Quick Tool Survey

Thanks for participating, here are the results. Will be doing another one of these soon. :)

More Anodizing Fun

These were a blast to do! The Splash Anodizing is a rather tedious process but the results are really cool. Well worth the extra effort I think. Each piece is totally unique and I tried to make the patterns as crazy as possible. Good stuff. Because it is time consuming there is a very limited number available so I'd like to keep it to one per customer.

Will be putting the batch on the site tomorrow along with some plain Bermuda Triangles with stonewash finish for the less adventurous. :D

Something on the Side

Every once in a while a little project not related to my stuff comes up that is worth doing. Recently such an opportunity presented itself. Those not familiar with the amazing flashlights of Don McLeish should certainly check out candlepowerforums.com and see for yourself what the King of Custom Flashlights is all about.

This is a sneak preview of one of Don's upcoming LunaSols:






This was a one off project, not doing any others. These flashlights will be costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 each to begin with, maybe even more. You'd have to contact Don to get one and again, this was a one off piece and I'm not planning to do any others. It was cool though and so I just wanted to do one and see how it came out. The future owner of the light likes it a lot! :D

SharkBite

Here's what the SharkBite tool will look like. A nifty little item with multiple uses. Kind of like the Bike Tool but scaled down to just 3 inches long so it's more pocketable and geared more towards general EDC functions. I also think of it as sort of an enhanced Generation Two Keyton. These are close to 3/16" thick and are made of S30v so they are rather beefy.

This is one that I finished up this afternoon for the picture but it will be going into a heat treat later this week with the rest of the batch:



Speaking of Bike Tools, I should have the rest of the O rings and 5mm bits tomorrow and can then start to do the final finish work and assembly.

Production Update

Here's what on the menu this week:

I have some Bike Tools that I will start the finish work on tomorrow but I am lacking bits for most of them so it will be Monday night at the earliest before the whole batch will be ready. I have to put in the order for bits tomorrow and they will be delivered in the afternoon on Monday.

I just cut more Bermuda Triangles today and so they will be delayed until Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest. I have a rather large batch of these coming.

I have a couple dozen Crawdaddies going into heat treat tomorrow. Also a few dozen G2 Prybabies. These will be finished and ready about the middle of next week.

I have a very small batch of special G2 Mini Gasbabies that will be ready tomorrow afternoon.

Never Get Enough

I'm going to be trying something new this winter. I've decided to make an enormous batch of maybe two or three items. I'm talking huge. Many hundreds, maybe a thousand if I can stand the monotony. I think this might finally allow me to keep just one or two things on the site.

In the past I've tried to make so many things that batches tended to be small. Lately the hard core collectors snap everything up in a short time and many folks never even see the sale. I've enjoyed this immensely for many reasons not the least of which is because with smaller runs I am constantly coming up with new designs and allowing the ones I have to evolve. This keeps things really exciting for me and is immensely gratifying. I think a lot of collectors love it too.

But I think it's time to pick a couple of things from my now huge collection and try to stick with just them for about three or four solid weeks of production time. Not an easy thing for me partly because I have a short attention span and ideas that never seem to stop coming. :)

I also have a constant barrage of emails from established customers asking me what is next and I often feel like I have to keep them happy and make new stuff. I do appreciate that very much but I am feeling the need to take a little time right now and concentrate on the fundamentals.

So I think for a certain period this winter the collectors will have to sit tight because there isn't going to be a lot that will be new and different. Maybe this strategy might also slow down the scalpers who want to buy several of an item and put them on Ebay a couple of weeks later, something that has really irked me.

So, still thinking about what I want to offer...probably will be Bike Tools, some version of my new Nibble or SharkBite, maybe Mini Gasbabies. Of course I have other things that will keep coming in smaller quantities but I'm serious: I want to have enough of a couple of items on the site that people can finally get their fill and leave a few for others.

One thing though, these will NOT be items with sheaths so please don't even ask. The knives are always going to be fairly limited in number, I'm only talking about a couple of tools here.

I'm thinking February might be the time to buckle down and really try to get it done.

Rested Tanned and Ready

Well, I'm rested yes, ready maybe, tanned definitely not. LOL, I'm gearing up to do some grinding over the next week and should have some new batches of tools starting in a week or two.

In the works I have: Some more Bike Tools, Bermuda Triangles, G2 Gasbabies, G2 Basic Prybabies, a few Keytons, and a brand new tool called the SharkBite which will be closely followed by a smaller compact version called the Nibble. Pics coming soon... And I have other projects on the drawing board. I'm accumulating materials and finalizing designs right now.

So won't be much available until at least mid week next week, maybe longer.

Whistles- SOLD OUT! Thank you!

I have so few of these left that I am limiting whistles to one per customer. That means one brass OR one stainless. Not one of each, only one period. I want to give folks a chance who have not been able to buy anything from me before. So I will refund any orders for multiples.

Sorry to be that way but these are the last of any variety of the stainless whistles and the last of the brass with diamond knurl whistles. Neither will be made again. I will have a few more brass with rifle knurl coming in January and then that is going to be close to it for whistles. Maybe a couple more titanium ones will straggle in too if I can find time to finish them.

So, what does this mean for the future of whistles from Atwood Tool? They are going to be discontinued. I have made over a thousand of them in the past five years and it's time to move on. The shop that turns them for me is a pain to work with, the whistles are very expensive to make (and the costs are going up) and it's just time to move on.

Thank You and Happy Holidays!

Just wanted to give everyone out there a HUGE Thank You for all your kindness and support this year. People have been unbelievably generous with their praise and with their dollars. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate my many loyal fans and I am feeling hugely blessed and deeply grateful. I raise my glass in a toast and I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season!

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and a very Happy and Prosperous New Year to you all! :)

Bermuda Triangle

When I was a kid growing up in the 1970's I used to be fascinated by all the stories about the Bermuda Triangle. The UFO theories, the lost squadrons of airplanes, all the missing boats. It was cool stuff that tickled my curiosity and made me wonder if there was any truth to these kinds of mysteries or not.

What's not a mystery is this nifty new tool that I'm calling the Bermuda Triangle. Made of 5/32" titanium it is an equalateral triangle with 2 inch sides, a 3/4" Hex hole in the center, a 1/4" hex bit holder with O-ring, a minimalist cap lifter and a lanyard hole. These are really fun to spin between your fingers and I have not been able to stop fiddling with it since I made the first one.

I'm about to order a bag of the proper sized O-rings. The one on there now in the pictures is too big. There will probably be all kinds of delays because of Christmas so I don't expect to see the O-rings before Wednesday of next week. So I'd say these will be done and available around the end of next week. This is a smallish batch but will be more coming if the interest is there which I'm kinda thinking will be the case. :D

Available Tools

I just made a new section of my website for Available Tools. This is the only place I'll be posting items for sale on my site from now on and that should cut down on the bandwidth issues a little bit.

UFO on Ebay...

This is probably the last folder of the year and it's on Ebay now. The green fishnet patterning on this one came out really nice I thought. :)

Finalized Bike Tool

I made a very small batch of these recently and should have a few ready this week. Waiting on O-rings and bits to arrive from MSC. As you can see, I updated the first Bike Tool considerably. I added a second bit holder, one bit is 4mm and the other 5mm, and the two most common sizes of spoke wrenches on the lower V shaped area. I fitted a bottle opener along the lower edge with a 3/8" wrench opening (I know, 3/8" doesn't correspond to anything on a bike but at least it is an additional tool). I also added a second 1/4" hex opening on the upper corner of the tool so now the user has the option of a T handle driver or having the bit on the end for fitting into tighter spots. All in all I think it is a very cool tool. :) There are only about a dozen of these that will be available this go round but more are planned for after the holidays and also a variant non bike tool may appear.

Generation 2 Mini Gasbaby

This is my favorite Prybaby so far. I scaled down the full sized Gasbaby just a hair and then removed the large acetylene tank wrench opening. The G2 treatment really makes these pop I think. :) I'll be finishing a small batch of them soon.

Just a Reminder...Robots!

Look folks, I've asked before and it doesn't seem to do any good. Please don't run automatic software that checks my site a zillion times per day for updates. It runs up my bandwidth and causes my webmaster to chew my ears off. It's a waste of everyone's time to try to figure out who the perps are to either contact them or block them, whatever. I understand there's stuff out there that makes it very easy to do this especially for Mac users. I'm asking folks to please refrain so that I don't have to go through all the nightmare and expense of getting a dedicated server to handle the traffic. Thanks!

Termite

In heat treat now, the new Termite Tool. This is the latest in the Captive Tool Bit series. I decided to combine the best features of of the CTB style tools with my Micro Bug Out Bar to create a tiny 3 inch Prybar tool.I will have a small batch available and a release date of either this weekend or early next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I went out for Chinese food last night and this was my fortune. Seemed fitting to save it and snap a pic... :)




I certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year and not the least of which is for my many fans. Thanks so much and I hope you all have a terrific Thanksgiving and holiday season!

Few Tools are Finished

I have Crawdaddies and straight knurl whistles back on the site. More tools will follow over the next few days. To come are a few Bottlebugs and some Area 51 Mini Keytons.

Thank You and More Atwood Tools in Progress

First off, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the folks who either bid on the recent folder on Ebay or who were following it's progress. I was extremely surprised to see it go so high to be perfectly honest and am quite humbled. I was also amazed that over 120 people were watching the auction. Wow! So thank you all and also thank you for the nice comments about it.

There will be two more folders coming up when I get them finished and they will also go up on Ebay. That will be it for Atwood folders for 2007 I think, the first folders I have made in over two years. No clue yet if I will make more next year or not. If I do make more it will not be many that's for sure. I enjoy making them every now and then but I really do much prefer my little tools.

In the meantime it's back to our regularly scheduled programming. I have a good sized batch of stuff going into heat treat tomorrow and that would include Crawdaddies, BottleBugs and Area 51 Mini Keytons. I hope to start more G2 Prybabies pretty soon and I have tons of whistles to get to as well. Also the last 12 of the Micro Bug Out Blades will be getting sheaths very soon followed by a batch of full sized Bug Out Blades. So, look for stuff on my website probably early next week.

UFO on Ebay

Alright, I just listed this UFO on Ebay. It seems like it is the best way to do this since so many want one of these but there will only be a couple available and probably that will be it for the year. Wish I could make dozens of them but they are ridiculously time consuming to make so the numbers are going to be very limited.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180178923201

Thanks for all your very kind words and the many email inquiries and comments on the blog! I sure do appreciate it. :)