So, maybe it does look like an Anemone ...(the flower, not the sea variety) when viewed from the top. Maybe not. But since I made it I get to name it. Anyway, I seem to have a long standing affection for spirals in my carving of various things. And while pondering the different possible shapes that could work it stood out for me once again.
This one is a collaboration between one knowing partner and a vendor who has/had no idea they were in on it. I got the Olivewood from a local vendor of exotic woods with the express idea of carving it. I sent it to ta harris of this site (a very fine pipemaker) and asked him to drill it for a pipe with a bent stem. He did some looking at it and then got out his handy dandy moisture measuring thingie and discovered the wood was very wet and would likely crack if carved. So he did a drying thing to it and it sat immersed in this salt stuff for what seemed like a long time. I also asked him to set up the shank to fit a stem I had on hand...one of the 'special' series offered by the guys that do the 'Forever Stems' for cobs...Walker Briar Works. If you've never visited their site, DO!
Anyway, most of the strummel was carved using a small bladed carving knife I made a while ago, which worked really quite well given that Olivewood has a pretty even density and carves well. Of course there were a number of riffling files, etc that came into play, and my beloved Iwasaki Japanese Carving Files, the smallest size...lots of sandpaper...0000 Steel Wool...buffing wheel with white emery...and Dremel felt wheel with Hard Carnuba Wax.
What drew me to the Olivewood in the first place was what other pipe carvers have done with it, of course. That, and the way the light wood plays against the very dark brown grain that runs through it. I don't think that I've ever seen one stained, and this isn't either. To me, one of the most beautiful aspects of Olivewood is the natural colors...and I did the spiral shape on this so that the grain would play well.
No, its not a professional job, but it IS fun. And I'll bet it smokes pretty well. It has plenty of sidewall and the bore and depth measurements I specified to Todd should make it a good flake pipe. It's also very light, which I need as I only smoke (well, 90% anyway) while working in my shop. All in all I think we did a yeoman's job. All in all I worked on this one on and off for about two weeks...all by hand.
Here are some shots for your amusement:
This one is a collaboration between one knowing partner and a vendor who has/had no idea they were in on it. I got the Olivewood from a local vendor of exotic woods with the express idea of carving it. I sent it to ta harris of this site (a very fine pipemaker) and asked him to drill it for a pipe with a bent stem. He did some looking at it and then got out his handy dandy moisture measuring thingie and discovered the wood was very wet and would likely crack if carved. So he did a drying thing to it and it sat immersed in this salt stuff for what seemed like a long time. I also asked him to set up the shank to fit a stem I had on hand...one of the 'special' series offered by the guys that do the 'Forever Stems' for cobs...Walker Briar Works. If you've never visited their site, DO!
Anyway, most of the strummel was carved using a small bladed carving knife I made a while ago, which worked really quite well given that Olivewood has a pretty even density and carves well. Of course there were a number of riffling files, etc that came into play, and my beloved Iwasaki Japanese Carving Files, the smallest size...lots of sandpaper...0000 Steel Wool...buffing wheel with white emery...and Dremel felt wheel with Hard Carnuba Wax.
What drew me to the Olivewood in the first place was what other pipe carvers have done with it, of course. That, and the way the light wood plays against the very dark brown grain that runs through it. I don't think that I've ever seen one stained, and this isn't either. To me, one of the most beautiful aspects of Olivewood is the natural colors...and I did the spiral shape on this so that the grain would play well.
No, its not a professional job, but it IS fun. And I'll bet it smokes pretty well. It has plenty of sidewall and the bore and depth measurements I specified to Todd should make it a good flake pipe. It's also very light, which I need as I only smoke (well, 90% anyway) while working in my shop. All in all I think we did a yeoman's job. All in all I worked on this one on and off for about two weeks...all by hand.
Here are some shots for your amusement:
