My ninth. "Flaming Skull" poker

[oklahoma red]

I've always had a soft spot for classic Pokers. This one has some Peterson and Dunhill influence in it aside from my own ideas.
Stem is acrylic and the shank cap is ebonite.
The briar is an ebauchon from a batch I bought from Alexander (ebay) in Greece. Very hard and very dry stuff. No major flaws were encountered.
Much to my surprise, a stylized image of a flaming skull appeared on the front of the bowl (er, or is it the back of the bowl? Here we go again!) as I started applying finish. Use your imagination a bit to see it. Reminded me of Nick Cage and "Ghost Rider".
Looking at the finished pipe now I could have taken some more from the stem/bowl juncture.
Opinions are welcome as always.
Chas.

[Sasquatch]

Very nice. I think you're right - the only improvement I see is that the bowl walls fudge out right near the shank - they'd be better if they stayed truer to the rest of the shape. But that's a nicely finished and proportioned pipe, to my eye.

[iLeo]

Beautiful pipe. Staining and waxing looks really good and it has a beautiful grain. I would probably had made a slightly shorter stem. Not too much, just one centimeter or so, but I also like it as it is. Good work!

[Ocelot55]

Sas and iLeo posted some great advice. I've got nothing more to add. I will say that when I read the title "Flaming Skull," it was a little anti-climactic to see a poker.

Good job on number six. Is it a military bit, or is that just a short extension?

[oklahoma red]

Sas and iLeo posted some great advice. I've got nothing more to add. I will say that when I read the title "Flaming Skull," it was a little anti-climactic to see a poker.

Good job on number six. Is it a military bit, or is that just a short extension?

Number nine actually but no problem. Number six seems like a decade ago. I'm not the fastest maker here by a long shot since like many I have to work for a living dang it. Thanks to all for the comments so far. Thought you were actually going to see a skull on fire with a stem sticking out of the back of it did ya?
The shank is .500 dia with a ebonite cap with a 5/16 mortise, .562 deep. I turned the acrylic stem to .380 dia and VERY carefully bored the end and inserted a 5/16 Delrin tenon a half inch back into the stem. Looks like a military without having to mess with the tapers.
Chas.

[d.huber]

Nicely done poker! I agree with your assertion about the bowl/shank junction. Otherwise, I think you did a stellar job on this guy.

[oklahoma red]

Thanks to all for the comments. I plan on working on more of the traditional shapes and slight variations there of.
I am curious though in that no one mentioned that they too can (or cannot) see the "flaming skull".
Hmmm, I wonder....perhaps I had a hold of one of meatod's pipes by mistake when I was doing the finishing........purple haze all in my brain.
Chas.

[Ocelot55]

Ok, Red, after that comment I had to stare at the face of your poker for a while. I still can't see a flaming skull. Are you playing connect the dots with the grain on your pipe? The finish is quite lovely.

[oklahoma red]

Ok, Red, after that comment I had to stare at the face of your poker for a while. I still can't see a flaming skull. Are you playing connect the dots with the grain on your pipe? The finish is quite lovely.

Thanks! I wore out the buffing wheels on this one. The pictures don't really do justice to the "wet" look when you're holding it in your hand.
I'll see if I can give you some help finding the skull image. Make sure you're looking at the second pic showing the face of the bowl. First off, don't stare at it too hard. The view is a bit of a quarter turn rather than full face-on. The image takes up the majority of the surface. Down fairly low there is a faint horizontal line that creates a squared "chin" if you will. Slightly above that some gnarly looking "teeth" appear. Going up a bit more you will see a dark spot that one could construe to be a nasal opening. The left eye socket (right side in the pic) is fairly distinct and the other is partially obscured as is the cranium on that side. Then the grain makes it look like there are flames sweeping back at an upward angle from the sides and top of the skull image.
I'm one of those that sees images in the clouds. It jumped right out at me the first time I looked at it.
Chas.

[Ocelot55]

HOLY SHOOT!!! I see it!

Red, your pipe may be possessed. I know a good priest, so you had better send it to me to get exorcised.

Come to think of it I may need some exercise too!

I took the liberty of enhancing the skull image. Now it looks a little cartoony to be eerie, but if you look at the original pic, I think you'll get the drift.

[oklahoma red]

You got it Oce!! Now you see why I named it what I did.
I'm going to hang on to this one. Doubt that I will ever smoke it as I'm not sure what might come out of it if I light it up.
I got a whole box of ebauchons from Alexander Zavos on eBay. I wonder now what else I will find in there. I may find out this weekend as I plan to start another one from that lot. I may need your exorcist. Demons anyone?
Chas.