Let's get straight into it...

I've been working on some new Titanium Tweezers for a little while now - and they are pretty much ready.

I've been carry a prototype set on my key-chain for a while and, honestly, they are fantastic (yes, I know, super-arrogant!). Although these new Titanium Tweezers look kinda long ...it's really more of an optical illusion because of the slimness of them. I don't even notice them on my keys when I carry them around - which, personally, can be a deal-breaker as I'm fairly minimal in what I carry.

Here's a ​couple of photos of the making of the ​TiTweezers "Pocket Edition":

​Below are some photos of the latest (and finalized) prototypes. They are "raw" straight off the cnc machine this afternoon (so no tumbling or surface finishing has been done):

​Now here's the issue...

I don't have a lot of raw titanium on hand - so I definitely can't make many right now (although I am almost setup to make them - just a couple of very minor tweaks to go).

However, I thought I'd see what you think of doing a "crowdfund" project here on my website (I did one a year ago for a small knife ...which worked out very well).

What this will do is allow me to (fairly quickly) buy in the ​titanium and start making them. The upside of this is that YOU will definitely be able to get hold of a set. If we only make them with the current material I have on hand, then I'm only going to be able to make a couple of dozen sets (so that means only a small number of people will get them initially).

​Please do let me know what you think. Also, I can probably do a special deal for you if you want a few sets (I could be wrong here but... are these not the ultimate Christmas gift?!).​

Titanium Bricks

​I have just 8 of these Titanium Bricks left - they have been hugely popular:

​I don't have any more of the 11mm thick titanium it takes to makes these - so these are the last available for at least a while.

​A Little "Teaser"

​​In the background we've been designing a compact knife. It's still at the early stages - but here is a little preview of where we are with it.

Note: This is still early-stage and so there are lots of "little details" still to be added:

This is a fairly short blog post today... (and, truthfully, it's going to be a blatant "sales pitch" :-P)

Last week I showed you an aluminum construction kit.

I also showed you some of the things I had made with it. These things here if you recall:

​Well, quietly in the background, I've been developing the project a little more. It's quite different making these compared to the titanium products we typically make.

The aluminum is more forgiving in terms of machining and surface finishing. But, there are a lot more components ...and so more attention has to be paid to the process of making them (otherwise the cost to produce them gets really high).

​I've put together a selection of parts to make a few of these kits ...and I'm hoping to make a few more kits over this coming weekend.

Long story short:

I have some for sale right now (and they will ship next week ...around 4 or 5th of September as I type this).

​>>> Click Here <<< to ​see the order page and find out more (if the kits all sell out ...then you can enter your email ​address on the order page to be notified when there are more available).

​A few things in today's post...

Firstly, I'​ll give a little run-down of stuff that's in stock right now ...because I'm getting asked this a lot recently (which, unfortunately, is a result of selling out and not being able to keep up).

Products In Stock

​We have one product right now that is (shamefully) late ... and that is the McDangle "Mini" Titanium Carabiner. We are manufacturing it right now - but is taking a little longer than anticipated (nearly there though).

​In stock:

TiCut™ - Titanium Utility Blade Knife (2 different versions available)...

Titanium Mechanical Pencil (only TWO left as I type this)

Flixx™ - Titanium Friction Folder Knife (also just TWO left as I type this)

​HookUps™ - Titanium ​Clips For Your Keychain

​More On The "Construction Set"

​I'm still not sure what to call it - but...

I've done a little more testing with the aluminum construction set I showed you a few days ago.

​This afternoon my son made a "Picnic Table & Bench":

​My attempt at something functional is this cup/drinks holder that attaches to your desk:

Without any additional parts or such I was able to construct the cup-holder so that it clamped onto the desk (and, not only that, it was clamped on super-strong ...which is cool!).

​So, yeah, this construction set is really proving to be awesome fun ...and functional too!

​Project ZERO Update

​This full-on Friction Folder Knife is fully underway (albeit with a late start)...

​We're starting to really get into the "little details" putting together this ultimate, minimalist knife.

This is a cross-section of the pivot of the knife (you can see the pivot, bearings, scales, etc.):

​And I think that's all I have for you today. 🙂

​A few interesting things for you today...

First up, we've finished shipping the TiCut™ Titanium Utility Blade Knife (a bit of a delay - but they are all done and shipped now) - and we have a few left over so they are in stock as I type this.

We did a little experimenting over the last couple of days and did a short run of a different version of the TiCut™. While the original TiCut™ is clean and minimalist (which is my typical design style) ...this other version is more "aggressive" looking.

Here what it looks like:

​The slider works like a dream. However, if I'm honest, it's perhaps a bit too aggressive with regards to the finger "grooves".

Here's what we have available right now (CLICK HERE to check it out):

Titanium Pencils (FINALLY In Stock!)

We've been asked a lot for Titanium Pencils recently. They've been out of stock for many, MANY months.

The good news:

We've got some in stock right now.

The bad news:

We only have 18 of them.

The great news:

​I'm going to discount them and make them just $199 right now.​ Click h​​ere to grab yours.

​A few months ago we did a small run if Trinity CandyCans™ (these were triangle-ish shaped titanium containers).

​We just designed and made new, more compact version. We've made a few that are ready right now (I think we only have 6 as I type this ...but should have some more tomorrow).

​They are slim and compact (so I know these are not for everyone as most people seem to prefer the "chunkier" versions of these CandyCans™).

​Here are the dimensions...

Diameter: 50mm (around 2")
External Height: 9.5mm (0.37")
Internal Height: 7.5mm (0.30")

Click ​here (and then scroll down to near the bottom) to get your NEW CandyCan™ Trinity "Mini".

Last week I posted that we had some Flixx™ - Titanium Friction Folder Knives available again.

​I totally screwed-up and forgot to mark them "in stock" on the website for the first 14 hours or so. My apologies!

You would have seen "SOLD OUT" ....when, in fact, I just handn't yet made them available (it's not often I make mistakes with the website side of things - so when I do it's frustrating for both of us!).

If you thought you missed the Flixx™ Knife ...then click here to (hopefully) grabs yours this time.

​Another Random Design...

​If you recall in yesterday's blog post...

I revealed to you a new project I've been working on (a "contruction set" of sorts I made for my son). I showed a handful of designs I had made with it.

Today I was just playing around and made this:

​Now, honestly, I don't quite know what it is - it's just a "thing". Perhaps a table for a hamster or something.

Anyway, that's all I have for you today!

Okay, I don't know how this will go, ​so I'm just going to put this out here and see what you think...

​First, a little back-story...

​​Since my son Julien was very young (he's 10 years old now) I've bought him LEGO. While I certainly never bought every single kit ...I did buy many thousand of dollars worth.

Julien still plays with LEGO ...a lot (in fact, he even started his own Instagram ​account where he posts his unique creations).

​Long story short...

I started to see the limitations of LEGO with his development. Now, don't get me wrong, LEGO is probably the #1 best toy to have ever been invented for kids - it's fantastic. But one of the downsides is that it just ...a toy.

​Julien has tried to make real objects that can actually be used - but, unfortunately, because of the nature of LEGO ...there is no strength or rigidity. Similarly... there is Meccano, which is good for building stuff, but again there is no structure or ability to make something real or usable.

So, I thought it was time to roll-up-my-sleeves:

​It's taken a little while and quite a bit of testing and tweaking - but I think what I've created is something special (yeah, I know, that sounds arrogant - but hear me out! :-D).

​Starting with a solid billet of aluminum:

​Next up I did some milling:

​After a little more machining:

​And finally after even more machining ...and some tumbling:

​The cool thing about these is that they are STRONG!

​Now, of course, I needed a few more shapes and sizes so Julien and I had something to actually build with. A few days later and we have this:

The first thing I did was hand these pieces to Julien and just see what he did.

​A little while later and he comes down to the workshop and shows me this:

It's a little plane ...which I thought was pretty cool for his first go!

​Next he made what he called a "screwdriver" and a "stand" for it to sit in:

​I decided to try my hand at making some things that were more practical - and so here are a few creations I made yesterday and today...

Pen stand:

​Yeah, I know, it's so over-built it's ridiculous. But, hey, at least it's never going to break!

​A cellphone stand:

​After making the cellphone stand I thought a tablet stand was the appropriate next thing to make (since making the above stand I machined a new component to act as a "base").

Tablet stand:

​This stand is not adjustable - but it should be easy enough to design and make a component that will allow this functionality.

Lastly, something I made this morning...

​A full-on, 100% functioning (and super-powerful) slingshot:

​So, yeah, that's the "crazy new invention" I wanted to show you.

It's only been a couple of days and I've already made a bunch of very functional and 100% usable things.

Take a look at these three parts:

Now, believe it or not...

​Each construction above was made from just these three ​different components (apart from the tablet stand which used a fourth component as the base). I find that amazing!

​Imagine the designs that could be made as new component designs are added? 😀

​Now, I know, I'm usually "The Titanium Guy" ...but I think there is something special about what is happening in the photos above with these aluminum parts.

I'm going to make a few sets (not decided how many parts are in a set yet) and offer them to you here. Let me know if this is something you'd be interested in.

Do you have any thoughts?

What would you envision yourself making?

​It's been a little quiet here on the blog lately ...but that's only because we've been busy cranking out products.

Now, a quick confession:

If you've been waiting on a McDangle™ "Mini" Titanium Carabiner or TiCut™ Titanium Utility Blade Knife - then my sincere apologies for the delay. I really have no excuses.

​I've totally dropped the ball on getting these out in a reasonable time-frame - and they are late.

The good news is:

The TiCut™ is shipping now (and we're getting loads of them off the machine every day). The McDangle™ is proving trickier in production than I thought it would be - but we're nearly there (so, if you're waiting for it, then please hold in a little longer - I really appreciate your patience - it will be worth it I promise!).

We sold way, WAY more of the above two products than I thought we would ...and so it's taking longer than I initially thought to get them all out. I have no excuses though - shame on me for being late.

TiCut™ (Behind The Scenes!)

​I'm going to show you some photos below of the making of the TiCut™ Utility Blade Knife.

Here's a look at the "fixture" that holds the TiCut™ parts on the CNC milling machine:

​...and here's some part before they are finished and tumbled:

Titanium LEGO

​A few weeks ago on a Saturday morning...

I had my son Julien design and make a piece of Titanium LEGO from scratch (although, of course, I helped him with water-jet cutting and the actual milling part ...be he did 100% of the designing).

We google and found the dimensions of a standard 2x4 brick and sketched-up a 3D version of our own (we kept the inside plain as we wanted to keep things simple):

​We then cut a water-jet blank to machine the Lego piece from:

​Next we did the CAM work (so the CNC machine knows how and what to cut):

​The titanium block is then clamped and machined:

​And that's it pretty much done:

​Now, you're probably wondering...

Does it fit onto normal Lego?

The answer is ....sort of. We didn't skim off enough on some of it so it's a little tight. A few tweaks and we'd have it sorted. In saying that - it was just a fun project for Julien. 🙂

​​We've been asked to get these back in stock... (many of those who asked have already bought one already, and even two in some cases, but wanted another one - which is very cool indeed!)

...and we finally have some (we were waiting on some new titanium hardware for them).

The good news is we have a few available here right now:

CLICK HERE to check out the Flixx™ - Titanium Friction Folder Knife right now

The bad news is:

​You're probably not going to get a chance to get this knife again (because I'm not sure if we're going to make it again). Despite it's simplicity... it is a challenge to make to say the least.

​PillPots™ ​(Almost Gone!)

​​As usual, we're stuggling to keep the PillPots™ in stock.

And I think that's all I have for you today. 🙂

Today I'm going to share a little of my "philosophy" on buying stuff - but before I do that...

​A couple of blog posts ago I uploaded a video of the making and developing of the Titanium Utility Blade Knife.

That video was Part 1 ...and here is Part 2 below:

There are another one or two more parts to this Titanium Utility Blade Knife series.

​But here's the weird thing...

The ​videos were made around 1 to two weeks ago (and I've had difficulty finding the time to edit them) ...and so I'm uploading them later than I hoped.

And so the crazy thing is:

The Titanium Utility Blade Knife is actually fully finished and available here right now.

So, yeah, these "Making Of..." videos are a little behind - but I'd still like to get them editing and out to you.

Titanium CandyCan™ Progress

​Although we offer the CandyCan™ on our website - we're bang in the middle of fulfilling a fairly large Kickstarter project for it (around 930 in total).

I made a short update video for the Backers of the project around a week ago - but thought you might be interested to see a little of the "behind the scenes" of the machining of the CandyCan™:

​The Joy Of Buying Quality

​I'll be honest here...

Before you are here reading about titanium stuff (and you're looking at the kind of stuff we design and make) I know you already appreciate quality. So I'm probably already speaking to the converted. But I'll continue anyway... 🙂

There are a few phrases that sort of explain something of my philosophy on buying products - here are a few:

"Buy it for life."

"Buy once. Cry once."

"Quality is free. It's not a gift, but it's free. The 'unquality' things are what cost money." - Philip B. Crosby

"​Buy the best you can't afford." - Magnus (yes, I said that. And, yes, I meant to say can't instead of can)

​​While I really love buying quality​ ...most times I tend to buy the best of what is available (as opposed to just quality) ...I still feel the intial pain of the higher price.

Take, for example, this little device:

​This is an Ultrasonic cleaner.

​When I first looked at purchasing one years ago I was hugely tempted by the generic, Chinese made ones for around $700. That would have been an easy purchase.

The hard purchase was this German-made one for $2500. The specification was the same as the $700 one. Maybe if I had bought the cheaper one, then it might still be working to this day and I'd be talking about what a bargain it was.

But, here's the thing...

That would be the exception as opposed to the rule. A cheaper one could (theoretically) last longer ...but, in my opinion, it is unlikely.

​This one also has an element in it to heat the water - and the time it takes to take the water from cold to don't-put-your-hand-in-that hot is crazy fast. This would not have been the case with the cheaper one.

So it's not just about longevity. It's about the experience too. The one we bought is a pleasure to use every time. The basket that drops in and out is extremely well made ...and I appreciate the quality of it every time I lift it in or out (yeah, I know, a bit geeky :-P).

​Even the buttons are nice to press (I'm a sucker for the "little details"!).

​Every single part that's come out of our workshop in the last 5 years has been through this ultrasonic cleaner (that's tens of thousands of parts).

The initial pain (and it was painful) of the purchase price ...now seems to be a bargain many years later.

And that seems to be the secret here:

​If you're thinking short-term ...then it's "expensive". But, if you're thinking long-term ...then it's a bargain (and it really probably is a bargain).

I don't believe I have every regretted buying anything that, at the time, seemed "expensive" (typically because it was the best one available).

BUT, I have bought things that are not great quality (more so years ago than now) ...and have regretted it almost every single time. Not always because it broke ...but just because, when using it, everything about it was a compromise (the quality, the function, etc.) - and it just makes you feel, well, regret really.

Maybe I'm odd? Anyone else feel this? Curious...

​I'll keep this fairly short today (because, well, it's a blatant pitch for my BRAND NEW product)...

​This is a product I've been asked for ...for years!

It's been a long road of design, development, testing, tweaking and refining - but the Titanium Utility Blade Knife is finally ready.

Here is a quick video I made a couple of hours ago:

​To find out more about this one-of-a-kind (and what I have shamlessly called "The World's Best Utility Blade Knife) ...then CLICK HERE.

​I honestly believe this is the best solution to a compact utility blade knife (part of the reason for this is that it's taken me well over 300+ hours to get the design perfected!).

​Other things...

​We are continuing to machine and ship CandyCans™ for the Kickstarter project (which is running late unfortunately - but we're producing them every day now).

Also, we're about to ship the last handful of Flixx™ Friction Folder Knives.

So, if you've been waiting for either of these two projects ...my apologies for the lateness!

First up today, let's talk about the Titanium Utility Blade Knife...

I showed you a prototype for this around a month or so ago. I did a ton of work on it back then ...and then dropped it for a while because it was proving tricky (and, in addition, I had other projects that needed attention).

​Have just recently started working on the knife again - and, man, has it been just as tricky as when I left it.

​I've started filming the process. Here's the first video​ of the "making of" the Titanium Utility Blade Knife (although, its not just the making of ...it's the concept, development, testing, etc.):

​Like I mentioned above...

This utility blade knife is proving fairly tricky to make - but is coming along (the video above is a few days old).

Spinners (found a few while tidying up!)

​We did a little tidy-up in the product area and found a few titanium spinners.

​The top two are the Hubris™ spinner ...and the bottom two are the Ego™ spinner.

​These will sell in the blink-of-an-eye (I get asked to re-make spinners  a lot but don't really have any plans to make any more) and so when they are gone ...they are gone. Sorry.

Black Titanium Pens

​Just as with the spinners above ...we found a handful of Black Titanium Capped Pens during the same tidy up...

​I honestly don't know why or how we have these - they were part of a Kickstarter project from last year. Perhaps we made extra and just forgot about them - not sure.

​I don't have a long sales-page with all the details - but you can order directly below (and, if you want to see more about them, then you can view the Kickstarter project here).

​Oh... and there are ​just six available.

HookUp Clips

​We've been making some more HookUp Clips recently and though you might like to see how the titanium sheet looks after it's been water-jet cut... (these are the double-ended version)

We have to "pop" these out by hand ...and the remaining sheet gets scrapped.

​You can order Titanium HookUp Clips here (they are in stock ...so if you can buy them, then they will shipped the next working day)

​Some "Knife Fun" (Not For Sale)

​We were doing some Cerakote® colour coating on some titanium parts recently and we decided to experiment with some reject knife parts...

​The blade looks silver in the above photos - but it is actually white.

Not sure how this would hold up with intense use (inevitably it will get scratched) - but it could be a very cool "office knife".

And that's all I have for you today. 🙂

​Before I get into stuff that's been happening...

I'd like to do some totally shameless promotion of some clips I just made (they are ​shipping right away - so, yeah, no pre-order this time).

​There are based on my somewhat famous HookUp™ clips - but are a double-ended version of them:

​The original HookUp™ clips were launched way back in 2014 ...and I did a double-ended prototype version back then - but never released it. I kind of just forgot about ​making that double-ended version - and so I've just spent a little time re-developing and making some over the last day or so.

​The original HookUp™ clips are also in stock right now along with the NEW "Double" version - click here to check them out.

NOTE: Just out of interest ...this is the cheapest product I've ​been able to make in quite some time (they are a little easier to make than most of the products we make)

Shipping Flixx™ Knives

​Last week we offered a few limited Flixx™ knives - and we've been shipping those out (here are three that went out today):

​These knives have been tough!

If you've followed-along with the blog posts since the beginning of the year, then you'll know the never-ending struggles we've had with them.

We're finally starting to figure it out - but, honestly, it's been a bit of a "learning experience".

On the plus side ...it has furnished us with a boat-load of experience for the Project ZERO Custom "flipper" Knife we're working on.

​​Future Projects?

​A quick recap for this year so far...

This year we have produced (or are currently working on):

​-- ​​Friction Folder Knife (Flixx™)

-- "Flipper" knife (Project ZERO)

-- New Titanium Carabiners (McDangle "Mini")

-- Three different Titanium Pocket-Size Containers (CandyCan™, CandyCan™ XL, CandyCan™ Trinity)

-- Slim Wallet (TiWallet™)

...and we're only halfway through the year!

​We plan to keep developing and prototyping - that's not going to stop for sure.

We're wondering where to go next ...and I'm wondering if you have any thoughts?

What should we make? (comment below and I WILL reply to every comment!)

​Knives are something we would like to push a little further into.

Also, we'd like to try a flashlight (I have a very cool and fairly original design for this) - but that's going to take a little time as we have a lot of R&D to do (battery, electronics, etc.)

One thing I'd like to make is a compact set of fold-out pliers (with perhaps one or two other features on there). We now have a bit of experience working with blade steels and hardening in our knife oven ...and so making pliers is something I reckon we can do at this point in time.

Would love to hear if you have any thoughts (by the way... the PillPots™ were a product that was born directly from comments from you on this blog a few years ago!)