More on 9/20 entry and comment.

Hey Neill, thanks for your kind words. Rather than place this as a response in the comments section of the previous 9/20/07 I’m going to offer it as its own entry.  That comment was:

Art, this is a great post. I’m one of those guys who see the fabulous pieces here – and their SOLD status – and wish mightily that they were mine. Clearly, some of your custom work would sell over and over and over again. I’ve come to the conclusion that I just have to tell you what I want and then just wait for it to be made.I especially love that white material that resembles ivory with gold or brass. It is just gorgeous….Great post here, Art. A nice set of insights!!

I really do struggle with this issue as I’m sure many artisans do.  I’m very fortunate to have incredible collectors and established customers who have supported my work for years and continue to do so.  I feel compelled to reciprocate and respond in a like manner offering them my attention and consideration.  To me this only seems right and proper on several levels.

On the other hand, one must also be working hard to encourage new collectors and customers as this endeavor is an ongoing one.  Neill, you may note that this issue mirrors a discussion that we had some time back on Smoker’s Forum which dealt somewhat with putting all of one’s eggs in one basket. And while I’m fortunate to have numerous customers and collectors who greatly support my efforts, that still does little to promote new customers down the road.  I think that there are numerous ways to promote one’s work with potential new customers.  To date my efforts have met with mixed success.

The real problem is that most people new to the pipe smoking pursuit, or hobby, are fairly unlikely to be spending $100 on a pipe, and certainly not $100 on a tamper.  Even $40 on a tamper is a bit of a stretch.  So, efforts to create lines of lesser priced tampers have been a resounding failure and have been, except for TidBits, abandoned.  Another promotional route that I see some new artisans take, and one that I really had to take when I developed this niche, is to give pieces away.  The problem with that is that no one is going to say “no” to a freebie, and the chances of further interest is vastly diminished when there is a price tag attached.  And, no matter how much of an immediate splash that flashy giveaways make on newsgroups, once the prices are back and firmly affixed zero interest (beyond window-shopping) resumes.

So, how does one attract interest to new customers?  I suppose that all goes back to offering your best work and making it available on a regular basis to as many folks as possible while balancing that with supplying your established customer/collectors with that which they require to continue the journey with you as an artisan.  I guess there should be no surprise that the answer lies in striking a balance!

A double-edged sword.

I suppose that the whole business thing associated with being an artisan (or artist, I will use the terms interchangeably as I do both)) should be a simple matter. In its simplest form it all boils down to making something, and folks can buy it, or not.  But, as is usually the case, the devil is in the details.

I’ve been doing this for about a month shy of nine years.  Actually, it’s longer than that, but that’s neither here nor there.  What is important is that the nature of what I do, and how I sell it, has changed drastically over the years, always in a state of flux.  Early on all tampers sold were general sales.  I made it, showed it, and sold it.  Then, as my work became known, special orders became more common.  So did custom orders, the ones where the customer suggests some shape, one such as my favorite example “I want a tamper in the shape of my Aunt Edna’s nose.”  Custom orders have never been particularly well received as my work is about what’s in my mind’s eye, not someone else’s.  The goal is that we share that vision.  I’ve never been fond of the notion of being a human frazing machine where someone else’s vision could be brought to life through my hands.  What I do is about my own vision, and people either buy into it, or they don’t.

That said, special orders have always been different and far more desirable.  With these orders people request that I do work that is my own, maybe tweaking size, or material, or requesting a certain shape that is part of my repertoire. I’m 100% fine with that as what I am providing is mine to provide.  The end result is a Ming, Kaze or Moxie that could have come from my hands uninitiated.  And while there was a time where my focus was away from even these special orders, today they make up the vast majority of what I do.  Many of my customers and collectors give me free reign to make them whatever I want, while others have more specific requests.  Either way they end up with pieces that represent the artistry and craftsmanship that has brought me to the point where I’m at today.  If you think about it, to be able to work on a piece that you know to be already sold is an incredible position to be in, from a strictly business standpoint.  And while any piece that I have created has eventually sold, some sooner than others, such security as a pre-sold piece is a great comfort.  And knowing that any piece that you do for general release will probably sell without going up on the web site is equally comforting.

The problem with the foregoing is that like most things in life that offer a modicum of comfort there is a very distinct downside.  Like the title of this piece implies, the sword is double edged and cuts both ways.  The very distinct downside is that when you take the comfortable route it generally precludes taking a gamble.  Of course the businessman would ask why gambling would be desirable, but the artist knows the answer well.  Art is about taking risks.  It’s about pushing the envelope, to go where you haven’t been before.  It’s not about resting on your laurels as much as it is about building upon them.  There can be no growth without risk, and, truth be told, a risk well taken can provide the rush, the high, that keeps an artist going, ever striving towards some goal that I suspect (and hope) is unobtainable.

So where does all of that leave me with what I do with you, someone who might consider buying my work?  This question is very much on my mind, and especially so after a conversation yesterday with a friend/customer of mine.  He called to talk and to place a special order for a bamboo tamper, a request that he left me to do as I wish.  In passing he said to me that he loved the work that I have been doing lately but that everything that he saw was already sold. He was right on that, and I had no good response other than to say that I try as hard as I can to keep offering pieces for sale that folks can actually buy.  With so little of what I do even getting to the web site unsold the task of providing general release pieces becomes exceedingly difficult.  On the other hand, I’m just a little confused here.  If I go to my web site I find twenty-three tampers available for sale in a fairly wide variety of shapes and materials.  No, they aren’t brand new pieces, but I can assure you that they are as good as anything new that has or may come out.  So, I suppose that part of me notes that there is a good group of tampers sitting right there for sale, so I’m really not going to sweat it too much.  On the other hand, I understand human nature and understand two important aspects of the human condition: 1.) new is always better, and 2.) folks want most that which they cannot have. Those two aspects of human behavior go a long way towards defining my predicament.  Then, when you consider the fact that if people continue to perceive that you have nothing to offer then they will lose interest and go elsewhere, you can begin to see my position, one smack dab between a rock and a hard place.

So, what’s the net/net of all of this?  I’m not quite sure and I’m hoping that some of you might offer me some guidance on all of this.  I do know that I’ll continue to provide customers with unlimited access to place special orders.  The stability that they offer me allows me to continue all of this without great monetary concerns.  I also know that folks who have not placed special orders in the past are most welcome to do so now and in the future, or to contact me about what I might have in the works.  I also know that I’ll continue to work hard to develop my craft with new shapes and materials, taking risks and pushing the envelope, both with special order pieces and pieces that will be offered for general release.  Further, I’ll work harder towards offering more pieces for general sales, but at the same time I will continue to point out that there are already great pieces constantly being offered on my web site that also represent the best of my work.  Newer isn’t always better, sometimes it’s just the same as the older stuff, just newer.  And while folks may often want what they can’t have, there is a perfectly good Plan B available in existing pieces being offered, work guaranteed to please just the same.

Bottom line?  There are several ways to acquire my work if you are so inclined.  My goal is to make each of those ways a completely enjoyable experience. Your suggestions as to how I might approach this issue are most welcome and appreciated.    

What the day may bring…

This morning  when I awoke I gazed out my bedroom window at the sun rising over the Blue Ridge chain of the Appalachian Mountains.  As the sky brightened I found my pulse quickening.  The beginning of the day is a treasure to me, those moments when the realization comes to my clearing head that I will be free to make whatever I wish, beautiful things that will become part of someone’s life.  Those moments are priceless to me and often bring the inspirations and thoughts that will define my creativity for the day.

Yes, there are dozens of special orders that will demand my attention, and each of them will have their own time, the exact right time, but I always allow time for my creativity of the moment to be expressed unchecked.  Creative inspirations are like dreams.  They become more diffuse as time passes, like fog melting away in the warming sun, eventually vanishing, returning to some cerebral reservoir, never to be seen again in their present form.  They are an opportunity that if not taken will be squandered, never to be duplicated, as unretrievable as the delicate crystalline form of a single snowflake.  

As even a slight breeze will change the pattern of the world around us, the unavoidable intrusions of the day disturb the balance of the moment.   Faced with the impending day, that time upon awakening is sacrosanct, incredibly fragile moments when the intangible is given bedrock and form so that it can come to be, and find its way to my hands, then to your hands, and the bowl of your pipe.

In its simplest form, that is the essence of what I do.       

Where did they go?

My email inbox indicates that some of you have noticed that the number of available tampers at my web site (www.ming-kahuna.com) is much fewer in number that it has been in the past.  Well, that is true, but, the fact is that the number of pieces up now is more typical of the assortment that has been available at any one time in past years.  The current decrease back to more typical levels reflects the fact that a larger portion of my work is devoted to special orders.

If you have followed the course of my craft over the years you will know that I have had a love/hate relationship with special orders. And while I’m still not thrilled with custom orders (ie., make me a tamper the shape of my Aunt Edna’s nose) I love special orders (ie., make me a Pug in Panache).  There is a big difference.  One is someone else’s vision, the other is re-creating my own work.  So, having finally come to terms with this issue, a very, very large portion of my work product is special orders.  I try and display some of the special orders on my site, often as works in progress, so that my customers can keep tabs on what I’m doing and maybe have some ideas for what they themselves would like to order.  I hope to be able to do that more and more as right now it doesn’t happen nearly enough.

That said, as more of my time is devoted to special orders fewer pieces are offered for general sale.  This is unavoidable as there are only so many hours in a day.  Despite this, rest assured that I am making a conscious effort to maintain a portion of my production for general and show sales.  And while many tampers offered for general sale sell within minutes of going up on the site, that is not a reason to not consider the other fine tampers that are offered.  Some tampers sell quicker than others.  Some of my finest tamps have taken the longest to sell.  One never knows.

As a rule, no rulers.

I do not have an aversion to precision.  No matter how much I look at what I do as art, I think that there needs to be an underlying precision upon which the art can be based.  For me using a lathe is too much precision that I strongly feel would absolutely end up destroying my style.  Like my avoidance of the lathe, I tend to shun any tool or technique that could constrain what I have come to do.

That said, that doesn’t mean that I don’t have a precision measuring device such as a ruler.  In fact, I even have a dandy set of calipers.  You’ll not find those calipers in my shop.  They are right by the computer, where they belong, used for measuring the length of tampers for web page listings.  I may have a ruler in the shop right by one of my drill presses under a stack of sand paper, at least I’m pretty sure that’s where it is.  It seems to avoid me.

Okay, it was not always this way.  There was a time late last century, during the first handful of years of Ming-Kahuna, that I measured absolutely everything.  Everything that I did was dutifully measured, re-measured, and recorded in meticulous notes.  Those notes often were scribed directly onto the wood of my workbench or printed on cards, laminated for posterity, and hung on the workshop wall.  Much trial and error went into coming up with those measurements.  I feared nothing more than losing them.

Then, slowly over the past nine years, I found myself reaching for the ruler less and less.  Finally, one day not so long ago, I noticed that there hadn’t been a ruler in my shop for months.  As it turns out, after you’ve made thousands of tampers, the ruler becomes internal, part of the gray matter programing that runs in my head every time I look at a piece of raw material.  And while I think in terms of inches, on the rare occasion that I do measure, I use metric.  But, either way, if I want to make a tamper that is 3.75 inches long, I can pick up a piece of material and know exactly where to cut it, ending up no more than maybe 1/20th of an inch off.  For example, I know that my original design for the Pug called for the lower barrel material to be two and one eighth inches long and can make that exact length cut by eyeballing it, probably seven times out of ten.  At other times I’m not concerned about the exact length of a tamp and cut the length based solely on my vision of the final shape.  No matter how I do it one thing is clear: a ruler is useful in my shop more as a back-scratcher than anything else. 

Of course, as any artisan knows, calipers make the best back-scratchers.  

 

Thanks

I’ve written a bit about my Dad here in ShopTalk, and one thing that I failed to mention is that he was a very generous and giving man.  As a dentist he would give discounts to folks who he felt gave  through their work well beyond the compensation that they received.  When he retired he received a very rare official thank you from the Pope.  He had never charged clergy for his services, and only asked for the payment for his lab fees, and he had the lab take a deep discount.

I’d like to think that the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.  So, I am going to follow my father’s tradition and offer a discount to the same folks that he, and I,  believe should be shown our thanks for the important and relatively underpaid jobs that they do.

From today forward the following folks will receive a 10% discount on any Ming, Kaze, Moxie, Destiny item that I sell: teachers/librarians, clergy, police/law enforcement, firefighters, veterans, and active military.

This discount is not available on sale items, on reduced items, or with any other discounts or specials.  It applies to retail items up and already available on the site.  With special orders I will price accordingly reflecting this general notion.  It will be up to you to mention the discount, and please do.

Whether you use this discount or not, I would like to thank you for the job that you do.  We’d be lost without you.

Kat Moxie, AKA “Gumby”

(here it is)

Folks, today or tomorrow I will be putting up the last of a series of very special ivory pieces that so far has included three incredible tamps: Raikou Moxie, Ikazuchi Moxie, and Bonito Moxie.  In fact, the piece of ivory for Kat was sandwiched between the pieces used for Ikazuchi and Bonito.

Kat Moxie is one of the most uusual tamps that I have had the pleasure to offer.  There has never been anything quite like it.  I had intended to offer the tamp in Chicago and declined to allow a waiting list form.  I will be offering the tamp at the special price that I would have offered it for in Chicago had I been able to go to the show.  The other three tamps sold for between $515 and $1014, but with the special pricing Kat will be less at $475.  Look for the piece on my web site later today or early tomorrow.

 (Sorry, Kat Moxie is now sold)

Moxie Has Brass

(The above photograph has absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter below.  I just happen to like that photo.  If it helps, please feel free to read this entry with an inner voice consistent with Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove.  A fine second choice would be the voice of Slim Pickens as Col. Kong)

When I carved the first few handful of all briar Moxie tamps the idea was to keep the tamps as natural as possible without the imposition of manmade materials.  That seemed to make sense as I have made briar tamp surfaced tampers from the very beginning of Ming-Kahuna back in 1998.  Acrylic and cellulose acetate tamped with briar had proven to be fairly popular with my European customers where there seems to be a slight preference for non-metal tamp surfaces.  I’ve always theorized that this preference is because of the use of wood dowels as tampers in the smoking contests that have been more numerous in Europe than in the US.  I’ve also used wood tamp surfaces with ivory, but like the use with synthetics it is one material used in conjunction with another giving the tamper a finished off appearance. In any event, based on past experience,  I thought I was fairly safe in introducing all briar tampers.

With my craft I am always learning.  In large part this is because I am dealing with people’s preferences, and those preferences are often difficult to glean, and even when seemingly obvious they can be misleading.  Anticipating that I may have miscalculated with the all briar tamps I made it clear in their listings that brass could be added.  Unfortunately folks don’t want to buy a tamper based on what it could be, they want to see what they will be getting.  This was further evidenced by the fact that the all briar Moxies that had sold were originally built with brass.  The writing was on the wall.  Merely offering the opportunity to retrofit the brass wasn’t good enough.  So, being a bit confused I did what I often do, I go to my customers for the answers.  I wasn’t surprised by the results of my inquiry.

One thing that was perfectly clear was that the all briar tampers were seen as “not finished off”.  Folks saw the shapes as just fine and dandy, but the lack of a separate tamping surface material made the tamper seem incomplete, out of balance.  To be perfectly candid, I completely agree with that assessment.  Please understand that I’m only talking about my own work here and these were the opinions of folks only as to my work.  Most of the people I talked to on this issue had been familiar with my work for years, so I suppose the all briar departure was just too different for them be comfortable with.  Their suggestion was to make the briar tampers with brass tamp surfaces and make all briar tamps available through special orders.

So, as it turns out I had things reversed with metal tamped briar/wood tamps the exception and all wood tamps the rule, rather than vice versa.  Consistent with that I have now “taken down” the three all briar tampers on my site (by addding notations to their listings) and have added briar tamps surfaces to them.  My customers were right, they now look complete and finished off.  Problem solved.  The updated pieces will be up and available in short order.

Thanks to all who responded to my April 3^rd solicitation of opinions.  

In lieu of the Chicago show…

As you may know I will not be at the Chicago show this year.  Family comes first and there is an event that I really, really need/want to be at.  Seven straight years at the show was already a lot to ask for and I was lucky in the past for a lack of conflicts.  Of course I missed my first Chicago show in 1999 thanks to a trial that ended up settling on the courthouse steps.

Despite the fact that I won’t be in Chicago the tampers that you would have seen there will be offered on the Ming-Kahuna web site over the next days or possibly even weeks.  You’re going to see some rather fun pieces including the two tamps that had been slated to be the first two KazeTamps: “Sky Captain” and “Deco”.  You will also see “Angry Beavers” which may give you a snicker if you understand the reference.  You’ll see ten or so Bali pieces and a few fun smaller KazeTamps in Caneel.  There will also be a variety of Jakes in Bali and possibly a surprise Caneel pipe/tamper rest.  Yup, you heard it right, a Caneel pipe/tamper rest!  There are also some TouchStones, one in particular called “The Blues”.  There will also be some Incubus in Caneel and Bali.

From Ming you will see a series of Whispers, three in
Cumberland and one in Caribbean.  There will be a couple of mini-monoliths in Cumberland and Pugs in Mint and Renegade.  A few years ago I picked up some resin impregnated water buffalo horn for a project, so I’m using part of that to make a cool “little” Pug.  You’ll also see some more Tidbits in the Clipper shape. There’s also Blutos in Aziza, Ming, and Kahuna!

That’s all I’m going to tell you for now.  Please stop back daily to see what’s new.  Okay, it may not be Chicago, but for Ming it will be quite a show.

If there’s anything that you’d like to see before it goes up on the site just drop me a note at mingkahuna@aol.com, I’d be glad to give you a preview.

Tidbits are back!

For years I have tried to find a tamper that could be offered at more economical price than most tampers that leave my shop.  While I had declared this effort a failure with past attempts, I have since gone back and looked at the bottom line, sales, and have determined that my efforts were actually quite successful.  My failure was in being too hung up on the issue of price.  Setting price as a goal is putting the cart before the horse.  The proper course is to create the tamper and then to determine the pricing.  Live and learn, and after having done some more living, I have learned.

As I was sitting at my shipping table yesterday packing some tamps to be sent to Europe I looked over at a pile of tampers, some just rough carved, others in sanding, and thought to myself “those are Tidbits, too bad I no longer sell them.”  Of course that got me to re-evaluating why I don’t sell them.  It also allowed me to sit down, look at the tampers, and determine what would be a fair compensation for the pieces, all things considered.  In this instance I didn’t set out to make a tamper at a certain pricepoint, but let the tamper itself, already in existence, determine the pricepoint.  That difference may seem trivial, but if you really stop and think about it, there is a world of difference.

All of that having been said, the pricepoint for Tidbits will be centered around $49, give or take a few bucks.  The lion’s share will be priced at $49.  That is significantly less than the last time that Tidbits were offered, most around the $60 mark.  The tamper itself, with $49 as a reference point, will be priced accordingly.  BTW, for those of you wondering about where the Clippers went, the good news is that they have become Tidbits!

One more thing.  Please understand that Tidbits are not, in any way, shape, or form “seconds”.  I do not sell seconds.  Any tamper that could be considered a second never leaves my shop.  Tidbits have the same quality of any Ming, and, by and large the same artistry, as much as possible.  The only differences are that they will be a bit smaller (yet perfectly functional) and will not bear a logo.  For more info about Tidbits go to:

http://www.ming-kahuna.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=953

Bonito Moxie Update

(UPDATE: Bonito Moxie, “Ikazuchi” Moxie and “Raikou” Moxie are now sold)

I response to numerous inquiries (I included this info below, but it was missed) the anticipated price of this piece will range between $900 and $1100.  The piece may be reserved on this basis.  I anticipate that it will be finished this weekend.  I do not anticpate that it will be available to be displayed in Chicago.

Four tampers made from this amazing piece of ivory will be offered: 1. Bonito Moxie ($1014- now sold); 2. “Kat” Moxie (in final sanding) 3. “Raikou” Moxie ($514- now sold); 4. “Ikazuchi” Moxie ($564- now sold). 

Just a note…

As Moxie is a rather new pursuit and a departure from past work, I’d love to know what you think.  No, I’m not looking for a pat on the back, nor am I looking to be bitch slapped.  I’m just interested in your honest opinion.  I happen to like working with briar, mammoth/ivory, and bamboo and am hoping to make a go of this, but I certainly would like to know what folks are thinking.  I know that the initial shapes are based on past shapes, and that new shapes inspired by these natural materials will be coming down the road, but for now it would be most useful if I had honest opinions as to my efforts with these materials.  I’d ask that anything that you have to say be forwarded privately via email at mingkahuna@aol.com.

 For years the direction of my craft has been in large part steered by the comments of the folks who watch, acquire, or care about my work.  Those opinions are more valuable to me than you could possibly know.  Folks know that I don’t encourage people to talk up my work on the Internet forums (some might say that I discourage it) but your comments directly to me are always most appreciated.

 Thanks so much.

A first look at Bonito Moxie

 

(shown rough carved)

 

Last Friday the first words that I thought when I awoke were “Bonito Moxie”.  I knew right then and there that it was the day to make the tamper happen.  I had been planning how to go about creating the tamp since the second week in January.

Some tampers happen with little or no forethought.  Others will take months, weeks or days of planning before the first cut is made.  With a piece like Bonito Moxie the months were justified by the extremely fine nature of the material alone.  So much had to be decided before I could begin.  Atlanta traffic jams and moonlit evenings smoking a fine cigar offered a perfect opportunity to contemplate the choices to be made.

The shape of the tamp had already been determined.  It would be a windswept Katsu variant.  The piece of ivory to be used was also determined.  I was able to slice off a piece to make Kat Moxie, and the resulting piece was perfect for Bonito.  But then, I had to decide which end would be up.  Up in the air was whether the natural bow of the material would be erased with a sanding disk or accentuated becoming a defining element of the piece (as thankfully ended up being the case).  I had to decide where I would begin on the piece gauging the width of the scallops and how the natural concavity of the material would be dealt with.  Would I use the whole piece of ivory or would I shorten it a bit?  And, what would the tamper surface be: brass, wood, or virgin ivory?  So much had to be decided before last Friday morning could happen, and some of it had to wait until I had already begun.  The decision to go with a briar tamp surface came along late in the game.  Some decisions have to be made as you go with the flow.  Other decisions need to be made beforehand to create the flow.

So, what you see above is Bonito Moxie after rough carving and prior to sanding.  At 4.39 inches she’s a lot of tamper and a lot of ivory, be it mammoth or otherwise.  The photo tends to exaggerate the lower portion of the tamp but the windswept scallops above are really quite striking, about as good as it gets.  You may note that the piece sort of drapes over the arm of the couch, and that is because I have taken the natural bow of the material and incorporated it into the piece.  The bend to the tusk is preserved in the shape that I have imposed upon it, softening the human touch.  As of right now I can unqualifiedly say that I have never created anything that even approaches the beauty of this piece.  I suspect that I may well look back on my career and see this as a peek of sorts, one that I would like to maintain for many years to come.

The only difficulty that I’m having is getting up the resolve to sell it.  I’ve had difficulty mustering the resolve to sell pieces before, but never such as this where even the thought of a sale saddens me.  Maybe ultimately the price tag for Bonito Moxie will take care of that issue, but for now I am both looking forward the magical transformation of sanding and buffing, and at the same time dreading it as the decision to actually sell Bonito Moxie may be impossible to make.  If you could hold this tamper in your hand and view it from all angles you would understand exactly what I’m talking about.  I’m sharing this photo with you so you will begin to understand how a tamper could make me so happy and downright miserable, all at the same time. 

NOTE: In response to numerous inquiries, the anticpated price of this tamper will be between $900 and $1100.    

Moxie has wood.

As some of you may know, I have been working with briar since early 1998.  I first started out as an amateur pipe maker making kit pipes, and then moved to tampers.  The very first tampers that I made were from scraps left over from my pipe making exploits.  Over the years my briar and other wood tampers have been seen from time to time, but most of my efforts have been in synthetic materials.  Much of my work with briar in recent years has been as an amateur pipe maker and a number of tampers, most never seen on the site selling beforehand.  Now as my efforts with briar really take off in earnest with Moxie, the contrasts with working with synthetics like acrylic acetate are numerous and interesting to note.

First off, compared to hard acrylics, working briar is like cutting butter.  Where I use tool speeds of up to 30,000 RPMs (to the utter amazement of a pipe maker friend of mine) this is not the case with briar.  With acrylic speed is used to compensate for the hardness of the material.  Less pressure need be applied so a finer touch can be used.  Further, with briar at those speeds little is gained and the wood tends to burn quite dramatically.  So, with briar being so much softer I can slow my Dremel down to well under 5000 RPM and let the course drums do the work with a minimum of pressure applied.  Applying too much pressure with a tool leads to poor execution and mistakes.  The secret is to find the proper proportions between tool speed, cutting ability of the tool, and the hardness/nature of the material.  Briar is a material that offers a nice light mix that isn’t too hard on the hands and the tools.

One place where briar and acrylics differ is in terms of the working properties.  When I carve briar there is basically a one-to-one correlation between application of the tool and the material loss.  The result of applying the tool to the material is controlled and very consistent.  Yes, sometimes trying to carve against a pattern can be a bit tricky, or attempting to create a concave or convex surface, but all in all the tool does what you would expect it to do with the type and amount of pressure applied.  With briar the correlation can be less than perfect.  Sometimes the results can be quite different than those intended.  I suspect part of it having to do with variable graining and hardness and hitting different areas at different times.  It’s very hard to describe, but one must constantly be evaluating the result of each stroke rather than having a bit of a buffer, or a comfort zone.  Ivory is much the same way as briar, but that is a subject for another time.

Sanding is another difference.  No matter what material you are using, going to buffing too soon is the kiss of death for a finish.  That said, some materials require different amounts of sanding before one goes to buffing.  With acrylic and ivory/mammoth I sand to 1500 grit before the piece even gets near a buffer and end up giving it a 2000 grit going over at a key point in the buffing process.  With briar that is, for the most part, overkill.  I’m happy to go to buffing after 1000 to 1500 grit, and even the that is a bit much.  800 would be just fine.  The key is to sand adequately at each prior stage at say, 120, 220, 320, 400, and 600.  If the piece has been sanded to the maximum with each of those grits, the 800 stage will offer a perfect platform for any finish obtained through buffing.  

Finally, I would also note that a rough carved briar tamper looks very different from a rough acrylic tamper.  Acrylic can be carved to a very fine finish with successively finer grit sanding drums, but briar goes into sanding in a much more coarse condition.  There is only so smooth that you can get briar prior to sanding, and it isn’t nearly as smooth as acrylic.  But, to make up for that differential, I find briar to be much more easily sanded with the ability to do more shaping in the sanding stage.  This variance allows for a greatly different experience when working with briar as opposed to synthetics. 

So, there you have it.  While my emphasis on briar and other natural materials is recent, my experience working with these materials is not.  If you come back to the Ming site a little later today you will see the first completed briar tampers offered for sale. (the first piece, “Arcanum” Moxie, sold off of the blog unfinished).  With these first pieces you will see some Ming and KazeTamp shapes as a demonstration that I can bring briar to virtually all of my past shapes.  That said, I will also say that to me the most exciting part lies in the new shapes that these natural materials will inspire.  Time will tell.

Moxies in Briar

If you’ve been to my web site lately, www.ming-kahuna.com, you will have seen the first Moxie offered for sale.  Yes, it’s not inexpensive, but ivory, whether elephant or mammoth, is never cheap.  The fact is that you’ll see quite a bit of that with Moxie, but you’ll also see tampers like the two above.  The top piece is one that I will be keeping.  It’s carved from briar and shown partially sanded.  It’s a variation of the Whisper shape.  While the tamp surface size is fine, currently at .44 inches, I had to shorten the Whisper shape significantly to retain the tamp end size even though it is 3.21 inches long.   When I make one to sell it will be a good size larger so that I can hit properly on all of the proportions.  I laid this one out as a cross-grain, but future pieces may have the grain running lengthwise.  It’s no matter as this one will be staying with me for testing.  I have tested many tamps with briar tamp surfaces over the years, but I feel obligated to have an all briar tamp in testing.

The tamp below it, to be named “Arcanum” Moxie, is the first Arcanum shaped tamp that I’ve done in years.  If you recall the Arcanum you will see the shape in this rough carved piece of briar.  It’s a nice size at 3.37 inches long.  The tamp surface is currently a diameter of roughly .51 inches and will trim down a bit to a more desirable diameter during sanding.  The tamp is as light as a feather and I’m going to do absolutely nothing to make it any heavier.  I’ll take the material as I found it and do nothing to alter it other than shaping, sanding and finishing (with carnuba wax).  Over the years I may have become associated with synthetics, but when it comes to Moxie you can call me “Mr. Natural.”

Part of my reason for showing you these two tampers is to make it clear that not all Moxies will be $500 plus.  Some will be, and a good bit more than that, but others will be at the other end of the price spectrum.  And while these are two recognizably Ming shapes, you can look for much that will be new with Moxie other than the materials used.  But for now have a look and rest assured that I can do almost anything in natural materials that I can with synthetics, so if you have a tamper in acrylic that you would like to own in briar, for example, just let me know and I’ll be glad to make that happen if possible.

We’re having some fun now!