Matched pair - Osage Orange

[Jthompson1995]

I've been lax about posting some of the pipes I have made recently so here's the first of a few posts with some of them.

This is my first commission, a pair of matched osage orange sitters for my boss. They were Christmas gifts for his two sons. Both with hand cut stems with delrin tenons, one cumberland , the other acrylic. this was some of the nicest osage I've worked with but really hard.

Sorry for the less than stellar photos. I was running late getting them finished and had to snap a few quickly before delivering them. All comments and critiques welcome.

Cumberland stem:











Acrylic stem:

[Literaryworkshop]

I'll be honest and say I'm not a big fan of the shape (I've never liked poker-style pipes at all, so I don't say this as a critique, just a matter of personal preference.) I do, however, like the grain orientation. Compared to briar, I'm never quite sure how to orient the grain on regular hardwood to the best effect, but that's pretty good. I have some osage orange drying for pipes right now, and I've been trying to figure out how exactly I should cut it up. This gives me a good clue.