Here's a handful of hard, heavy, lustrous
desert ironwood. If you wonder why it's called that, try cutting some.
Full of chatoyant gold fire and flash, this piece also shows the charcoal
brown bands that usually predominate but too often overwhelm, making so
much gold and russet in an already rare species rarer still... which is
why I didn't have the heart to trim away more of this pretty wood than
I had to... making this one big tamper. Don't get me wrong, though. While
the brass business end's a full 9/16" across, it's in no way unwieldy and
will still fit in small pipes. And this tamper has presence: you won't
lose it on your desk and you'll know it's in your pocket. A generous slice
of polished black water buffalo horn caps the whole affair with a comfortable
finger recess, and the concave (like a golf tee) brass end unscrews, revealing
a pick, there when you need it. Striking, exotic, one of a kind.
