"What's the difference?"

I am sometimes asked "what's the difference between the versions of the Ray Gun Bead?"  There are currently three different models or design variants and two materials.

Variants:

• Mk.I - Smooth muzzle crown with a dimpled base
• Mk.II - Smooth muzzle crown with a fluted/finned base
• Mk.III - Fluted muzzle with a fluted/finned base

Folks tend to see the Mk.I as the most "vintage" or retro style.  I think I tend to agree.  It's the first one I designed and it says Buck Rogers to me all the way.  The Mk.II seems to have the broadest appeal.  I have more people say they love the Mk.II than any other variant.  The Mk.III is the most modern of the designs and many people love the additional detail of the fluted muzzle.  

Materials:

The Ray Gun is currently available in Titanium and Copper.  Both are favorites of the EDC community.  The Ti version is quite lightweight due both to the design and the material itself.  It looks good plain, polished and many are quite fond of the blasted.  It's a natural fit with most tactical knives and other gear.  As you can see below, the titanium can be anodized and there are lots of possibilities.  Copper is soft and will get beat up and dinged as you carry it but that's part of the charm of copper for sure.  It will also take a nice patina over time.  The blasted version patinas most quickly since more surface area is exposed when the material is blasted.  They look really nice with both natural patina and forced patina.  

Hope that helps explain the differences.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and while I'm not sure I hit that number with this post, the picture will help tell the rest of the story.  

Some recent anodizing work

Here are some better detail pics of some recent anodizing work on small batches of Ray Gun beads.  I haven't gotten much into double-anodizing with these yet as I've been trying to focus on making sure I can repeatably get the colors I'm after.

As most who have done Ti anodizing will tell you, green is probably the toughest to get, with pink maybe as a close second.  I'm pretty happy with how these came out.  Hope you enjoy the pics!

Probably the most popular color I've done is a deep Cobalt Blue.  They are stunning on a polished or tumbled bead.  Below I went the other direction and blasted thes Mk.I's, followed by a long etch. The result is what I called "Frosty Blue" as they almost look iridescent in-hand.

Here are some Mk.I's in tumbled Ti and anodized a bright Toxic Green.  Toughest color to get!

I wanted to see how the green came out on blasted Ti.  I was afraid it would wash out and look pastel, but these  Mk.II's came out VERY green and have a bit of that "frosty" look of the blue above.  I dig 'em!

These Mk.II's are tumbled and then finished in blue-purple or "Blurple" fade finish.  These Blurple Fade beads are another favorite of many. 

My wife asked if I could do some in pink and I told her I'd give it a whirl.  These are on the border between fuchsia and purple but have a cool flip-flop thing to bright pink in-hand.  They were very popular at the Vegas show earlier this month.  

Lots variants and projects in the works, as well as some additional collaborations and a couple dealer-exclusive items I'm working on.  I'll keep this site updated as things go along.  

Football Sunday Bead Drops on IG

I'm watching a little football and dropping some anodized Ti Ray Gun Beads today on my Instagram feed @mstheiner today.  Got some great colors out of these and the blasted Ti beads were etched super deep so they have a Frosty Green and Frosty Blue finish.  They look pretty awesome in person!  I also have a couple stonewashed (shiny) Toxic Green and a pair of blue-blurple fade beads.  The bronze ano is not available at this time.

***SOLD OUT*** Mk.III Copper with Vintage Gunmetal

I dropped a few of these Mk.III's yesterday in the Steel Flame Vintage Gunmetal finish and I haven't heard back from a couple of the buyers.  I'll give them a little bit longer but if you missed out and are interested in one, shoot me an email to raygundivision@gmail.com

They are pretty awesome!

***SOLD OUT*** Mk.I Ray Gun Beads in Steel Flame Vintage Gunmetal

I've got a batch of the Mk.I Ray Guns available with Steel Flame's Vintage Gunmetal finish.  These are copper beads but carry a dark look due to the Vintage Gunmetal process/finish.  They have some silver, black, blue, grey hues in addition to a nice deep copper color.  They will "wear' in a very cool way over time.

The sale is open at the Sign Up Sale site at the link below.  The last batch of Mk.II's went FAST so...

SALE LINK:  ***SOLD OUT***

***SOLD OUT*** Mk.II Ray Gun Beads in Steel Flame Vintage Gunmetal

Lots of folks were asking to have these available online in addition to the sale I had at The Gathering, so I set some aside for folks who couldn't be there.  Here's a first-come, first-served sale for a small batch of the Vintage Gunmetal Mk.II's.  These are $100 each and the sale is set to allow a maximum of two (2) beads per person.

Sale is now open at the Sign Up Sale site at the link below, go get 'em!  

SALE LINK:  ***SOLD***

The USN Gathering - This Weekend!

For those who've been wanting a Ray Gun bead, there's no time like this weekend in Las Vegas at The USN Gathering.  The show is Friday-Saturday Sept 4-5 at the Planet Hollywood Casino Hotel.  I'll be at Michael Burch's table 9D at the show.  I have a big selection of custom Ray Guns and will have them for sale at the show this weekend. Table prices will range from $60 to $100, depending on material and finish.

I'll have Blasted Ti, Blasted Copper, Tumbled Titanium and Copper, Anodized Titanium and some very special collaboration beads done with my friends from Steel Flame.   Derrick and crew put their awesome Vintage Gunmetal finish on several of each of the three current Ray Gun design variants and they look fantastic.   Pics of some of these below.

Hope to see some of you in Vegas. For those not attending, I will be selling any leftover beads online via USN, Instagram @mstheiner and via this website.  See you soon!

Some blasted Ti and Copper:

Anodized Titanium:

And the Steel Flame collaboration beads in Vintage Gunmetal over Copper: