I’ve nearly finished three pipes from the new briar and it looks and feels great! On the bench is a smooth Opus 1 (Pokerbash) with beautiful grain. First smooth in this series. Also a long shanked freehand that will be a partial blast, and a large Calabash with very nice birdseye on the sides.
This is the cleanest and best grained briar I’ve worked with to date. The freehand barely missed being a high grade smooth. Amazing grain, but I’m going to need to blast it except for the top due to a small flaw in the shank, and a few too many tiny sand spots. The PokerBash is very nicely grained. Two very small flaws, but I can live them to save the grain. The Calabash has been an allusive shape for me–this one comes closest to the graceful shape I’m after, and it’s huge with beautiful birdseye over most of it!
I haven’t decided for sure, but I will likely hold these three for Chicago, as well as anything else I can finish before then.
I’ve got 100 more blocks coming from Calabria pipes! It’s been another battle getting the ordering logistics negotiated, but I received an E-mail that they shipped out of Italy last Friday. If all goes well I should have them in a week!
I’m hoping to get one more batch of three pipes finished before Chicago, but it might be tough with work heating up (end of the semester), and my youngest son’s baseball schedule (I hate to miss any games).