Just wanted to share with you my first ever Bing's Favorite. This was a commission pipe and the color was chosen by the customer who requested it. I had little faith in how it would look at first, but I have to say, I really like the color.
This is definitely a pipe where the Billiard training has come in very handy. The bowl shape and lines of the shank and stem were very similar, and I wouldn't have been able to produce this without all of your honest advice. I thank you very much for that.
I do think I could've held the lines of the shank a bit better, I will try to fix this on the next one.
Something that has plagued me on my passed few pipes is even finishing. I guess I might've been trying a routine that was a bit more than my skill level allows. I went back to the Finishing Forum Section and did some rereading on finishing routines.
For this one, I shaped and sanded up to 320g, stained black, sanded it down with 400, used green, went up to 600 and 800, and hit it with green again, with one thin coat of shellac after. I think this has helped and I won't change the routine until I feel confident in my sanding ability. I think that is where I was messing up; uneven sanding.
One thing I have changed, is I am now wet sanding the briar at 400,600. This has really seemed to help the sandpaper not to clog up and get bogged down.
Thanks guys, and comments or critiques are welcome.
