Friday, March 22, 2024

Titanium TightWads

Happy Spring Everyone! It really is nice to be able to say that, and I am looking forward to some warmer days ahead. Of course, Winter has a few ideas about that and is sending us another week of cooler weather, and maybe another inch or two of snow, just to remind us of our follies...

I continue to plug away at the projects in the shop. Currently I'm going through a bunch of these TightWads from several years ago. They are slow going as the broad flat shape does not interact well with tumblers, so I can only do a few a time and have to constantly babysit them or they all bunch up in a clump and rub together making marks which then have to be further tumbled away to even everything out. Tedious, hehe!

These updated TightWads feature various hex openings, O2 wrench, cap lifter and enhanced side grips. They are made of .060 titanium, so thin enough to be very lightweight, but plenty thick enough to be totally rigid and strong. Cash on one side, cards and ID on the other, or however you want to organize for a light minimalist wallet carry. These have a plain tumbled finish which I believe will wear the best in a hostile environment such as a pants pocket...no stamps because they are too thin to stamp effectively. Getting color anodizing to come out evenly is difficult with something this large, plus anodized colors will not wear well in a pocket and they fingerprint with oils and grime too easily.

I will send these with an extra band as well. These take a standard Youth Size wrist band, so you can use any commercial Youth Size band that is available or have personalized ones made very easily. And yes, I do have some lefties! ;)

Plain Titanium TightWads will run $75 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for popping in and have a great weekend ahead!

All gone for now, thank you so much! I will have yet another version of these coming up at some point soon.




 

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Hexy TightWads

Hi Everyone, and Happy Tuesday!

It's a cool and crisp one here today and supposed to only be in the 40's. Looks like maybe an inch of snow later this week, so winter isn't done with us just yet, but it's getting darned close.

Going through some half forgotten older projects the other day I came across these early TightWads. These were made of hexagonal textured stainless steel, very similar material as the Tableman coasters I made a while back. So they are a bit heavy, but very cool nonetheless. I only have 10 of them and no more will be made of this particular material, but I do have a couple of other oddball titanium ones from this era if anyone cares to email me... And there are two more batches of unfinished TightWads in brand new designs that I have been putting off finishing for a long time.

Hexy TightWads will run $85 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for swinging by and have a great day!

Sold out, thank you!
 

Monday, March 18, 2024

Carbon Fiber RubRats

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the long radio silence! 

I've been perpetually stuck between projects and then had to catch up with taxes, paperwork and early spring household chores. I still don't have any major projects ready to go, but I did manage to make some very good progress on two of them. Timascus Mini Poltergeists and tiny Timascus Larva tools are finally all prepped out and just need milling before the grinding and final finishing steps. They still have a lot of work left but the most miserable hand sanding prep work has been completed which took a solid couple of weeks...I also have several small misc batches of older odds and ends which I am getting together right now.

Today I have a few dozen Carbon Fiber RubRats for you. These little guys are handy for quieting your jangling keys down and for preventing brassing from the rubbing of keys against fancy tools or other valuable items.

RubRats will run $20 plus shipping the link is below. Thanks for dropping in and hope spring is coming early for you all as well!

All gone, thank you everyone!
 

 
 

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Dungeon Black Tiny Tims

Well Happy Tuesday to you all! It's a glorious sunny day out there this morning and the light is getting stronger every day. We're still due up for some more cold days ahead, but you can tell the tide is turning and it won't be long before some milder weather comes around.

I've been slowly working on several projects. I have some timascus Mini Poltergeists started and am in the middle of sanding them down and prepping them out for milling. They still have a lot of work before the finish line but are coming along nicely. I have a big batch of 3v Steel Prybabies that have now been milled and are on deck for grinding. I still keep putting off the Stubby MiniBars but will have to bite the bullet and put in some time in front of the grinder very soon on those too...

Today I have some super cool little tools for you. Fans of my smallest tools will appreciate this handy new version of the Tiny Tim with rear pry tip, 1/4 hex lanyard, cap lifter, extra leverage mini pry tip, and 5/16 hex wrench. These compact little gems are CPM 154 steel with a rather wild and unusual Dungeon Black finish on them! 

I had a great deal of fun with these and the depth and variation of the highly distressed antique blackened finish is quite interesting. Expect character marks, scars, and patina galore! They truly look like something dug up from an ancient Iron Age battleground site and displayed in a museum...very fun stuff. :) There is a wide variety of stamps here, as well as a handful without stamps for anyone who wishes to request a plain one. I also have a half dozen lefties... 

Dungeon Black Tiny Tims will run $65 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for swinging by today and I hope warm Spring weather is coming to you sooner rather than later.

Sold out, thank you so much!
 

 
 

Monday, February 05, 2024

Timascus Prybabies!

Howdy all!

It's a bright and sunny one out there today, a welcome change from the endless dreary gray days that we have had for the past few weeks. The light is getting stronger and the days a bit longer too. A good time to start a few seeds for my tiny Alpine strawberries that I want to grow this year and that take a long time to get going.

Well today I have a super cool treat for you. These Timascus Prybabies are quite dazzling...the somewhat gummy material is absolutely dreadful to work with and does not mill cleanly at all. So I decided to skip the V notches on these and make them with simple bevels instead which I could grind rather than mill. They actually look very cool like this and I may make a few of the 3v steel ones this way later this year. Anyhow, The hand work involved with these is considerable, and require many more steps than usual, but I think the extra labor was worth it! 

I experimented with electrical anodizing and was underwhelmed with the finished effect. Yes, I could get more colors, but they are not as interesting, and two tone effects were a bit of a let down compared to regular titanium. And they already had way too much time into them to justify yet a second round of tumbling and reanodizing which is the way I normally achieve contrasting effects. 

So that left me with the torch method of coloring. I quickly found out that method required yet a different set of steps to get what I wanted, but I finally worked it out and settled on a good routine. These Prybabies vary in the color and contrast of the finishes, and the color palette is more limited. But the Timascus patterning is more vivid...And most importantly, heat coloring is far more durable than ordinary surface coloring, so these will hold up well for a long time, even in a relatively "hostile" environment such as a keyring....

And, for more of this material, I have a huge batch of Tombstones, another of Mini Poltergeists, and a third batch of tiny Larva tools that will be coming this year as well. So, lots of timascus items will be on the way as I get to them. Also, there is a lefty here today if anyone wants to email me for it.

Timascus Prybabies will run $99 plus shipping. The batch is tiny, so one per customer please...a second batch will be coming a few weeks. Have a great week ahead and thank you as always for visiting today!  

All gone, thank you so much!
 


Tuesday, January 23, 2024

White Delrin MultiGrip Beads

Hi Everyone,

Well, we just had a little cold spell and now we're looking at pretty mild temps ahead for the next week. So far we really have gotten off easy this winter, but we'll see how it goes in February.

Not too much to report on the projects. I will do a little grinding over this next week. I also need to fix a tumbler that is having some issues and change the ceramic media which is getting worn out. But I will have more tools coming up very soon. 

Today I have some white Delrin MultiGrip beads for you. These were left over from a few years ago and are some of the last beads with the smaller 1/2 inch diameter. The included rubber o-ring dresses up the hour glass shape rather nicely and adds a bit more grip to them, hence the name. ;)

White Delrin MultiGrips will run $30 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for popping in today and I hope your week is shaping up to be a dandy!  

All gone, thank you so much. :)
 

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Area 51 Steel Superbug Tools

Well Happy Thursday Everyone. It's a sunny but frosty one out there this morning. I've already been out wrestling with my steep driveway and cleaning up what I missed from yesterday. I still have a little bit more to do later, but this is always a good physical workout for me so I don't mind. No need for a gym membership when you have a country property to keep up in New England!

Today I have some more CPM 154 steel Mini Superbug tools for you, this time with Area 51 grinds. A really sweet compact tool that is easy to carry and pretty much my favorite of the captive bit designs. These are stamped, although I do have a handful of non stamped A51 pieces for anyone who wants a plain one, just drop me an email. There are also some stamped lefties available as well. 

A51 Superbugs will run $75 plus shipping and the link is below. Thank you as always for swinging by today, and I hope your week is going well. :)

Sold out, thank you so much!