Volcano

[RiverWader]

Everyone of these I do turns into quite a learning experience. This one felt like a lot more work than others - especially trying to get a respectably straight line where the bottom of the pipe transitions to the convex top portion while still maintaining overall symmetry. Don't know if I didn't get the stain on adequately or got over aggressive on the buffing wheel but don't like the stain on the left side. Your comments have helped me to concentrate on different aspects with every attempt and appreciate your taking the time to provide honest feedback.

At any rate, pleas have at it!

Thanks,

Pat

[socrates]

Very nice pipe! Love the volcano shape.

Sent from my HTC0P3P7 using Tapatalk

[sandahlpipe]

A volcano isn't an easy shape to do. That's for sure.

As far as this one goes, its biggest issue is that it is lumpy. Especially where the stem meets the shank, you can see how the light reflects unevenly off the surface. To resolve the lumpy, wavy lines, get a nice pillar file out and run it down the places you want to be straight and flat until the lines are perfectly straight. Until you get straight lines, complicated shapes like the volcano will be more frustrating than something like a billiard or dublin.

The other thing you should work on is the fit of the stem. You have a visible gap between shank and stem. I also suspect (because of the wavy lines being more common in the transition) that your stem fits a little on the loose side. When you're filing and sanding the transition between stem and shank, a snug-fitting stem will eliminate a lot of frustration for you. A loose stem will move when you are filing.

The finish actually looks pretty good except for the part near the rim where you probably just hit it too hard in the buffer.

[RiverWader]

Thank you both for comments.

I have read that you really need to have an idea about what the finished product will look like before you get into - hence the value of sketching something out beforehand. That point was driven home on this pipe as I really had no idea what the transition from bowl area to the stem was supposed to be and just kind of had at it. In fact, I even stopped working it a few times waiting for some direction to develop. The pillar file I think is a good idea as, once again, some of the lumpiness jumped out in the pictures that I was unaware of during shaping.

At any rate, I saw your youtube video where you suggested getting a good example of a basic shaped pipe and mimicking that until you can reproduce it reliably. In that vein, I just picked up a Lindner billiard and will be going in that direction. After getting that pipe today, the 'turd' discussion certainly rings true as it shows just how much room for improvement I have.

Thanks again,

Pat

[sparkyspipes]

The finish actually looks pretty good except for the part near the rim where you probably just hit it too hard in the buffer.

Looks pretty good man, ya getting the nice curve to flow around the base of the pipe and the lines can be a bugger, looks like you are getting a handle on it.
If your having problems with the finish, like sandahl said, lighter on buffer, and make sure you clean your pipe well before each stem, a little white diamond can play havoc with a finish, cloudy, light spots ect. Keep looking at pipes and working on your own, at one point you eye will just adjust to curves and strights and then you will go,
WOW that was easy.
That shape is easy to do but a bugger to nail.
keep making dust!
scott

[ronps]

It's an interesting take on the shape. Yeah, it's bulky on the bottom to my eye, but except as noted above, nicely done.