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Gallery
These are some of the pieces that I've particularly enjoyed making ...
This tamper contains an internal 1/8" pick and was made from a piece of spalted box elder. Spalted box elder has a natural pattern to it that looks as though someone drew an abstract pattern on the wood using a calligraphy pen; unfortunately, it is also a fairly soft wood and can be difficult to work with. The upper trim ring was made from polished black buffalo horn. The cap is tapered, and the body has a slight curvature.
This pocket tamper is the first piece I ever made using a handmade laminate; I made the laminate by cutting thin strips of walnut and cherry and gluing them with polyurethane wood glue. The internal brass rod extends through the tip and forms a brass "dot" on the top of the piece. Overall length is about 3-1/2", and the stepped brass tip is just over an inch long.
This pocket tamper is the first piece I made using leucospermum. Leucospermum is a tree-like shrub; the wood has fairly fine grain and an amazing variety of color. The top and bottom accent rings are made from polished black buffalo horn. The internal brass rod has been extended through the cap, rounded off, and polished.
I had been staring at this piece of amboyna burl for a long time ... I like amboyna burl a lot, but I think it hates me. I've had some beautiful pieces that just blew up on me, kinda like the spontaneously-combustible drummers in "This is Spinal Tap." Anyway, this piece had great birdseye, so I figured I'd better do something with it. I decided to take a foot that I had lying around and make a pocket tamper with an internal pipe tool. The foot threads into a brass tube that runs the length of the piece; I capped the foot with a brass rod that forms the "dot" on the opposite end. The wood is amboyna burl, and the cap is synthetic amber. The internal tool is cut from 1/8" diameter stainless steel. Overall length is about 3-1/2".
These are the first prototypes I made of the Cruiser. The piece on the left is made of striped maple and may be my favorite of anything I've made so far ... the wood was flawless and the metalwork was about as good as I'm capable of. The piece on the right is made of walnut burl and has terrific color and shading that's only hinted at in the pictures. The trim on both is a mother-of-pearl composite.
If you're a regular visitor to jagwal.com, you know of my love/hate relationship with spalted box elder. It's a soft wood, and the spalting that makes it so striking also makes it difficult to shape cleanly. I'm never going to work with spalted box elder again! Until the next time somebody asks for it ... .-) Anyway, this is a special-order Cruiser in spalted box elder with black buffalo horn trim.
This is a pair of Cruisers I made in briar. The top one was stained brown, then sanded until just a bit of the stain remained to color the grain. The bottom one was left natural. The trim on the top piece is black buffalo horn. The trim on the bottom piece is made from a thin piece of elephant ivory (salvaged from a 100-year-old piano key), sandwiched between two pieces of Madagascar Rosewood.
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Copyright © 2002 JAGWAL, all rights reservedLast modified: 12/08/02 |
