2nd pipe

[mightysmurf8201]

So here's a pipe I made for my brother. He wanted a freehand, so this is what I came up with. This is my second pipe so please be constructively critical. Let me have it!

[wdteipen]

Looks pretty nice to me. Looks like it would be real comfortable in hand. The only thing I see that could be improved is the finish which takes the right equipment and a little practice. Very nice second pipe.

[Growley]

Emmanuel,

What a great looking 2nd pipe! My only critique is on something that may not even have been possible with the block you had, so keep that in mind. This is also strictly a PREFERENCE comment.

On this particular style with the natural plateaux on the top (which I love), I would also love to see some plateaux at the end of the shank too, where the shank meets the stem. To me, the two just go together very well.

Now, for the compliments.
I really like your shape. Your acorn shape really flows "through" the shank as it should. It's like the acorn was already there, and you just worked a shank onto it nicely. I'm really impressed with your shaping. I even like the extra little dip at the bottom of the shank. I think it gives it a nice point of interest.

Really great work!

Brian.

[mightysmurf8201]

Thanks Wayne, it is actualy very comfortable in hand. I definitely agree with you about the finish. It's not something I've quite got a good grip on yet. While we're on the subject though, I had a bit of trouble with the skin. When it came time to polish with tripoli and white diamond, there were a few spots on the skin that the dye just came right off leaving spots of the natural briar. I touched up those spots again and decided not to polish the top. Is there something I can do to polish the skin without losing the dye?

[mightysmurf8201]

Thanks for the kind words Brian. I also prefer the look of skin on both ends, and at first that is what I wanted to do, but then I decided it would be a good idea to drop the pipe while working on it. The gouge that resulted was not something I could work around, so unfortunately I had to sand away the skin. Hopefuly I will be more careful with the next one.

[wdteipen]

Thanks Wayne, it is actualy very comfortable in hand. I definitely agree with you about the finish. It's not something I've quite got a good grip on yet. While we're on the subject though, I had a bit of trouble with the skin. When it came time to polish with tripoli and white diamond, there were a few spots on the skin that the dye just came right off leaving spots of the natural briar. I touched up those spots again and decided not to polish the top. Is there something I can do to polish the skin without losing the dye?

Did you get all the bark off the plateaux. I sandblast it off. A stiff wire brush works too but requires more elbow grease. If that's not the problem then perhaps buffing longer but lighter at a higher speed might help. It's okay to buff with red tripoli then touch up your stain then buff with white tripoli. If you're using alcohol based stains, one trick you can try that I find helpful is to use plain denatured alcohol to touch up where buffing took off stain on the high points by moving the existing stain around.

[mightysmurf8201]

I used the brass wire wheel on my dremel at a very low speed to get all the bark off and it worked great. I'll try going lighter longer, in fact I'll practice on a few scrap plateaux pieces to see if that's the problem. Now that I think about it, I only did one coat of black stain on the top. Perhaps another coat or two will help? Thank you so much for the pointers. I'm doing a dublin with plateau top next and I'll apply what I learned.

[Growley]

I used the brass wire wheel on my dremel at a very low speed to get all the bark off and it worked great. I'll try going lighter longer, in fact I'll practice on a few scrap plateaux pieces to see if that's the problem. Now that I think about it, I only did one coat of black stain on the top. Perhaps another coat or two will help? Thank you so much for the pointers. I'm doing a dublin with plateau top next and I'll apply what I learned.

Man, I guess I guess I take the long way around on this one compared to you guys. I literally take the pipe with me to my most comfortable chair and pick every bit of bark off with a dental type tool...