It’s finally about time to get started on this mythical Zippo lighter I’ve been talking about. It’s been a while since I got my hands on a sterling silver zippo case and I’ve been thinking about exactly how I wanted to approach this project.
It’s simple enough in principle. I need to combine these two things.
What makes it difficult is that every asshole on the planet who makes skull rings (granted there aren’t THAT many of us) has some version or another of a skull zippo. How could mine be a little different?
Well, for starters I’m not going with a realistic skull. I’m making the kind of skull that my clients are used to seeing from me: big, heavy, and kinda stylized.
We’re going to give it just enough dimension to get some serious light shaping on the outside. I only have a few milimeters to play with, so we can’t go nuts. Plus, nobody wants this thing wearing a hole in their jean pocket while they carry it around. The form has to be flat enough for comfort.
Yeah, that’s right. My skull zippo is upside-down. I’m going to put the break in the lighter at the skull’s teeth because that’s the freakin’ shape the lighter makes. Seriously. Why the hell are so many of those skull zippos out there putting the break right through the skull’s eyes? I get it. Maybe the first 150 times, it worked. But that’s just about all I was able to find online. So yep, mine’s upside-down. You fish this fella out of your pocket to light up and he opens his jaws and spits flame.
The carving isn’t even close to being finished and I have a lot of scroll work to put in once it is. I still have to design the chain clasp and everything.
On another note here’s a shot of a Big Voodoo I’m working on for a client who wanted to see how raw the ring could look short of scarring it up with a file. The way these are designed…well, they’re pretty f’king raw already. Still, I’m throwing up some shots to see if this is enough or if we need to take this to the next level.
Skullworks 