Cosmetic repair question

For discussion of the drilling and shaping of the stummel.
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andrew
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by andrew »

Bill, for now just use whatever you can get your hands on. Synthetic or otherwise. I've never used synthetics, so I would never push someone in that direction. The real stuff does not finish like acrylic, it's hard to sand/finish and most of it stinks like a dead animal when you shape it. That said, you will mess up when learning, but if your end game is to use natural product instead of synthetics... you gotta start sometime :).

andrew
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KurtHuhn
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by KurtHuhn »

baweaverpipes wrote: Kurt,
It looks like you're arguing with me and not trying to help Bill.
I'd like to share my advice without your passive aggressive replies.
I feel like taking another one year sabbatical.
BAW
You're a funny guy, Bruce. Thin skinned, but funny.

My opinion differs from yours - I'm not sure why that got your hackles up.

--K
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artisan@k-huhn.com
Charl
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by Charl »

If I may, Bruce: why not faux?
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LittleBill
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by LittleBill »

I appreciate all the replies and suggestions. As a wise man once said, there is a time for everything under the sun. I counsel my students in woodturning to learn technique first before they start with expensive or rare material, so I am practicing the same. I will eventually get to the point where I am doing extensions, rings, and other fancy things. I will eventually get to the point where I need to decide whether or not to use natural or man made materials.

Right now I am concentrating on getting a pipe finished that looks and smokes like a pipe. In other words, I am focusing on the basics. Once I get them down, then I can worry about whether or not I am going to use white acrylic or extant ivory from elephant tusks. I am of the opinion that good technique is important, more important than materials used, and if if a person is going to do it right, then he or she should be focused on technique regardless of material. There is always a point of diminishing returns to that philosophy of course, and it is not my intent to pick at nits. I have gotten a lot of good suggestions here, and learned a bunch just from the interaction. Thank you all for contributing.
LatakiaLover
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by LatakiaLover »

LittleBill wrote:

I also thought about banding, but this is a cherrywood poker, and I have never seen one of them with a band on it. That is not to say they aren't out there - just that I've never seen one. I also have no idea how to go about installing a band. If anyone would care to explain the basics, I am interested in learning.
Fit is the challenge, and achieving it either means getting lucky out of the box, or chasing (hammering) to enlarge. The former means you need a significant selection (and a box of sterling bands is expensive), and the latter takes considerable practice to do right plus requires special tools.

If you decide to band your best option would be to send it out. There's no reason for you, a pipe maker, to mess with repair-style banding often enough to make it worth your while.
UFOs must be real. There's no other explanation for cats.
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UncleDraken
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by UncleDraken »

LatakiaLover wrote:
LittleBill wrote:

...If you decide to band your best option would be to send it out. There's no reason for you, a pipe maker, to mess with repair-style banding often enough to make it worth your while.
But who should he send it to?! :wink:

:endofmankind:
Brent

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LatakiaLover
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by LatakiaLover »

UncleDraken wrote: But who should he send it to?! :wink:
Gyfunol Pipe Rhwymwyr, Inc
448 Avenue Atgyweirio Pipe
Anglesey, Gwynedd
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch
Wales
United Kingdom
LL61
UFOs must be real. There's no other explanation for cats.
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Alden
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by Alden »

LatakiaLover wrote:
UncleDraken wrote: But who should he send it to?! :wink:
Gyfunol Pipe Rhwymwyr, Inc
448 Avenue Atgyweirio Pipe
Anglesey, Gwynedd
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch
Wales
United Kingdom
LL61
Damn. That is the funniest thing I've seen all week :lol:
I read every syllable twice. Once was out loud to my wife. Now I'm just hoping I haven't unleashed some ancient Pictish curse on the bones of their German overlords.
Its ok I spose, I enjoyed saying llantysiliogogogoch.
socrates
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by socrates »

A question from someone trying to gather info about carving pipes but with a knowledge of wood. Would drilling a very small hole at the beginning and end of crack to relieve stress and the potential for the crack to continue to run be worthwhile?

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andrew
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by andrew »

socrates wrote:A question from someone trying to gather info about carving pipes but with a knowledge of wood. Would drilling a very small hole at the beginning and end of crack to relieve stress and the potential for the crack to continue to run be worthwhile?

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It can help. You will want to fill the holes with something that will bind (CA glue for example).

andrew
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LittleBill
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by LittleBill »

Okay, I got this pipe finished. It has been a slow process, but I have to do actual work during the day, and for the past month or so, virtually all of my free time has been taken up with snow removal. But anway...

Image

Overall, for #4 it came out okay. There is a small line where the tape protecting the stem covered part of the shank, and of course since the crack ran right up to the edge of the shank, there was no real opportunity to fade out the blast, and that means the stem is now slightly larger than the shank. But the folks in my pipe club thought it was pretty good for a guy just starting out, and it smokes well. People who knew the crack was there had trouble finding it again, as it does not look like a crack anymore, but more like one of the several holes created by the blast.

Once again I learned a lot from this. The blasting part went very well, although if I keep this up, I will need to build a custom cabinet. People who design and build these things do not have people like me in mind when they do so. I am not going to post this for critique, but if anyone has comments or suggestions, private or public, I will be glad to receive them.
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d.huber
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by d.huber »

LittleBill wrote:Okay, I got this pipe finished. It has been a slow process, but I have to do actual work during the day, and for the past month or so, virtually all of my free time has been taken up with snow removal. But anway...
Looks like a good shop pipe there, Lil' Bill. For a fourth, it's totally decent.
http://www.dshpipes.com

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Yak
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by Yak »

The Danes (Uberdanes included) have been filling their stuff when needed from the get-go. If you don't want to take my word for it, ask Marty Pulvers.

And a sandblasted Family-era Saseini Four-dot I got new in 1975 had an enormous one (putty) that, although stained the same color, stood out like a traffic light as it aged due to the difference in texture.

Only in America do people take this as a moral issue (although distributors of some mid-grade Italians had been careful to sell the filled ones only in Europe while selling clean examples the same pipe, grades, &c. here -- a problem that only surfaced when basement commandos started buying them cheaply over there & Ebaying then for cheap here, screwing up any chance of establishing an orderly market in them and provoking outrage as people blamed the makers themselves. Some of the Ser Jacopos come to mind, if memory serves).
Yak
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by Yak »

IOW, it's true because we make it true, so others accomodate us. Same basic deal as, if you want to sell shotguns to Germans, they have to have cheek pieces & sling swivels, or no dice.
Last edited by Yak on Wed Feb 19, 2014 10:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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LittleBill
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by LittleBill »

d.huber wrote:Looks like a good shop pipe there, Lil' Bill. For a fourth, it's totally decent.
Thanks David. I will see about getting a few more pictures of it before it gets too smoked up.

Yak, I understand what you are saying, or at least I am pretty sure. In the turning world cracks are fine. "If it don't hold soup, it's art" is a saying around here. Some folks let the cracks go, some fill them, and some do their best to draw attention to them! :shock:

I am still working on what is and isn't going to fly in the pipe world. I know some folks wouldn't sell one like this, and maybe I wouldn't either, but I learned a bunch of other stuff finishing it that I would never have learned had I tossed it when the crack manifested itself.
Yak
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by Yak »

I repaired the fills that had fallen out next. First I cleaned them with a dental pick to remove loose debris and the wipe them down with alcohol. I packed briar dust into the holes and mixed it with wood glue. I wanted to experiment with the wood glue to see if it would take stain better than the superglue patches that I have been using. Once the glue was dry I sanded the bowl smooth again with 220 grit sandpaper and also a medium grit sanding sponge . . .
http://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/page/8/

Lots of step-by-step pictures.

(Came out looking nice !)
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LittleBill
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Re: Cosmetic repair question

Post by LittleBill »

Yak wrote:
I repaired the fills that had fallen out next. First I cleaned them with a dental pick to remove loose debris and the wipe them down with alcohol. I packed briar dust into the holes and mixed it with wood glue. I wanted to experiment with the wood glue to see if it would take stain better than the superglue patches that I have been using. Once the glue was dry I sanded the bowl smooth again with 220 grit sandpaper and also a medium grit sanding sponge . . .
http://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/page/8/

Lots of step-by-step pictures.

(Came out looking nice !)
Thanks for the link Yak. That made for some good reading, and he did do a very nice job on that pipe.
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