Tyler wrote:
Great! I caught about half a dozen bass on it this weekend. It was its maiden voyage. I also caught my first fish (a bluegill) with a fly I tied!
Great fun!
:thumb:
There's nothing like the feeling of catching fish on your own handmade tackle is there? Wonderful!
Funny thing all this talk about weight, and stuff. Smoking pipes dot com just posted a new Tokutomi Cavalier Blowfish that weighs...drum roll please....
I got to see a few of those up close and personal at the last chicago show and boy howdy are those impressive.
I think it is important to point out that not all pipes are meant to be clenchers and held in the mouth. It is perfectly acceptable for a pipe to be larger with the intent of sitting and smoking it (as long as the lines and proportions are such that is does not become bulky or clumsy). Weight is a preference really and not a measure of quality per se.
That being said, I think weight can be an indicator of how well one is able to get the most done with the least waste. One thing I learned going to my first Chicago show is just how small the high grade handmades were.
That pipe illustrates what I am saying when I say it needs to weigh as little as possible for THAT pipe. I said earlier that that migh be 4 oz or 0.75 oz. Some pipes are bulkier by design and some are just bulky. Less weight is not somehow superior, but removing unnessary weight IS superior, IMO.
Though weight is not a primary aim of a pipe making process, i still have that "form follows function" in the back of my mind. Form is not only shape here, but the overall design has to (at least) contribute to the practical usability (i.e. smokeability). And weight comes into matter at some level.
Another principle of designing a shape (take away everything that doesn't look like a pipe) mostly will lead to pipes that are not overweighted. So there is some sort of automatic balancing within that process.
I think a lot of less experienced pipe makers tend to have trouble knowing how much wood they can remove. Especially from the bottom 1/3 or 1/2 of the bowl where its not easy to know how much is there. I know this is the case for me. I've made a couple I thought were too thin toward the bottom of the bowl, yet the measurements showed plenty of wood left. But still that thought of ruining one by going too far is always there. Time and practice will change that I hope!
