Finished my latest - Poker A

[hollywood]

Just finished my latest. If I may say so; I may have stepped it up a notch. I had several pipes envisioned and then put down on paper; and now was the time to start bringing them forward. It took me a while to decide on which should come first, but once I decided, I knew it was the right choice.

This poker is by far my best work to date. Quite large in stature; the feel and flow just came out great. It came very near being the best grain I've had as well. I used Corian for the shank extension; and it was a breeze to work with. I think I'll be using it often in the future. The swirl stem was pre-formed but I hand ground it to make it much more suitable for what I had in mind. Without a lathe; this was a b*tch! It did turn out to be the flushest fit I've had. I then finished the pipe by buffing it out and applying a thin coat of carnuba over the natural wood. No staining here.

Here are the dimensions:

Height: 3.00 Length: 7.00 Bowl Diameter: 2.125 Tobacco Chamber: 1.00

 

[eggman]

very nice pipe.

 

[jhuggett]

Wow, you are really improving fast.

 

[Mikem]

:cheers: Hollywood, if you ever want to sell that Poker let me know. I'm a Poker fanatic and that's one fine Poker you created.

 

[J_Rock]

Hollywood, that is a VERY nice looking pipe.

 

[Justpipes]

MAN! You are going crazy.........that is awesome!!! And a purely handmade to boot!

Great work Hollywood!

 

[peterwd]

You are a star in the making.

That is a wonderful pipe.

 

[tin man]

Dude! You're goin' places.
Very nice pipe indeed. Keep up the good work.

 

[hollywood]

Thanks everybody! I love this one, too. Kind of funny; but I keep looking at it with surprise that I actually made it. I still have some detailing techniques that need time and experience to get them just perfect.

The extension looks like it's not quite flush with the shank, but somehow the epoxy seemed to dry darker or slightly thicker than expected. There's no gap there, but I should be able to not see that transition. Time for more practice.

 

[Ol'Dawg]

Super job! The corian really sets if off. I would have never guessed anyone using corian as a shank treatment. Is that something you came up with?

Jim

 

[hollywood]

Super job! The corian really sets if off. I would have never guessed anyone using corian as a shank treatment. Is that something you came up with?

Jim

Thanks. The Corian was nice to work with and should hold up really well. I got the idea from Rob Perkins. He had used it on one of his pipes, and I just had to try it out!

 

[Rail Man]

Man that is a sweet pipe! Wish I had woodworking skills like that! Keep it up

 

[morleysson]

A most impressive effort. Your work has made me reconsider pokers as viable alternates for smoking.

 

[DRIFTER]

Fine looking poker there indeed!

 

[hollywood]

Did a little re-work on this one after a little advise from a couple master carvers. Also someone was very interesting in picking this one up; so I had to make sure it was really good enough to let go of. Here she is now:

 

[Justpipes]

Stunning Hollywood!

Mike M., you dog you!!!

So Hollywood, when are you going into retail production?

 

[hollywood]

Stunning Hollywood!

Mike M., you dog you!!!

So Hollywood, when are you going into retail production?

Thanks again! Don't know when the retail thing is going to happen. I have a website almost finished, but i'm not quite ready yet. I need to get my new lathe set up and some real time practice in with that. I also need to have a few more pipes done and ready to go. The main thing I feel I need to do when I get that going is to make sure the ones going out first are not only cool to look at, but smoke really well. You can only make those first impressions once. Production will surely be fairly light the first year, but we will just have to see how well received the pipes are in the marketplace.

 

[Mikem]

Well, I am now the proud owner of this fine piece. I will tell you that the pictures do not do this pipe justice. This is one huge hunk of briar. Dave has matched the grain pattern of the briar perfectly with the shape of the bowl and shank. The drilling for the airway is right where it should be at the bottom of the bowl. Most important to me is the "feel" of the pipe in your hand while smoking, which can be a difficult thing for such a large pipe. This one couldn't be better. I will let everyone know how she smokes when I fire her up. Thank you again Hollywood for such a great creation.

 

[hollywood]

Well, I am now the proud owner of this fine piece. I will tell you that the pictures do not do this pipe justice. This is one huge hunk of briar. Dave has matched the grain pattern of the briar perfectly with the shape of the bowl and shank. The drilling for the airway is right where it should be at the bottom of the bowl. Most important to me is the "feel" of the pipe in your hand while smoking, which can be a difficult thing for such a large pipe. This one couldn't be better. I will let everyone know how she smokes when I fire her up. Thank you again Hollywood for such a great creation.

Thanks again, Mike. So glad you like it! I hope she turns out to be one of your favorites. Smoke her up. I can't wait for the review!

 

[Mikem]

Well I finally had the chance to sit down and take this pipe on her maiden voyage. It has such a large bowl that I knew that it would produce a nice long smoke. It didn't let me down. I loaded her up with Stokkebye's Proper English and proceeded to sit down to a two hour smoke while in chat and perusing the Internet. The pipe is very comfortable to hold. I was even able to clench it for short periods comfortably which surprised me for such a large pipe. It had a nice smooth and even draw. You did a great job on this smoker Dave. Thanks again.