Pipemaking: Most Difficult Aspect

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 10:42 am

Shanks and asthetics... those are my issues still. Tho I'm confident I'll get them resolved because I feel like I see and eliminate more problems every time I make a pipe.

Lately I've felt like I could really use a metal lathe for stem shaping. But that won't happen any time soon. For now i get to do a lot of experimenting with the stem in the drill press, ala Pooka style.

marks · Post by **marks** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 6:15 pm

Ben, I too learn something with each pipe I make. The hard part for me is putting all the things I learn into each pipe.

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 9:58 pm

Marks, ditto that man. I find myself doing a mental check list of some flaw I saw or had pointed out to me on all my pipes!

marks · Post by **marks** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 10:06 pm

Leus · Post by **Leus** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 1:27 pm

Polishing and buffing of the rim area.

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:48 am

Getting fine scrathes out of vulcanite stems is the bane of my existence

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:56 am

Getting fine scrathes out of vulcanite stems is the bane of my existence

The words of the dark land Mordor should not be uttered here!

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:27 pm

I am not worried about scratches only seen with a lupe. I would just like to not be able to see them period lol

hiway · Post by **hiway** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 12:24 am

Getting fine scrathes out of vulcanite stems is the bane of my existence

After sanding to 600 grit I use 4/0 steel wool then buff with white diamond and finish buff with white rouge. This leaves a silvery polish on the stem.

Dave

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 9:54 am

I have been buffing my stems at 1800 rpm like I use on the stummel. Is that faster than needed I wonder? I can get the stems shiny just not as quickly as I would like to.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 10:48 am

In Soman's ASP FAQ he reccomended a speed of like 500 rpm. Seems aweful slow, but it works for me so far.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 11:31 am

ArtGuy wrote:I have been buffing my stems at 1800 rpm like I use on the stummel. Is that faster than needed I wonder? I can get the stems shiny just not as quickly as I would like to.

That depends on the wheel size. The operative factor here is the surface speed, not necessarily RPM. I tend to vary my wheel speed depending on material and size, as well as what I'm using to buff (brown, white, whatever) or if this is the final buff with a clean wheel.

Pretty much, I just do what works and produces the best results.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 2:50 pm

So if I have a 4 inch wheel, what speed should I use?

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 9:36 am

Nick wrote:So if I have a 4 inch wheel, what speed should I use?

There's no hard and fast rule for that. It's going to depend on how much pressure you use, what material (and the quality of material) you're buffing, your technique, etc.

I have a 6" and 8" wheels, and I usually start out at about 1800 RPM for the 6" wheels and adjust from there. final buff before it goes in for pictures is usually at about 500RPM with a 6" wheel.

This might not work for you, depending on how you attack the job of buffing.

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 10:04 am

I use 6 in buff. Slowing down the wheel does indeed help in the final polishing stage