A friend of mine that lives in BC on Vancouver Island digs out arbutus root burls that grow there, and cuts, boils, and ages them for pipe making. He sent me a couple blocks a while back and I finally got around to doing something with one of them.
Arbutus is very similar to its cousin briar, but somewhat less dense, and the grain is more chaotic. I carved this with an Olfa knife and the stem is a cheapo acrylic Dunhill imitation that I bought a bag of off Ebay a couple years ago.
Arbutus is very similar to its cousin briar, but somewhat less dense, and the grain is more chaotic. I carved this with an Olfa knife and the stem is a cheapo acrylic Dunhill imitation that I bought a bag of off Ebay a couple years ago.