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First completed pipe. 1/2 bent billiard, blast with smooth rim and Briar Cumberland stem. Feedback is gratefully appreciated. Dimensions: 1.4" deep, 1.8" tall. 3/4" chamber, 4.5" long and 35gms.



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There's no shot of a 100% dead-on profile, so it's harder to see. Your bowl/shank junction is fuzzy and the shank is not round at the face. It's not bad for a first pipe.

There's a lot to like here.

The nits:

- What Sandahl said.

- Don't try to re-invent the wheel with a large radius button-to-bite-zone transition. It's been tried many times, and buyers don't like it. (Only Baldo Baldi gets away with it, and his stuff is from a different planet, anyway.)

- Don't blast the face of the shank (it should be dead-smooth, dead-flat, and dead-square.

- The front-to-back radius of your button edge is inconsistent/wonky, and the button itself probably a bit too tall.

- Your rotary-tool "traveled" to the right when cutting the ramp. Compensate next time by starting farther to the left.

- Either truly bevel your rim Danish/GBD style, or leave it flat. The semi-circle radius thing looks amateurish (or like a Band-Aid).

- Ditto the slot opening---either make it parallel, or make it a PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL football shape. Not something in between.

- The entire chamber looks to be slightly off-center.

- The transition radius from tenon to stem face looks rough. Make a tool that will cut that perfectly.

- Smooth and polish the end of the tenon.

Overall, an OUTSTANDING first pipe. You go, grrrl!

sandahlpipe wrote:There's no shot of a 100% dead-on profile, so it's harder to see. Your bowl/shank junction is fuzzy and the shank is not round at the face. It's not bad for a first pipe.

Thanks Jeremiah. Let me see if I can get better profile shots. When you say "fuzzy", do you mean not crisp or defined enough? The shank started out round, but in found myself chasing imperfections and it ended up a bit wonky.

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LatakiaLover wrote:There's a lot to like here.

The nits:

- What Sandahl said.

- Don't try to re-invent the wheel with a large radius button-to-bite-zone transition. It's been tried many times, and buyers don't like it. (Only Baldo Baldi gets away with it, and his stuff is from a different planet, anyway.)

- Don't blast the face of the shank (it should be dead-smooth, dead-flat, and dead-square.

- The front-to-back radius of your button edge is inconsistent/wonky, and the button itself probably a bit too tall.

- Your rotary-tool "traveled" to the right when cutting the ramp. Compensate next time by starting farther to the left.

- Either truly bevel your rim Danish/GBD style, or leave it flat. The semi-circle radius thing looks amateurish (or like a Band-Aid).

- Ditto the slot opening---either make it parallel, or make it a PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL football shape. Not something in between.

- The entire chamber looks to be slightly off-center.

- The transition radius from tenon to stem face looks rough. Make a tool that will cut that perfectly.

- Smooth and polish the end of the tenon.

Overall, an OUTSTANDING first pipe. You go, grrrl!

Thanks so much LatakiaLover. I appreciate your taking the time to look over my pipe critically. Yep...both on the slot and ramp I cursed when the tool grabbed and I let it drift. Lots and lots of great notes for the next one. I'm sure I'll come back to ask for clarification on some things. Best-Tom

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- Don't blast the face of the shank (it should be dead-smooth, dead-flat, and dead-square.

To clarify this, there is stain on the face of the shank, but not blasted?

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BriarShrink wrote:- Don't blast the face of the shank (it should be dead-smooth, dead-flat, and dead-square.

To clarify this, there is stain on the face of the shank, but not blasted?

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I guess it must look bad if you thought it was blasted. But I did hear the dead-smooth dead-flat, and dead-square part.

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BriarShrink wrote:- Don't blast the face of the shank (it should be dead-smooth, dead-flat, and dead-square.

To clarify this, there is stain on the face of the shank, but not blasted?

Yes. The high-end Danes & today's perfection-chasers actually polish it, the grand old Britwood brands (Dunhill, Barling, etc.) left it matte. Your choice, either is OK. Just no texture of any kind.

I think this is an outstanding first pipe.
You did a reasonable job with the stummel, cut your own stem from rod, and sand blasted it. Only took me 40+ years to reach that stage.
Now you have to dial things in as Jeremiah and George have pointed out.
I did notice that you have been a member for several years, you must have been studying.
DocAitch

By fuzzy, I meant undefined. My brain is a bit fuzzy as I spend late nights in the shop getting ready for Chicago.

Don't chase flaws at this point in your pipe making. Focus on getting the shape right. It takes experience to handle flaws gracefully. If it should be round, make it perfectly round. Rotate the stem as you fit it to the shank.

From the profile, I can confirm that the shank comes off the bowl a bit "high" and makes the shank and bowl look squished together while the stem curves more subtly. If you drop the shank line lower, you can have a more graceful curve.

DocAitch wrote:I think this is an outstanding first pipe.
You did a reasonable job with the stummel, cut your own stem from rod, and sand blasted it. Only took me 40+ years to reach that stage.
Now you have to dial things in as Jeremiah and George have pointed out.
I did notice that you have been a member for several years, you must have been studying.
DocAitch

Thanks Doc. I had been lurking from afar since I joined. Been a pipe smoker since 1998. About a year ago I found out Eric Klodt lived 20 minutes from me. I started going over to see how he made pipes, l learned some bits and pieces...got more and more hands on with his advice and oversight. I halfway put a shop together and it just started collecting dust. I was spending more time collecting tools than making sawdust. One month ago I started dedicating 1-2 days a week in my shop. Today is day 13 and the first time I have sequenced all the correct steps together and haven't had a catastrophic failure...and this is my end product. I'm relieved and happy to finally be on this journey in action and not just thought

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Nothing I can add to the comments already given. Wonderful first pipe, now go make another.

JMG wrote:Nothing I can add to the comments already given. Wonderful first pipe, now go make another.

Thanks JMG. Looking forward to repeating the process.

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Ummm....

I hate you. This looks better than my 10th pipe

Ummm....

I hate you. This looks better than my 10th pipe

calsbeek wrote:Ummm....

I hate you. This looks better than my 10th pipe

Thanks Calsbeek. It's my first "completed" pipe. Many catastrophic failures before I got one what had all its parts and is functional. I have many bowls without shanks. Lol. Best-Tom

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What equipment do you have to work with?

PremalChheda wrote:What equipment do you have to work with?

Hi Premal, I have a small enco metal lathe, band saw, shaping wheels (vfd connected), a small belt sander, a few files (I need more specific ones...was recently reading a post here on files), emery boards, hand sand. I have two chucks and have been struggling with them. One is a NOVA Chuck with an adapter to fit my metal lathe and Steve Greathouse's jaws (going to move back to this one and draw center lines on it) and the other is much more complicated and non-self centering. I just happened to get it for really cheap. One of my biggest problems so far is keeping my work centered. Spade bits for the chamber, dremmel, table vice...more stuff than I really know how to use.

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PremalChheda wrote:What equipment do you have to work with?

I also have a mini wood lathe and full size wood lathe, hand tools from some past experience making bowls and vases..

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Why are you having trouble keeping it centred? How are you doing your chucking and turning procedure. A chuck like the one shown should give you excellent results IF you use the correct procedure.