second shot at sandblasting

[Doug535]

Ok guy's, here's my second blast. I feathered the shank to the stem transition, cleaned up the stem fit then lightly blasted again then a little more clean up. Had the bowl not been so pokerish ( per DocAitch ) it probably wouldn't have come out looking like a cylinder with a stick stuck in the side. I know the stem needs some trimming down, that's not a problem. Main objective here is critique on my sandblasting, What else can or should I be doing? I don't think it looks horrible (but it could be) and I didn't demolish the shank this time. I know George said finish by hand, but that scares me as much as just blasting. I took a shot of all 4 sides of the shank, so you don't think i added them more than once.

[Doug535]

[LatakiaLover]

Pretty good overall. The unevenness is more the wood than you, I think. Looks a lot like a 60's-era Dunhill Tanshell.

Nice fade to the stem. Hand cutting lets the depth remain consistent without the "shallowing out", but what you did still looks better than a mask stripe. (sez me, anyway )

And definitely take the stem down. Study that Dunhill Shell pic in that other thread last week for the proper profile.

[JMG]

As George said, nice fade to the stem. The blast seems a little heavy for this pipe though. It may be personal preference, but I find that lighter blast tend to suit chunkier pipes better most of the time.

[sandahlpipe]

I think the blast is fine, but pay careful attention to symmetry as you blast. You'll notice on a cross-cut block, one side of the birdseye is much denser than the other. You'll need to adjust the time you spend on various parts of the pipe in order to achieve a symmetrical blast. Be especially careful on the top of the shank and the cheeks.

Also, make sure when you're spending time matching the stem to the briar after a blast, that you clean up the ebonite dust prior to staining. And definitely get rid of that blimpy shape in the stem.

[Doug535]

I think the blast is fine, but pay careful attention to symmetry as you blast. You'll notice on a cross-cut block, one side of the birdseye is much denser than the other. You'll need to adjust the time you spend on various parts of the pipe in order to achieve a symmetrical blast. Be especially careful on the top of the shank and the cheeks.

Also, make sure when you're spending time matching the stem to the briar after a blast, that you clean up the ebonite dust prior to staining. And definitely get rid of that blimpy shape in the stem.

Thanks Jeremiah, that's the kind of info I find very helpful.