Something for the ladies

I was looking at a block of briar today, and found a huge crack ran through the top and out the side. It was just a bit too big of a flaw to be able to make a small pipe. I didn't want to toss the thing. I ended up hacking the bad chunk off with a clumsy hand-saw.

I then sliced a chunk off and started shaping. The moritse hole on a pipe just happens to be the same size as a standard camel light cigarette, so I hit the block with my mortise bit, drilled an air hole the rest of the way through, and voila!, I had a cigarette holder.

The end result is pretty sharp, I think. I don't think a holder is necessarily feminine, but it is definitetly less masculine of a product than a pipe. It is always good to have something for the ladies. The idea also helps fill the gap in my shop of the under $50 listings.

The couple I made today have been posted in the shop. This is yet another thing that will be so much easier to do once I have a bandsaw. Sawing a hard wood like a briar burl with a cheap handsaw is a huge pain in the elbow.