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I know I said I'd do a bunch of practice before making something smokable again, BUT... I was cutting up a stick of cherry from a tree me and my Pops cut down when I was 5 (just over 20 years ago) and decided I needed to make a cherrywood/poker. It just barely stands up on its own without 'bacy in the bowl (first picture shows that well). Second picture shows I still can't get the draw hole centered right and the last two are just showing off the cherry's pretty grain. Do the growth rings grow 90 degrees from the grain? What is that? Not sure what to call it (growth rings?), but it's really evident in the very last picture and I think it looks really pretty.
Don't be afraid to tell me I screwed up the top 1/2 of the bowl above the stem (should have sanded more, but didn't notice until I took pictures) and let me know what you think of my half saddle with the half on the bottom and the top half sanded down to match the shank. I did that with my first pipe too. I really like the look, reminds me of a late '60s muscle car with a fast back. Should I keep doing that on my pipes? Opinions/comments are welcome and thanks for looking.
On trees, the growth rings run more or less co-axially with the grain. So when you shape a piece of tree-wood, ordinarily you won't see growth rings because we tend to use wood in the strong direction, the direction the grain runs. The little speckly bits you are seeing in your cherry are known as ray-fleck, and you'll find that to varying degrees in lots of woods, but perhaps most noticeable in certain oak species. Specially sawn (right with the growth rings if I remember right) red and white oak both show fantastic ray-fleck, for example.
Briar's growth rings run more or less oppositely to the grain, because in a sense, briar is growing toward the bark and that's the direction the grain runs on such a burl.
As to the pipe - don't be offended, but I wouldn't worry about making 1/2 saddles or staggered saddles as a trademark. It's appropriate on some pipes (like you say, a "fastback") but not on others. I don't especially find that it adds anything to this pipe because the pipe itself is not "fast" - it's fairly heavy, the stem is hugely wide, and basically it is somewhat treeish. You can put aluminum mags on a tree but it won't go any faster.
My advice is to go and make a billiard. Learning what you learn when you do that (properly) will allow you to approach more esoteric shapes like this with a more focused/educated approach, and your carving will be better because of it.
Sas: Thank you for the knowledge on wood, every bit helps! I hear what you're saying about the stem not fitting the clunky pipe. I've got some throw-away oak that I'm going to practice on because it's free and I already have it. Billiards it is!
Todd: Thank you for the kind words. I've looked over your pipes at your new web page, and coming from you it's a great compliment!
Forgot to mention:
"You can put aluminum mags on a tree but it won't go any faster." Should be a bumper sticker!
The thick oval shank doesn't work on the poker. From the top view it doesn't look bad but from the side view is creates bulges where it meets the bowl. To me, a half saddle or full saddle look odd on an oval shank and stem because it's difficult to get a good defined cut. The top of your stem looks to have a very shallow saddle and the stem after the saddle needs more material removed. From the top down you can see that the taper on the shank is different than the taper on the stem. The stem taper should be a continuation of the shank taper. The stem/shank looks just a tad rounded on the edges in some of the photos but it looks like you have a nice tight fit. The top of the shank/bowl transition could use some material removed still. All in all it's better than a lot of second pipes. Keep it up.
