Unfortunately the tiger striping is inside the wood with this chunk. You can see it clearly on one of the sides. Gorgeous wood. First time using the species. It is dense and heavy but carved beautifully with a new bit.
Yes have to agree Goncalo Alves is a great looking wood with great color and grain. I did a pen using it and it was really wild looking when it was finished. Great work Oscar and the crosses are awesome, love them.
Had a request from a friends wife, didn't realize what I agreed to make. Most of my centerline carves have been a name or something small and not many letters. She wanted the lords prayer plaque. Made it 14.5 by 22, got the version she wanted entered and my first clue was when it was a 2 hour carve. Then I went to epoxy fill it. Couldn't flood the board because she wanted oak and the grain will fill with the epoxy. Guess I could have done a top of the line finish before carving but didn't think far enough ahead. Anyway I used the needle syringe method, used multiple syringes as the epoxy would set up before I got a many lines filled. Will be a one time project.
Came out looking great! The black really stands out so I know a paint in the butt but worth it.
One way I keep oak from soaking up stuff in oak is to seal it with lacquer, flood the letters and then sand off the top flat layer of lacquer to then finish with whatever I want.
I had done 2 spray coats of poly on these. Believe my worst mistake was not sanding the boards to fine finish grit first then the poly or lacquer. If I attempt something similar but smaller someday I'll try to remember.
Great job Want2be, the letters really stand out. With all the troubles that finishing this way, the results are awesome. I have never done anything like this, but really enjoy the look. I have done a few carvings where I carve an extra 1/16" deeper than I want, paint the lettering, then run through the planner and shave off the extra 1/16". I will be trying my luck with epoxy later today as I try to use it to finish a couple pizza cutter handles I made up for Christmas gifts. They will get a pizza cutter with a Bolivian rosewood handle.
Nice design. With a good finish it will be a collectible. The biggest challenge I see is getting the hole from the lip to the chamber. Do you have a specific wood in mind?
Interesting, but would have to agree the bend in the stem could be an issue. If the pipe is being made to be a usable unit and because of the time needed to be invested in the unit, I would want a wood that could take the heat so to speak. Ipe would be my choice in this project. It is very hard and good luck trying to burn it. It has the same burn rating as concrete and steel.
Actually the stem channel is super easy to achieve. On my test carve I just used a Dremel ball bit to carve out the stem channel. On my next test carve I will do a two sided carve to carve the stem channel. The last test carve is a functional pipe.
On a pipe bowl there is a char layer (caking) to protect the pipe from the heat and a lot of different lumber can be used for the pipe as long as it is not toxic. Lumber density is a factor but not the main one. You can use a liner for the bowl to minimize ash and heat if you want.
After the fact, I learned poplar is slightly toxic so no the best lumber for a smoking pipe unless you use a liner to not inhale the wood smoke.
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