Hello everyone, I figured I would put up a few pictures of some projects that are on the bench at the moment. Take a look, hope you enjoy!

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February 23, 2010

Just a quick update. Working on a pipe for a friend, that is if he likes it, but I like to keep track of my progress here anyway. This is a poker, as of right now it’s a sitter, but it still needs to be rusticated. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t loose too much weight, lol. Anyway, it’s a nice pipe, very, very large bowl, hand finished stem, clear draw and spot on drilling.

   

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January 31, 2010

Wow, it’s been forever since I did an workbench update. Might have something to do with so many pipes that I carved being kept for myself. Anyway, on the bench now are two pipes, one a bit further along.

This is a Dublin-esqe shape. I saw the shape on another site and figured I would give it a go. I think I started this pipe almost a year ago and just set it aside because I lost interest. I figured I would give it a go again and see if i can finish it. I anticipate a decent final product in the end. I’m actually looking forward to working on this one again.

The next is a volcano that will have the plateau in tact on the bottom. Brian at the shop does these often and they always turn out gorgeous. It’s not really my taste in shapes, but I figured it was my turn. The shank is a bit short on it, so it will likely have some sort of extension on it, but that will be determined as I get farther along. It has some gorgeous grain on it, so either way it should turn out to be a pretty nice looking piece. Hopefully I won’t get bored with it and let it sit for almost a year like the one above.

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May 26, 2008

Above you will see the before. This is the same pipe that was shown in the May 4th update. There was still a bit of a flaw on one of the back flutings, so I said, heck with it, let her rip. In the bottom pictures you will see the end result. It is a very unique shape, forced a bit because of the way the fluting was laid out. Turns out, it is very comfortable to hold because of the asymmetrical bowl. This one is not for sale though, it was time for me to keep one of my own.

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May 11, 2008

This piece started out as more of a Belge shape, but didn’t seem to fit when I started doing some more fine sanding. It is now leaning (no pun intended) toward a canted Acorn of sorts. The grain is not bad, with an odd mix of straight on one side and cross on the other. It is ready to be drilled, and then fine sanded  and contrast stained.

More to come !!

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May 4, 2008

Above is the Dublin that I was working on. It had quite a few surface flaws in it, so I figured instead of rusticating it and loosing some of the amazing grain, I would flute the bowl. It gives it some texture and maintains a smooth finish. The rim shows some phenomenal birdseye. Next step is contrast staining and stem fitting. Likely a saddle bit and I think I may fit it with a silver band, but not quite sure yet. Stay tuned, this one should be done within the next week.

The pipe pictured below in the last update is completed. It was a custom order so it will not be up for sale, but I will have pictures showcasing it very soon. I am very happy with how it turned out.

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Completed – You can see the finished product on the Showcase page.

The drilling has been done and the pipe was fitted with a vulcanite shank extension. Unfortunately, I did not have the tools to do the exotic wood extension and I was also on the fence about finding something that would create the right contrast with the stem I want to use. It has been fine sanded at this point and is awaiting its first coat of contrast stain.