with some more small remnant tool batches if I can just carve out a few more production hours in the shop.

Today I have something really cool for you....the Mini Poltergeist is a design I first made many years ago and I have wanted to bring it back for a long time. I only made a small batch of the steel ones, and just a handful of titanium ones originally. This batch of tools has been updated but remains close to the originals. I did make them slightly longer and made the tip a little broader. The opening has increased from 7/16" to 1/2" as well. A very handy and compact tool...I'm also hoping to make some more in steel and possibly zirconium or timascus this spring.

The Mini Poltergeists are 2.75" long, beefy 5/32" thick titanium with lightly distressed finish. They are stamped with a wide variety of images and anodized in a broad range of colors. I also have a few plain ones without stamps and anodizing if anyone wants to email me for them. And I made a half dozen lefties.

Titanium Mini Poltergeists will run $70 plus shipping and the purchase link is below. Thanks for coming by today and I hope your week is shaping up to be a good one!   

All gone, thank you everyone!

 

 

 

SportWrench #4 with Anodizing!

Happy Friday!

Hope you all are winding down your week and looking forward to a nice weekend. We have a couple of inches of fresh snow and woke up with the tik tik sound of sleet hitting the windows this morning. It will be going to single digits overnight this weekend too, so cold... And it looks like now they are calling for another 8 inches or so on Monday night. So winter will definitely continue for the next few weeks, right on schedule. 

Today I have something older for you. These SportWrench #4s came out a few years ago and I still had a small box of them that I had forgotten about. They are made of a special heavily textured Krinkle titanium that was only around for a limited time. Anyway, this cool little tool can be worn on the wrist, and is roughly the same size as a large 40-44mm men's watch, but it wears very easily on any size wrist. The included high quality Zulu straps are 22mm. You could use any 22mm NATO style one piece strap on it, so this is a tool with a lot of play value if you are into watches at all and like to swap straps for a different look.

All the previous SportWrench batches were left plain so I have opted to anodize this whole group with contrast anodizing. If you are into brilliant colors you will really enjoy these! I did not use any stamps because there is very little open real estate on this tool, and the gnarly texture doesn't allow for very good stamping.

Anodized SportWrench #4s will run $85 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for swinging by today and I do hope your week is going well!

All gone, thank you so much folks, and stay warm this weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anodized StirCrazies

Hello Everyone,

Greetings from snowy New England. :) Yesterday we had bare ground outside, so we cleared some brush and did a little minor clean up in the yard. Now this morning we're back to a coating of icy white on every horizontal surface...and apparently we're due for a few inches more tomorrow which will turn into rain and ice, creating a big mess probably. This is definitely not my favorite time of year, but luckily the white stuff will go away in a few short weeks. I also hear that most of the country will have similar weather or worse, so please stay safe out there.

Well, progress continues in the shop. I had a few small setbacks this past week but we continue to move forward. The milling is almost done on my little Game Board project. I just finished up the regular ti Mini Poltergeists. And I did some organizing and prepping on several other things so the Tool Train will keep on rolling.

Today I have the rest of the StirCrazy tools done. These all have color anodizing and are very dramatic indeed. I also still have a handful of the plain ones left, and there are two without stamps and ano as well if anyone wants to email me.

Anodized StirCrazies will run $75 and the link is below. Hope everyone is staying warm this week, and thanks for popping in today.

Sold out, thank you so much everyone!