Ballerina

[andrew]

Allllllllllrighty. I may have really stepped in it on this one. It was a bit of a stretch. Anyway, let me have it... both barrels please.
Oh, the ring and heel/foot are lignum vitae. The stem is hand cut ebonite. It does actually stand up on it's own. Not at the angle I originally intended it to, but hey at this point I'm not complaining. It is upright in the third image, my photography sucks at this point in the evening. At least it's not impersonating roadkill....





There is one bump at the stem/bowl connection that you can't see from the pics. That will come off before it sells.
Thanks for looking.

[JMG]

Pretty interesting man...in a good way. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the colors of this one. Don't think the yellow'ish tone of the accent pieces and the stain of the briar fit together really well. However, this is just personal preference.

I notice that the bottom accent piece (what it sits on) turns pretty vertical in order for it to sit. I wonder how it would have looked if you hadn't straighten it out so much, but rather carried out the curve and instead cut the bottom to an angle that would allow it to sit. Does any of that make sense? Probably not...I need coffee. Either way, kuddos on getting this one to sit...must have been a tough dog to train.

The bowl/shank transition looks great and so does the shank's taper I'm trying to think through how this would feel holding it from the heel while smoking. Cool pipe, man.

[taharris]

Nicely done!

Todd

[billiard]

I will leave the critique's to those who are more experienced than I, but just want to say that your doing great work, especially for being new at it, kudos!

Nearby you here in Spokane,
Billiard

[andrew]

There is one funky thing... well two funky things about lignum vitae. It is iridescent and it has a pretty strong odor when freshly cut (it's a floral smell). It's also hard as nails. The stuff used to be used for ball bearings. So a little advice: anyone wanting to use it for adornment should keep it away from places on the pipe that get warm. All this to say, it's color changes from yellow to green to brown depending on which angle you are looking at it in relation to the light source.

[e Markle]

The only critique of substance is the stem: I'm not a fan. Are you cutting your own or using pre-fab?

[wdteipen]

That's a pretty nice pipe. The only critique I have is that, when I think of a ballerina, I think of graceful and petite curves and flow. I think you have captured that in the bowl shape but the shank and stem are a bit heavy and lacking in grace. I think if you tapered the shank thinner towards the bowl and gone with a more understated stem it would have worked better. I also agree with JMG that the accent wood color (at least in the pictures) doesn't seem to match the briar stain. That may be a totally different experience seeing the pipe in person. That being said, I still think you did a nice job and it's a cool pipe. Keep up the good work.

[JeremyV]

Over all I like it. The only thing that is sticking out to me is the curves from shank to stem don't seem to match. Maybe too much angle on the mortise?

Everything else is beautiful to me.

[SimeonTurner]

The only critique of substance is the stem: I'm not a fan. Are you cutting your own or using pre-fab?

Agreed. I think the shape is lovely, but the stem is clunky on what is otherwise a delicate shape. I think it could use a bit of a flare, starting narrower and flaring outward towards the button, and I'm guessing a lot of meterial could come off still so that it would be thinner/more delicate.

Nice shaping work on the stummel though.

[andrew]

Thanks for all the info guys. I agree on the stem. She's got clunk. It is hand cut from rod. If I had to do the stem over I would shorten it by 1/4" and thin it out, flare out from the mortise/tenon to the button. Really, I should have mimicked the taper on the shank. It looks pre-fab as-is .

I would love to thin out the shank some more, but I'm a little terrified of finding the draft hole. I was cutting it pretty close to begin with (at least for my skill level) . I do think narrowing the shank at the bowl connection just a little more would have added some more "pizaz" to it. Coupling the narrowed shank with a flared stem would have been a marked improvement. I'll see if I can pull off another one in the near future.

Thanks again.

[Boekweg]

very nice pipe you have made there!

[ND Pipes]

oiiiii!!!

very nice pipe