Flakes of Briar - Suede Blasting

[WCannoy]

If you are like me, you are astounded by all things briar. I just think this is the coolest thing every time I see it, and wanted to share this with anyone who might appreciate such a thing. So if you find it interesting, yay!!! If not, pardon the interruption, don't mind me...


The suede-blasting process uses a very small amount of blasting media which is constantly recycled, and from which these small flakes of briar are separated in the process. These small flakes are blasted from in-between the individual strands of grain structure in the wood. Sometimes, if I abruptly stop blasting and take a look, I can see some of these flakes frozen in the middle of working their way out of the grain!

[BigCasino]

That is crazy looking!

[W.Pastuch]

That's sooo coool
I totally share your love of the material itself (actually anyone who doesn't shouldn't really be allowed on this forum ), it's beautiful how blasting lets you actually look inside the structure of the wood. Smooth straight grain is cool, but individual fibers that you can see and feel with your hand are even better

[d.huber]

That is insanely cool.

[LatakiaLover]

Walt, your suede finish looks dramatic, distinctive, and attractive. As a repairman, restorer, & cleaner-upper guy, though, those billion sharp little crevices give me the willies.

--- "Smoking grime" is a lovely amalgam of tars, ashes, skin oils, and similar that is difficult to remove from sharpish sandblasts without specialized tools & techniques. Ratcheting that situation up by an order of magnitude seems like it is asking for trouble down the road. (<--- experience-based opinion)

--- Any sort of hard-surface contact capable of causing a dent in a smooth pipe would crush the little slots closed, leaving a mark that was easy to see in impossible to repair. (<--- experience-based speculation)


You've sold a number of suede pipes by now, I imagine, how are their owners dealing with these two things?

[WCannoy]

--- "Smoking grime" is a lovely amalgam of tars, ashes, skin oils, and similar that is difficult to remove from sharpish sandblasts without specialized tools & techniques. Ratcheting that situation up by an order of magnitude seems like it is asking for trouble down the road. (<--- experience-based opinion)

I brush the dust off of my suede blasted shop pipe every once in a while with a toothbrush. It hasn't built up any tar or gunk in the blast, just on the rim which I leave smooth. I suppose if someone what thoughtless enough to subject their suede blasted pipe to conditions worse than I put mine through (and I didn't pay for mine), then the least I could do is let them send it to me for a touch up in the blaster and refinish...

--- Any sort of hard-surface contact capable of causing a dent in a smooth pipe would crush the little slots closed, leaving a mark that was easy to see in impossible to repair. (<--- experience-based speculation)

Well, I'd probably try steaming the dent out, just as I would on a smooth pipe...

Then there's this:

[LatakiaLover]

I guess it boils down to if someone likes how such a finish wears, I guess. What is "patina" to some is damage to another. (I like pipes with a well lived-in look, myself)

The kind of gunk I was referring to wouldn't be cleared by a brush, btw. It's truly like tar. Sticky as hell. But maybe it's only commonly seen by guys like me, and is actually fairly rare.

I'm not sure steaming a dent would work when the wood's fibers have been cut and not simply compressed. If you ever have a chance to try it, please let us know how it goes. (I'm Insatiably curious about such things.)

Thanks for the reply. I also feel better knowing that I wasn't alone in wondering about this stuff.

[WCannoy]

The kind of gunk I was referring to wouldn't be cleared by a brush, btw. It's truly like tar. Sticky as hell. But maybe it's only commonly seen by guys like me, and is actually fairly rare.

I had gunk like that once, when I spilled very sugary coffee on a pipe and didn't clean it up right away!

I'm not sure steaming a dent would work when the wood's fibers have been cut and not simply compressed. If you ever have a chance to try it, please let us know how it goes. (I'm Insatiably curious about such things.)

Yeah, there might be an experiment in the near future...

[d.huber]

I guess it boils down to if someone likes how such a finish wears, I guess. What is "patina" to some is damage to another. (I like pipes with a well lived-in look, myself)

The kind of gunk I was referring to wouldn't be cleared by a brush, btw. It's truly like tar. Sticky as hell. But maybe it's only commonly seen by guys like me, and is actually fairly rare.

I can relate to where you're coming from here, George. I manage a cell phone store for a major carrier and we hear a steady stream of complaints and issues with people's devices, regardless of make or model. It's really easy for me to forget that even if I hear 5 complaints a day, there are about a million customers in Chicago, so those complaints are incredibly rare. To me, they seem common place because the people who don't have problems aren't coming in to see me.

[d.huber]

Nice video, Walt. I'll be convinced when you hit it with a hammer.