Rusticated Poker in Progress by Rex Walden 10/21/2013

What a difference a couple of weeks make.  It is nice and cool in my workshop now, and I suspect it will stay that way for a month or so before getting downright cold (at least in the morning and evenings).

Sunday, I spent the day drilling a piece of briar suitable for a straight shanked poker.  I turned it on a small woodworking lathe and then thought I would get crafty and removed the tailstock to square off the end of the shank and whew- the briar flew out of the chuck and hit the wall and the stem broke off.  So, for now I have a new pencil holder or a practice piece of briar for rustication or marking practice and experimentation.  I may use it later for a bamboo shanked pipe, but back it goes onto the shelf.

So, after a few cuss words I grabbed another block and went on my way creating another poker pipe.  The poker pipe not only seems very popular these days but just appears rugged.  I like the thick walls and over all comfort that the poker gives, though not a huge fan of the massively squat and fat pokers that I see- just too heavy for me I guess, though they look nice.  I like my pipes to be able to sit when I set them down.  This one does but tilts back with it's new stem a little, though I think it will sit up nicely with a loaded chamber.

2nd try- stem is my "in progress one" and not the final stem but rather a "working" one for reference.

I received a nice set of fine wood gouges from my wife who just returned from Japan.  While too light for lathe work they work very well for detailed shaping, rustication, and detailing.

Rusticating pipes by hand is fun.  In this case I just walked the wood gouge in a certain pattern all over.

Rustication done and looks more pronounced with light above pipe.

You can see that I was going for a diamond style of pattern for the shank, which required walking the tool in a very tight and repetitive fashion.

I taped off the end to stop myself- giving me a little break before the stem.

The finish is complete on this medium sized rustic gradient stained poker sitter, though I still have some work left to do on the stem.  I seem to gravitate to burnt oranges, deep reds, and browns.  This being October and nearly November fall is in the air and my pipes will probably reflect that for the next couple of weeks.