Just finished a sterling silver zippo with a beltloop chain. This was kind of an experiment with the Doc Voodoo pendant being used on a zippo case.
I don’t really have much to say about it – just think I’ll let the shots speak for themselves. I’ve got a lot of travel lined up for the next month so I’ll be in and out of the shop quite a bit. I have a number of new projects I’m finishing up, so if your’e waiting for a piece, I expect to have a big batch ready to roll very shortly.
Oh man, where to begin. In the skull ring biz, this is a busy time of year. Bike week, etc. I’ve had my custom orders just about double, which is awesome and really a lot of fun. I’ve also been working with a designer on a new look for the website, which should be going live with a few new products this Spring.
New products?
Yeah, you got it. I’ve made a Tiki ring for the line. This isn’t the exact same one that I’ve made in the past. It has different proportions. Bigger teeth, lips, etc. And you animals are going to love it. It’s comfortable and actually sits fairly flush to the hand despite being a big ring.
These are now available for order (not on the site yet, but email me and I’ll start carving one for you) and are running at $495. Just had to do it. It was too popular and I’ve had so many requests for a Tiki ring.
There’s one with brushed metal. All of ’em are solid-backed. Custom finishes are free with this one. It’s big, right? 34mm tall. But I’m telling you, you can wear this sucker every day. I’ve balanced it like a freakin’ airplane.
Have you guys seen Wake in Fright? Kick ass fuckin’ movie.
Anyway, I’ve also finished up a new pendant-type product that I’ll be calling the Doc Voodoo.
The Doc is totally flexible. He can be a pendant, he can be linked into a thick chain, he can be a ring. He can be a freakin’ Zippo lighter:
They don’t all come with the bolt on the forehead, but I’m really offering these as a great template for some custom carving. I’ll probably work that into the asking price. Cool addition to the Voodoo line for the non-ring crowd.
I’ve also finished up a pretty cool sugar’d up Big Voodoo that I can’t help but post photos of. Listen, when you latch onto something good, you gotta do it. I’ll never get tired of carving sugar skulls like this. It’s what the Big Voodoo was made for and I hope the orders for these keep coming in. I’m sorry I can’t post photos of all of ’em. Sometimes you have to either get shit done or take pictures of shit that got done and I’ve been struggling to keep up with the season’s orders.
That’s not a snowflake.
More soon, but for now I’m taking a break from the skull world and working on these class rings.
That isn’t even all of them…
But I’ll balance my scholarly carving with some work on a nearly complete master wax for the War Pigs. It’s not my first Motorcycle Club Ring, but it’s one of the largest and most badass. We have a way to go on this one. That pig’s head was hell to get done. I did the base for that in the computer and then fused it by hand to the hand-carved shank. It’s going to be a monster.
Alright, enough. Back to work. Stay tuned!
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.
I’m thinking of doing a zippo.
I’ve never done a custom lighter before and I’ve always admired the lighters on Bill Wall’s site or over at Steel Flame. I’ve thought for some time about doing one in sterling with some cool skullwork on the front. Maybe even a gemstone or two. I want to put this bad boy on a chain as well. I’ll be doing some sketches in the next week or so.
I love that Steel Flame work. What a beauty, eh? Not my style, but definitely an inspiration to do something in sterling with a little less ‘gear’ on it. If you haven’t been to Steel Flame’s site, you should definitely check it out. Their “Killbox” pendant is absolute genius.
Skullworks 