Exactly. Stamps are sometimes added after staining and before the final polish. And once in a while, that final polish reveals a flaw just below the surface. If the flaw is big enough, the stummel gets sandblasted.
Sandblasts don't always mean defects. The best grains produce the best blasts and some, including myself prefer the blasts.
I've witnessed that myself. Even just a soft buff with a cotton wheel can reveal a pit just a fraction of a millimeter below the surface.
That is true. If Bruce had gone through with the sandblast I requested on that blowfish it would have been terrible, but.....a perfect straight grain makes a stunning ring blast.
Amen to that, my brother. My beloved old Nording icepick from the 70s is the perfect example. Being a Nording, of course it follows Erik's dictum that the briar knows best. It's almost a precise cone, with a nice straight flame grain bottom up. Add the blast & it's just definitive. My 3rd oldest one & one of the ones I'll never unload.
Sounds like it. Wouldn't be the first Dunhill mystery I've heard. Some older collectors I've talked to even claim some WWII era pieces were made from strawberry wood.
Thanks!