#14 Dublin for critique

[calsbeek]

thanks guys

[baweaverpipes]

I believe you can take a close look at the pipe and critique yourself, especially from the cheeks to button.

[calsbeek]

I guess if that were true I wouldn't have posted it....

[LatakiaLover]

He is challenging you, I think. Consider it a vote of confidence.

[calsbeek]

OK LL
I think the bite zone could be thinner (its like 4.7mm right now but I got freaked out that I'd hit the airway),
the symmetry is good and I think I did a really good job on the finish. The bowl is thick and I might have taken more off the front of the bowl to get a more triangular shape to fit a classic dublin, but in all honesty this is how I'd drawn it so I'm ok with it not being perfectly to style.

would you say "more definition between shank and bowl is needed"?
there is a slight flare to the shank where it meets the stem...I like it but maybe others do not.

the bit looks too tall in the photos. Perhaps it should be tighter?
I suck at cutting the slot.

thats all I have....

[sandahlpipe]

Good job at self-critique. I get freaked out when my bite zone hits 3.2mm that I might sand through. You could sand on 4.7mm for 20 minutes just fine without sanding through.

When you say the finish is good, I think you can do better. Take that as more of a challenge than a criticism.

And bowl/shank and stem/shank are the first things I see that need work here besides the bite zone. Nail those down pat on your next try.

[calsbeek]

thanks Jeremiah
I'll keep working at it.
can you elaborate on finish? would you say sanding is imperfect? Better ways to contrast stain?
I'm buffing on a ghetto setup but its all I have access to.

[PremalChheda]

Good job at self-critique. I get freaked out when my bite zone hits 3.2mm that I might sand through. You could sand on 4.7mm for 20 minutes just fine without sanding through.

When you say the finish is good, I think you can do better. Take that as more of a challenge than a criticism.

And bowl/shank and stem/shank are the first things I see that need work here besides the bite zone. Nail those down pat on your next try.

Jeremiah, you live in America. What's with all this "mm" nonsense!

[baweaverpipes]

Good job at self-critique. I get freaked out when my bite zone hits 3.2mm that I might sand through. You could sand on 4.7mm for 20 minutes just fine without sanding through.

When you say the finish is good, I think you can do better. Take that as more of a challenge than a criticism.

And bowl/shank and stem/shank are the first things I see that need work here besides the bite zone. Nail those down pat on your next try.

Jeremiah, you live in America. What's with all this "mm" nonsense!

[calsbeek]

bruce,
does that mean I satisfied your challenge?

[wdteipen]

I think your self-critique is pretty good. Your stem is indeed too thick. It takes time and may involve sanding through to an airway or three but you have to push on to learn the boundaries. One thing that helps is to remove a little on top then look at the profile and follow the lines through in reference to the top of your slot then turn it over and work the bottom doing the same and measure with calipers often. Eventually, you'll just know by looking when to stop filing and move to sandpaper. I file to .17" behind the button then move to sandpaper.

The reverse taper of the shank looks more like a oops than intentional because it's so slight. Reverse tapers need to look intentional which typically means more drastic.

Your finish as far as shine looks pretty good but your stain is a bit uneven with the grain towards the rim being darker. Sometimes it's the wood. In those cases you can go with a darker stain.

Lastly, you have some rounding at the junction between the stem and shank. Keep the stem attached through all sanding and buffing.

Those are the things I see but it's a pretty decent pipe overall; especially for #14. Nice job.

[Charl]

Jeremiah, you live in America. What's with all this "mm" nonsense!

It's so that Charl from Darkest Africa can understand!

[sandahlpipe]

Jeremiah, you live in America. What's with all this "mm" nonsense!

I lived in Germany for 5 years growing up and am quite comfortable with the metric system. And when I first started interacting with people about pipe making, they said the bite zone needed to be less than 4mm, so I measured in mm and never gave it a second thought. Until now...

[Ratimus]

Pipes measured in inches smoke better than those measured in millimeters. Hope this helps.

[Charl]

[scotties22]

Make a clear, or transparent, stem. It is game changing. You can see how much material you still have to remove and be more confident in shaping down to .165" behind the button (this is where I stop shaping and start final sanding). Most of my stems end up around .16" or so by the time I get them all shiny. I know there are quite a few that will say my stems are too thick, but I like knowing they will hold up to abuse for 3 lifetimes and I'm never going to get one back in the mail (hopefully).

If you don't have any clear rodstock pm me your address. I have a bit I can send you

[pipedreamer]

Some good comments! All good!
Pipes in inches do smoke better! Lol!!!
Which sounds better, _You never saw that many mm before? or " You never saw that many inches before? Think it out, Because the day will come when you have to measure in MMs!!!

[DocAitch]

Make a clear, or transparent, stem. It is game changing. You can see how much material you still have to remove and be more confident in shaping down to .165" behind the button (this is where I stop shaping and start final sanding). Most of my stems end up around .16" or so by the time I get them all shiny. I know there are quite a few that will say my stems are too thick, but I like knowing they will hold up to abuse for 3 lifetimes and I'm never going to get one back in the mail (hopefully).

If you don't have any clear rodstock pm me your address. I have a bit I can send you

I was almost totally freaked cutting a bite zone in an amber acrylic stem because I could see the airway. A clear stem would paralyze me. I had to hold my breath and use a 1/16" rod in the airway ( a la LL) to orient myself and measure with calipers every few file strokes. I much prefer the ignorance of filing an opaque stem.
DocAitch

[Ratimus]

Think it out, Because the day will come when you have to measure in MMs!!!

I see what you did there.