Pipe #17, Nosewarmer Tomato

[clickklick]

Came in just under 4". I am still cutting my stems too thin and you can start to see the black delrin tenon on each side. My drilling of the draft hole started a bit right of center, but enterd the bottom of the bowl centered. I have the airway through the tenon slightly offset to try and align with the mortise hole. It passes an extra fluffy cleaner.

Let me have it!

[sandahlpipe]

A few things to avoid for your next attempt:

1. Don't let the shank get quite so out of round. You don't want the smoker to have to be precise to the millimeter when inserting the stem for it to look acceptable.

2. Work on keeping the shank a consistent diameter for the shank all the way from bowl to face. The shank pinches in towards the bowl here, which makes the bowl look weird. You typically want a taper (if any) to go in the opposite direction so that the shank flows into the bowl.

3. Work on proportions. This pipe looks very bowl-heavy. To offset this, you can make the shank fatter or slim down the bowl.

Other than that, the stem and button look acceptable. A few minor details like polishing the inside of the slot that could be touched up, but aside from that, not bad.

[Sasquatch]

I agree with Sandahl's assessments, and would add that there's just no excuse at all for having your airway drifted off-center like that. You compensated correctly in terms of smoking engineering, but that makes the pipe a factory second in my mind. Reason being, when you drill your mortise, all you have to do is swap to an airway bit, tap a little pilot hole dead center (whether on a press or a lathe) and this would never happen to you again. So it's just a method oversight, and that makes the pipe a reject in my world.

The answer to your delrin, regarding the stem being "too thin" is that you use white delrin on such a stem rather than black.

I think you'd be better off to make a straight billiard at this point in your career - master the basics of proportion and line, get to where you can fit and shape without all these execution errors (jeremiah pointe most/many of them out) and then when you come back to more interesting shapes, you'll make them far more nicely. I like your bowl shape here and the bottom line of the stummel is excellent. The stem transition (with wrong taper only up top on the shank) makes it look fat right there and adds an unpleasant lumpiness to that area of the pipe.

Given the proportions of the thing, I'd seriously consider putting about a 6" stem on it. I think it would come out nicer overall.

[clickklick]

Thank you guys.

This was a custom pipe (I made for free) going to a guy in Canada. He wanted a normal sized bowl but a short nosewarmer stem. It was really fun to make and think overall, I much improved my shaping of a tomato compared to my last two attempts. This flare out of the shank I keep doing is because I am shaping this area on a French wheel with the stem attached and I'm discovering that to keep the bit of the stem wide enough I am angling the sanding disc which causes the flare. A little of it has been intentional as I prefer the Danish inspired shapes and a lot of my Rad's utilize this with success. (Don't mistake this comment for me thinking I am anywhere close to making that kind of quality pipe.)

I know these aren't technically sound yet, but they have become a type of therapy for me and I completely get immersed in making them and really enjoy it! Judging from the last Lovat I did, a billiard would not be any fun for me, but I can see where technically it is what I SHOULD do, rather than what I WANT to do.

Any suggestions for keeping the shank round and not flared out when sanding on a French wheel would be awesome! I currently use the J-Alan 4" with 120 grit. My drilling method needs improving. LOTs of improving.

[kamkiel]

I don't have a french wheel, I do use the Velcro sanding wheels (hooks and loops I think?). I have just been sanding on it to a point that I am comfortable with. I sand "far enough" with the wheel and then go in by hand. I have noticed that my "far enough" has gotten closer and closer with every pipe I do. I was doing the same kind on thing in the beginning too. I would get into these point of no return positions and have some lopsided shank and asymmetrical bowl. Just take it slow, real slow, and then slow down some more. Once you get more familiar with your tools, you will get more comfortable with using them.

[sandahlpipe]

I don't have a french wheel, I do use the Velcro sanding wheels (hooks and loops I think?). I have just been sanding on it to a point that I am comfortable with. I sand "far enough" with the wheel and then go in by hand. I have noticed that my "far enough" has gotten closer and closer with every pipe I do. I was doing the same kind on thing in the beginning too. I would get into these point of no return positions and have some lopsided shank and asymmetrical bowl. Just take it slow, real slow, and then slow down some more. Once you get more familiar with your tools, you will get more comfortable with using them.

This is good advice. Slow down and sand by hand or use hand files when you are close to the final shape. Once you develop an eye for how much to take off, you can probably speed up the process with faster tools, but for now, take the time and work on precision in shaping.

As for drilling, Steve Norse has blocks that are really cheap that work well for drilling practice. I'd recommend picking up a few of those and perfecting your engineering before you waste too much time and money on good blocks. If you misdrill a practice block, you can set it aside and try again until you get it right. It's like my piano teacher taught me when I made a mistake practice that section over and over until I made it right before continuing on.