I have received word from Rainer Barbi that my initial vulcanite order is on its way to me. (He and I went in on a dual order in order to meet the factory's minimum order requirements.) That means I should have it in my possession inside of three weeks. I ordered a limited amount of rod due to limited capital, so if you are intertested I will "open up" for pre-orders now that the rod is on its way. (E-mail me the amount you want and I will reserve that amount for you. Please limit your request to 4 pieces for this initial order.) I initially intended to sell the rod by the foot, but in order to save on shipping Barbi cut all the rods in half (at my request). Since the rods are already cut, I will simply sell them in 1/2 meter lengths -- roughly 19". This will not be a precise measurement, but it should certainly have at least 18" per rod. I have on the way to me only two sizes, and only in black: 21mm (~7/8") and 24mm (~1"). Barring any unforeseen customs expenses, the prices will be:
21mm - $22.00 per 18" length
24mm - $27.00 per 18" length
Shipping is NOT included in these prices, but I will not be gouging with my shipping. I will charge just enough to cover expenses, but I have yet to do the calculation on that.
DISCLAIMER: Should some unforeseen fee or expense arise, it will be necessay to adjust these prices. I am NOT making a lot of money at these prices, and so I will need to pass along any fees.
As for briar, I received today a sample from a mill that excites me greatly. It is GOOD stuff. I haven't made a pipe from it yet, but I certainly like what I see from the outside. I will make a pipe from it for myself so that I may smoke it and test it, and if I like it I will place a large order. I have spoken to the owner of this mill via phone (through and Italian interpretor), and I am confident that I can reach a good working relationship with him. In fact, I am considering a visit to this mill sometime next year. Should everything work out, I will have briar for sale before the end of the year. No promises, but it looks like I will be able to sell some seriously high quality wood for about $25 or so for big blocks, down to $15 or so for small blocks. I can tell you this about the grain of the wood, it matches ANY that I have seen for quality. The wood has very limited to no pitting on the outside of the block, VERY nice grain, and the blocks are cut perfectly -- the grain is not slanting across the block but is perfectly parallel to the vertical sides of the block. Of course, I received a sample that was intended to intice me into doinng business with this comany, but I have heard VERY good things about this mill from others who have used this wood. I think that I might be on to the type of source that I was hoping all along that I would find. Stay tuned.
I also have a very limited supply of bamboo in 18" sections. I only have about 8 or 10 pieces that I am willing to sell, as I want to keep a lot of variety for my own work. These sticks are $15 each, and it is very
high quality.
Finally, it seems, all this work might pay off with something to sell. Soon I will find out.
If you are interested in purchasing bamboo or rod, please e-mail me. This will reserve for you some of this very limited initial order.
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UPDATE (10-18-04): The bamboo is sold out, and half of the rod is spoken for, even with the ordering limits I have imposed. It seems I need to turn in my next order for vulcanite already! (This order has already taken over six months and I STILL don't have it.)
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UPDATE (10-21-04): Oh me, oh my! I made a pipe for myself last night in order to test the smoking characteristics of the wood I hope to bring in. Since it was for me, I chose the worst piece of wood in the sample. It was a smaller block, and the grain looked nice, but it had a swirl to one direction that was evident on the back of the block. In other words, a straight grain wouldn't be possible from the block. However, the plateau skin was very tight and sarturated with bumps, so I thought I'd reorient the block to take advantage of what was sure to be amazing birdseye. That would also make the little change in direction of the grain less of an issue since I was highlighting bridseye rather than the grain. Well, I roughed out a pipe, and cut a stem for it, and here is the unfinished result:
BIRDSEYE!!!
This is a terrible picture, but this grain is about as perfect as it gets. I think I will be able to get rid of the pit in the shank.
You can see the grain swirl on the top right edge of this side.
Woohoo!! This is not only the "worst" piece of wood (from the outside) in the bunch, but it is also (for obvious reasons) the cheapest. No promises yet, but I think I can sell this quality of block for about $12. Too many unknowns at this point to commit to that, but it should be close.
One interesting note on the pricing, this cutter seems to REALLY know briar, how to read it, and how to cut it. As I mentioned above, the blocks are cut about as well as they could be for the grain pattern within, AND when the grain doesn't exacltly behave and makes a slight swirl, the piece is graded lower and is less expensive. At least, that seems to be the case from the pieces I currently have. The inexpensive pieces are no smaller than the medium-priced pieces, the grain is just not as nice (relatively speaking) for the cheaper ones. Stayed tuned for more, including my thoughts on the first smoke...
UPDATE 2 (10-21-04): If you have ordered bamboo and vulcanite, I will not be shipping it until the vulcanite arrives for obvious shipping reasons. If you have ordered bamboo only, I should be able to start shipping that early next week.
This seems like an appropriate time to mention that when you buy supplies from me it won't be like ordering from amazon.com.
I don't want to be going to the PO every day. As such, I will probably only go once, MAYBE twice a week. I will probably just establish that Thursday (or some other day...haven't decided yet) is the day to ship. No matter what day you order, it will go out Thursday. It will probably take me a month or two to work out the kinks, but I won't be a next day shipper on all of this stuff. Just a warning. UPDATE 3 (10-24-04): Here are a few more photos:
The thing I love so much about these block is that the grain is good on all of them, but the grain patterns lend themselves to all sort of varieties of shape. Perfect blocks for creative, very well grained pipes.
And here is the clencher...very well cut blocks. Notice that the top line of the plateau is flat, and not angled to one side or another. Thus the griain running up the block parallel to the sides. The grain flames out a bit from top to bottom, but that is only because the cut is partially cross-grain across the back.
Another example of how well the blocks are cut.
Because of the questions about the finish of the pipe, here it is dry:
I had someone ask how long I had spent on this pipe. I'm not sure, but I'd estimate that I have spent about 3 1/2 hours. This is shaped about 99.9% on the sanding disc. I have made about 10 strokes with a file in the top of the shank. The inlay in the stem is maple, and I did also cut the stem in that 3 1/2 hours.
Here's the birdseye again.
Lots of refining to do here, but here is a bottom view of the pipe.
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UPDATE (11-8-04): I have officially tested this wood...at least, six whole bowls worth.
Let me just say, it smokes like it looks -- great!I decided NOT to keep the pipe in all the photos. It is just too nice. Instead, I grabbed a block that I had forgotten about. I had set it aside when it came in since it was an odd shape and clearly did not have the nice grain of the others. When I saw it again it was clearly the worst grained piece. I had been mistaken saying that the one I had been working on was the worst block. I took that block and whipped up a long shanked dublin affair of sorts. It had a few pits and very ho-hum grain, so I rusticated. I am smoking it completely virgin -- no stain, shellac, wax, or bowl coating. It is quite and interesting experience, which I will relay in another post, but suffice it to say, it smokes great. I have run 6 bowls through it in pairs -- three sittings of two bowls in a row. All six bowls have been in the last 4 days. With that much action I have had nary a gurgle or even HINT of moisture. I have not used a cleaner once while smoking, and even after two bowls in a row, when I clean after smoking, the cleaner comes out realively dry and clean. Amazing really.
So I am very pleased with this wood in respect to looks, smoking qualities, and price. I will soon attempt to bring a decent amount into the country. Details will follow. I am still hoping for a Christmas time arrival.
UPDATE (11-8-04): THE ROD HAS ARRIVED...STARTING A NEW THREAD.
Tyler
