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My ninth pipe, completed. An attempt at a Freehand.

Posted: Thu May 27, 2021 9:33 pm
by brownleafbeardsman
This is my first ever attempt at a freehand pipe. I had ordered a JAlan 11/16 parabolic spoon bit and wanted to try it out, so I drill this freehand as recommended in his video!
I know this isn't really an attempt at any specific shape, but still wanted to share with you guys.
All of your feedback so far has been so appreciated and I'm excited to keep learning and growing as a pipe maker. Thank you very much!

I decided to leave the shank face natural, as I thought the burl was pretty attractive.
This is also the first stem where I am truly proud of the results, it has a very nice shine, thanks to LatakiaLover's video on YouTube. I will continue to use this method of sanding and buffing on every pipe.
The drilling is not perfect. I can tell that drawing the pre-drilling lines on the pipe will take a huge amount of practice.

As always, any critique or comment is very welcome.

Re: My ninth pipe, completed. An attempt at a Freehand.

Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 11:34 am
by Sasquatch
These are both harder to critique and harder for the new maker to understand the critique, but here goes.

The biggest problem the pipe has overall is that it's your first shot at this kind of thing, so it's full of ideas - too full. It's bordering on what I call the "Macaroni Art" school of pipe making, where you glue a star on here, and a few macaronis over there, and put some glue down and shake glitter on that... just too many ideas all at once, competing ideas with no cohesion, no drive.

The bowl shape is properly an apple on the front, kind of an eagle beak on the back side, combined with the scooped out rim, that's a lot. The shank is unsure whether it's curved, it's unsure whether it hits the bowl above or below the established curve of the bottom of the pipe, and it flares out only to be rounded over again - too many ideas, none executed sharply.

Plateau! Yay! Except the front end of the pipe is this clean sparse apple shape, so the plateau isn't helping anything, it's a splash of bark just cuz, but it doesn't help the pipe.

The stem length is good, the curve appropriate, the fact that the tenon is thinner than the part of the stem coming right after the ring is visually very jarring.


Image

Re: My ninth pipe, completed. An attempt at a Freehand.

Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 12:25 pm
by brownleafbeardsman
Wow! Thanks very much, Sas.
I think I've grasped what you are saying in your critique. Thank you for taking the time to give me some advice.
When trying something like this in the future I will try to have a specific goal in mind and not go over board with the fancy things. You are right, it was my first of these so I really had no goal or clue was I was doing.
When making something in the future I will make sure to come back to this post and keep this advice in mind.
Thank you again, Sas.

Re: My ninth pipe, completed. An attempt at a Freehand.

Posted: Sun May 30, 2021 9:24 am
by UnderShade
My first gallery post was a freehand (which sucked) and it received the appropriate feedback. Your classic shape attempts are on the right track. Instead of going the Freehand route, I'd keep making billiards/classics until they are "mastered". You'll find that the skill required to make one that is considered acceptable will translate to almost any shape out there. Keep it up!

Re: My ninth pipe, completed. An attempt at a Freehand.

Posted: Sun May 30, 2021 12:07 pm
by brownleafbeardsman
Thank you UnderShade, I appreciate your input! I have no plan on stopping making classic shapes, I have a classic apple almost completed! I had purchased a Jalan bit, and I wanted to put it to use so I just went for it lol. I will continue to work on classics! Thanks again.