Another First Pipe Thread

[jdkearns]

So... here's numero uno. Finished it this weekend. Lots of cussing and frustration involved - but I had a great time making it!

Ebauchon Block + Giudici stem + delrin-

- The shape was not at all what I intended (stummel flying out of chuck and hitting lathe, then table then summersaulting over my head on to concrete - briar isn't that hard). But it does feel nice in the hand.

- I had a lot of trouble facing the stem. I'd like to blame the lathe/chuck/tools/etc... but none of that would be the problem. My intent was to cut off the formed tenon, face and use the awesome delrin tenon thread advice. My intent... I had a helluva time making a jig for the stem for facing and tenon work. I know a lot of guys do it, and do it well - but I'm at a loss. The result is a small gap between stem and stummel, and an off center tenon. I scoured the forum and found some techniques that helped the fit, but still I can see a sliver of light in the gap.

- There's a lot I learned, and I'll chalk it up to that. It does smoke well though!

I'd love to hear comments, as I really enjoyed the process and want to get better. Much better...

edit - pictures!

[JMG]

you need to host your pictures on a site like flickr, photobucket, etc and paste in the cost in between the image tags: [img]your%20photo%20goes%20here[/img]

badabing badaboom...there's your pic.

[PhilipMarc]

As a new pipemaker, there is one thing that stands out to me as an "easy" way to make your pipes look less like those of a new pipemaker, and that's to create more definition between the shank and bowl. I'm not sure what you're using to shape the stummel (if you're only using a dremel or hand sanding it can get EXTREMELY tiring and tedious, and a lot of people just tend to give up when there is still too much material left on the pipe), but it could definitely use some definition. My first attempt at a pipe I used a dremel with a small sanding drum exclusively for shaping, and three concentrated hours later, I was about half way to having a very basic shape.
The other thing I see that could be improved without too much effort is the grain orientation. I'm not sure what the block looked like before you got to work on it, but it probably could have been oriented to make better use of the grain. The grain on your particular block looks to be fairly disorganized anyway, so it's not as if you could have made a straight grain stunner or something, just a thought.

Keep it up, time and practice will make a master out of you!

[Ocelot55]

You took a risk making a pipe with an asymmetrical bowl, but I think it paid off. Aside from the flaws in the front, it is a very nice first pipe. For this particular style I don't think there needs to be much definition between bowl and shank. I would have like to see more of a zulu shape.

[andrew]

Good glory man. It looks like a pipe! As long as you can smoke it you've got a winner.

As far as shaping goes the asymmetrical shapes are more challenging to provide feedback on. But here are some of the more obvious things: the shank/bowl transition should be more defined. This is a delicate pipe, so having big obtuse angles doesn't make must sense until you make a big leap to other shapes. This doesn't mean cut it down to the bone, but the extra wood takes away from some of the grace this thing could have if it were cleaned up a little. For one of your next pipes, i would try a more traditional shape. Find a Castello, or whatever happens to turns your crank and base it on that. That will give you a baseline to work from and something a little more concrete for people to evaluate your work. The button isn't bad, the shank/stem transition is off a little (seeing sunshine between the stem/shank in one photo), the sides of the stem have some waves in it (the reflections show this). Try to make sure you are doing almost all your work with the stem in the stummel. That will help cut down on rounding off the shank/stem joint. The taper on the stem is a little severe. It looks a little forced. You don't have to match the taper of of shank to the taper of the stem. You'll want some taper, otherwise it will look sterile, but too much tends to look odd.

Overall, this looks like a decent pipe. Now make some more

[jdkearns]

Thanks for the comments and critiques! I greatly appreciate everyone's time as I develop my "eye" for this craft. I agree that posting a non-standard shape (which wasn't the intent when I first drilled into it) is difficult to critique for a variety of reasons (as many of you vets have posted on numerous occasions). Pipe number two is almost done - an attempt at a straight billiard... I'll post pictures in a bit - slay away!!!