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!

 

 

 

Titanium StirCrazies!

Hi Everyone,

Winter continues here in old New England, and we in the heavily wooded and higher elevations still have some snow on the ground. But it's been very mild and will continue this way for the next week or so. Maple sugaring is already underway in some towns which is a little ahead of schedule. I will certainly take it for now, even though it raises suspicions for a possible long hot summer ahead.

We've had a number of distractions here at home lately that have been slowing me down, but progress continues nonetheless. I'm almost done with regular titanium Mini Poltergeists and they are sitting ready for their final anodizing pass. The small titanium GameBoard project is well underway and will be coming in a week or two. And I will hopefully be getting some good sharpening sessions in shortly as well.

Today I have something brand new for you! The idea for Titanium StirCrazy tools came to me several years ago when I was making a cup of coffee. I often reach for a paring knife out of the knife block when I just want to give my hot drink a quick stir and don't feel like getting a spoon dirty. So I started thinking about a stir stick design that could hang around the kitchen. Naturally I wanted a bottle opener and a large opening to hang the tool up. I also have wanted to make a larger ruler for some time, and this longer tool provided the perfect space for that. And so the StirCrazy was born. 

This is a great little multi use tool for giving a quick stir to your coffee or mixed drink, digging out that dollop of crystallized honey out of the bottom of the jar, smearing a bit of peanut butter on your snack cracker, etc etc. It also would be a handy item for the workshop or tackle box...features include a cap lifter plus 5/16" wrench, 1/2" wrench, deeply engraved 4 inch ruler scale and 7cm ruler scale. The overall length is just over 6.5" and the material is a slim but substantial .080" thick.

I have left the first wave of these with a plain stonewashed finish, meaning without anodizing. These were a pain to tumble out as they are light and flat so they have an annoying tendency to stick together in the tumblers and create rub marks. Multiple tumbling sessions were required which is one reason they took so long to finish. At any rate, these first ones are plain, with my usual wide variety of stamps. I do have a few unstamped ones as well if anyone wants to email me for them. And I will have a second smaller batch of color anodized StirCrazies coming up in a day or two.

StirCrazies will run $75 plus shipping and the purchase link is below. Thanks for popping in today and hope your Valentines Day is a great one!

Plain ones are all gone, thank you so much everyone!

 

 

 

Steel PryDaddies

Hi Everyone,

Hope your winter is going well. We've actually gotten off pretty easy so far, but a nasty cold snap this weekend will bring some below zero F overnight temps. Brrrrr. But the month of January broke records here for the warmest ever so I really cannot complain.

The projects continue to simmer. I haven't been able to get as much work done lately as I would like because of various family and business distractions, but those are mostly sorted now and I have been able to get back to some hours in the shop this week. New ideas and drawings continue to come to me and I've been quite busy setting up some nice projects for the year. I have also expanded my custom stamp collection a bit with some cool new designs.

I finally decided on a few new tool designs to cut in steel, and those will be coming probably in the early spring. I have a big batch of titanium Mini Poltergeists that are already cut and are in progress. Titanium Stir Crazy ruler tools are on the bench now and I'm in the middle of stamping them. There is also a batch of Mini Poltergeists underway in gorgeous timascus, as well as a batch of updated Tombstones and a new Larva tool, so more exotics are coming later this winter. And, after doing some historical research, I just had a small batch of cool little Pocket Game Boards cut from heavy titanium plate. Very fun stuff ahead this year!

Today I have a batch of CPM 154 steel PryDaddies for you. These stonewashed beauties have a wide variety of stamps on them, and I forgot to leave any plain ones, so all of them have been stamped. There are no lefty specific ones either, so all are milled the same way.

Steel PryDaddies will run $85 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for popping in today and hope your week is going great.  

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

 

 

Happy New Year!

Hi Folks,

Hope you all had a great holiday season! It was very nice here and we have been enjoying some crazy mild weather for the most part this winter. Hardly any snow so far, unlike our poor besieged neighbors in upstate NY, although there have been quite a few gray and gloomy kind of days. Right now we have a doom and gloom sky with light rain, but I will certainly take it.

Well, I sure hope you like exotic toys, because that is what is headed your way this year! I'm gearing up for some very interesting projects...steel PryDaddies are at heat treat right now, so will be back sometime in the next few days. I have some old SportWrench #4s that I had forgotten about, which I have anodized some wild colors and so those will be coming shortly. I have spent most of the past week playing with drawings, and several older tool designs are good candidates for updates either in steel or other metals....still trying to decide what to make, but new Count Sporkulas and Mini Poltergeists are already underway. And, I still have a bunch of knives here which need sharpening and final finishing. So, please stayed tuned because it's going to be a very fun year ahead. ;)

Today I have something really wild for you. I have been asked for ultra exotic metal alloys for years, and I have dragged my heels for numerous reasons. For one thing, tools made of these materials tend to be quite expensive to make, and also a lot of extra work. And if I screw some pieces up, which is inevitable, it is a costly loss if I can't save the item. But there is no denying their great appeal, and so even I have finally given in to their siren call...I decided to look into making a few small runs this year, and we're starting out with some Timascus MikroStiks! 

This is my first real chance to play with Timascus, and it certainly has been an educational few days. They start with at least two or three different grades of titanium, fluxed and heated to white hot and then the mass is pressed into a solid billet. Afterwards the billet is cold rolled out into thinner sheets. So there is a bit of variability in the patterns and also the resulting contrast of materials. Looks like some of these pieces have some zirconium content as well. Super fun to play with and I'm looking forward to making some more tools out of this if I can get more stock.

I elected not to stamp these as there is already a ton of stuff going on visually. I'm also playing around with some new edge treatments, and these have a very cool Tank Tread style grippy edge that really enhances fine motor control over a small tool like this...These are contrast anodized a wide range of colors to best show off the materials. Lots of wild greens, blues, purples, rusts, etc. There are a couple available with no coloring too if anyone wants to email me, but without coloring you're kind of missing the point of these, hehe...  

Timascus MikroStiks will run $80 and the link is below. Thanks as always for your patience and for dropping by today. Have a great weekend ahead!

All gone, thank you so much everyone!