fuchi_jeg wrote:The biggest thing that sticks out is the length and shape of the stem. It looks like a cartoon character streched it like a rubber band. It abruptly tapers then kind of maintains that taper through the rest of the stem.
That made me laugh, and you are exactly correct! Unfortunately, I have a few more of those pre-molded stem laying around. They didn't look that bad until I put it with the shank... live and learn I guess.
fuchi_jeg wrote:The stummel shows a lot of the same issues i had when making my my first few billiards. Sasquatch gave a tip to use a file to shape the shank to stem transition which results in A tighter tapered look, giving the pipe some elegance rather than the wavy result I was getting.
Thanks, for some reason, it seemed harder to cut more away, even though every time I did it looked better. Prolly just cause I'm new to all of this and I was afraid to cut too deep in any one area and ruin it, but after perusing some classic billiards - I must agree! What type of file/rasp would you recommend?
fuchi_jeg wrote:As you make A few more in the same family you will realize how far to go in shaping certain areas like the area between the bowl and the top side of the shank. As you make more those things seem to smooth themselves out As you eye for proportion grows.
I hope you're right... My eye and knowledge of pipe aesthetics just isn't there - but I love smoking them and I'm having a heck of a good time destroying wood!
Thanks for your time and input,
John