pipemakersforum.com

My latest is this stubby 5" long Danish style apple with a boxwood ring. The stem is black juma, a great material to work with, softer than ebonite and nonn-oxidizing. Comments and critiques welcome.

Richard, is that you?

Yes, This is Richard. Is that you George?

Yup!

How have you been?

I was afraid you'd found a new hobby or moved to New Zealand, or something.

(Board: Richard is a national-class collector who decided to try his hand at making pipes a few years ago. Something that seems like a logical/common path, but surprisingly isn't. Meaning his artistic perspective is a rare one.)

Nope still in it. Even have a web page now but it's pretty basic. Not really focused on selling still more of a very part time pipe maker as I do still have my day job. I have been making a few classics as well, lovats, princes, billiards, etc. The site is http://richardfriedmanpipes.com

How have you been? Still doing repairs? How is your health these days.

I will be in Chicago with a table this spring. Also my Sea Creature Collection will be on display. I hope to see you there?

yachtexplorer wrote:Nope still in it. Even have a web page now but it's pretty basic. Not really focused on selling still more of a very part time pipe maker as I do still have my day job. I have been making a few classics as well, lovats, princes, billiards, etc. The site is http://richardfriedmanpipes.com

How have you been? Still doing repairs? How is your health these days.

I will be in Chicago with a table this spring. Also my Sea Creature Collection will be on display. I hope to see you there?

10-4 on finding time & etc. with your real job as The Most Interesting Man in the World. (Board: I'm only half-kidding: http://www.yachtexplorer.com/crew/ )

Good to see you're making some classics. Not only timeless, they will strengthen your skill set fast. Easy to get close, tough to nail.

I'm OK, considering. Still have my eyes and hands enough to keep at it. Repairs & a lot of replacement stems.

I'll probably make Chicago. That's the current plan, anyway. Planning on hitting the new version of the St Louis show in a few weeks, too.

As a parting note, know that posting your work to this board is a whole 'nother thing than a generalized smoker's board. Picking stuff apart here is the POINT. Every. Tiny. Thing. The presumption is that submitters are "perfection chasers," and want to know what others see. Other makers. It can feel pretty rough at times, but no worries. Everyone here knows the dynamic and respects the goal.

C U around, then.

Welcome back Richard. Nice work, nice website.

Duplicate

I am somewhat reluctant to jump in here and say anything about this pipe, but here goes.
This is, over all, a very attractive pipe, and I sure wouldn't mind having it in my collection, but several things bother me.
The polish on the stem could be better, perhaps you need to change your wheels. You also left some polishing media on the button crease. This comes off with a tooth pick.
The second thing is the glue joint on the cap. My resolution is not good enough for me to determine exactly what is going on there, but it is not clean.
The third thing may not be real, because of some minor rotation, but the shank does not appear to be symmetrical, the left side is out a little further in the top view.
The polish on the stem on your last standard shape is also dull.
DocAitch

It's good to see you posting again, Richard. I've enjoyed watching your pipemaking journey from the start from back in the smokersforum days.

A few things I would recommend focusing on: cut down your shank rings so that they are just proud of the shank. I like to draw the outline of the shank on the ring material where it butts up to the shank. Shoot for rounding to that line. For round shank rings, it's easy to do this work on a lathe if you have one. For asymmetrical shank caps and rings, you have to do it by hand but the outline works well as a guide. Just don't remove material past the reference line or you'll have a gap between your ring and the end of the shank.

The second thing is what Doc mentions regarding the shank. From the top down photo, it appears that more material needs to be removed from the left side. Visually, it appears that the shank face is canted but I think the issue is as mentioned.

Lastly, more material can be removed from the stem yet and the finish is dull. I've found that Juma doesn't polish up quite as nicely as ebonite and acrylic which is it's only real drawback.