Update 1 and a half years

I have been sick all weekend from god knows what, and was bored so I took my pics. I feel totally weird taking pics of myself and probably with good reason. Backcombed unfortunately, then natural after that. Most of the growth you see is natural, my hair was really short when I started. No maintenance, just ripping.

Anyway, here is 1 and half years.



The bead in the top right 'corner' of my head is a bead my grandma bought me on the corner of Haight & Ashbury because she knows my love of the Dead.




I made this bead on a lathe. It's made of African black wood. It's it not painted or stained. That is the woods natural color.



Pic of ponytail. I love this, just able to do it within the last three months. I have like 4 locs that wont reach. By the end of the year they should all be long enough.



(All of the white specs are paint)

 

Can't the bead very well, but I also made this one. It's made out of zebra wood. It has lightly colored with black zebra like striped grain. Pretty cool. You can't see it normally though, my hair is too thick.



And I thought this pic was cool.

 

excellent dreads.

I'm in love with dreads that looks completely untamed.

 

Thanks for the pics!!! I think my babylings look most closely with yours than others I have seen in the forum. Even the tuft at the back on your crown is the same. lol

Where did you get the different wood?

NIIIICE!!!

 

Cool. How old are dreads? People constantly ask me if I am just starting my dreads, and asking if they are coming undone. It amuses me more than anything.

A local store called Wood Craft. I got what you call pen blanks, little rectangles of wood like 1 inch by 1 inch and 10 inches long. They are supposed to be used for making pens but are excellent starter blocks.

I really want to sell them but would need to get $15 - $30 per bead to make it worth my time and cost of the woods. Some blanks are $15 a piece, others $5 and any where in between. They take a while to make. I don't think anyone would pay that much for a bead, so I just make them whenever I want something new. Once they go in, they never come out.

I also have a silver colored ring in my hair. I think originally it was girls toe ring. I found in my trunk from a previous owner (after owning the car 8 years). First thing that came to mine, put in my hair. People compliment it more than anything, probably because it's shiny and my hair is dark.

 

They look really good! I'll be at 1 year one half next month so it's good to have someone else to compare my progress with :cheers2:

 

I noticed you live in Delaware...totally off topic but do you ever drink Dogfishhead beer. It's some of my favorite beer ever. The Indian Brown Ale is sooo good. It's brewed in Delaware, that's why I ask. :cheers2:

 

Mine are going on 3 years old. I think our hair takes a LOT longer to grow, since they are just now reaching the base of my neck. The fronts are huge, always covering my eyes.
I do get asked that.. like "Are they suppose to look like that?"

and no.. never really got into it. I make my own wine.

 

yours are also like three time as thick as mine which would make them grow in length a lot slower too. That's what makes them unique though.

 

my back dreads are like... in between. My front one are definitely thick. My cousins dreads were thick.. but after like 2-3 years.. they just grew.. his were natural and feral too.

 

that black wood looks really cool, I wish i had a lathe. Ive seen people turn things on a drill press but I value my fingers, and my drill press.

Also dreads of excellence

 

lookin awesopme and yea ill say i love those woods too
i got a dremel id just casrve em with that

 

I like your dreads It's kool you make you're beads. I used some crappy wood once trying to make one and it split :/ your African wood one is my fav as well.

 

love em ^.^

 

sweet, they look great on you!

 

Some of the best dreads I've seen posted on here dude.

 

very nice- I love that african black wood bead

 

i likesies lots and much =D thats what my ponytail looks like too, theres about 6 or 7 at the front that dont go back =[

 

Wow, thanks for all the super kind replies. I didn't expect to see so many nice comments.

I am responding to both peeps with this...

I couldn't imagine doing the whole beads on a drill press. I ruined several blanks, one of my favorite. It was American Holly, it looked like Ivory and was very soft. I used a drill press to drill a straight 10 inch whole through the wood. The real challenge came with using 5'' bit. A real pro would use a mandrill for this, but I don't have one.

The black wood took over two hours to turn because of the density of the wood. Definitely harder than any American hardwood I have worked with. The zebra wood was a bitch, it was a lot like hickory, very very stringy and wouldn't allow for much detail unlike the black wood. As soon as I get some free time I am definitely going to make a couple more. My next peace of wood is cocobola....we'll see how that turns out. You never know when working with exotic woods how they are going to react to a knife, some cut like butter, others will just rip the grain right own in splinters. I used pine in the beginning as practice pieces, and they will break every time if your not careful. First you have to drill your whole first so it won't crack, then turn it super sharp knives, cause your will get splinters. Pine sucks... I don't like working withing anything less than red oak. I wish cedar was a harder wood, I love that smell, but it's absorbent and soft.

 

lol... mine were "started", god I hate that I can even say that, Jan 25, 2008. So in reality mine are only 1 year and 5 months, the same as yours. Post pics so we can compare.