Sandblasted Briar

There's a fellow in Germany selling a bunch of new-old-stock unfinished pipes on the bay of e (happy to provide details if anyone's interested), including briars and clays. I've bought a few of his lots just for grins. One lot was a set of sandblasted billiards. I should have taken a "before" picture, but here's the "after" pic:

http://i.imgur.com/KpsNwpB.jpg

I didn't do a lot to it, just added some yellow dye to warm up the color a bit, then buffed it with carnuba. The white buildup is extra wax in the crevices which has since dissipated after smoking a couple bowls of tasty tobacco. The stem was a little rough but I shined it up with a little carnuba and buffing compound (white diamond I believe).

I've got some more from this lot to play with; I'll post pics as I progress. My current project is sanding one down to remove the sandblasting roughness. & I just ordered a lot of 10 dublins.

I'm not a real pipe expert, but I will say that this "cheapie" (I scored 5 for $15) smokes as well as any briar that I paid actual money for :)

PS those dark spots are on the briar - they may be fills, I'm not sure, or maybe just natural discoloration.

PPS that's my actual hand; I'm not wearing a glove.

Cool. Looks like a nice small size for winter smoking, and the price is ridiculous. I'd like details, please. Have you tried his clay pipes?

I'd also like the "deets" on this seller.

Hmmm... If someone wants to split the cost of a few briars I'm down. Wouldn't mind one or two to play around with.

No prob. He's fory63 on e-bay. Of course you'll never get the good deal I got, outbidding each other and all :)

I've picked up some of his clays as well - been experimenting with coloring and waxing them. They smoke pretty well.

2nd installment - more pix!

Here's what they look like in their native form:

http://i.imgur.com/bntym0L.jpg

And here's one I made for my hunting buddy:

http://i.imgur.com/e1pMwda.jpg

It's pretty much the same as the one above, except I dyed the wood red before waxing. And here's the other side:

http://i.imgur.com/oHc38Qf.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruck

2nd installment - more pix!

And here's one I made for my hunting buddy:

http://i.imgur.com/e1pMwda.jpg

It's pretty much the same as the one above, except I dyed the wood red before waxing. And here's the other side:

http://i.imgur.com/oHc38Qf.jpg

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I'm digging the red dyed pipe! :machinegun:

I got 10 Dublins of this same extraction today. Dyed a square one green & waxed it.

http://i.imgur.com/qZW4NTQ.jpg

I don't really see the green as I'm pretty severely R/G colorblind, but my color-sighted daughter assures me that there's a faint green hue to it.

I tried undoing the sandblasting on one of the billiards, then finishing it:

http://i.imgur.com/AkFs4ll.jpg

I did some tricks to try to amplify the grain, which worked somewhat. On close inspection, I see that I didn't do such a good job smoothing it out - there are still a lot of pits. Live and learn...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndyCAYP

Hmmm... If someone wants to split the cost of a few briars I'm down. Wouldn't mind one or two to play around with.

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I'm always up for a project. Let's get us some and split 'em.

- - - Updated - - -

How's the drilling, construction and fit? Good?