Bill's # 3

[BD]

This is my third pipe and my best smoker so far. The stem looked right before I bent it and now I think it looks too thick!!

Lucite hand cut stem. 6 inches long, no stain (wax only)
Any feedback would be welcomed.

Bill

[bscofield]

That's a great looking 3rd!

You have a pretty well shaped pipe there. Your lines are nice and don't appear to have too many wrinkles. A few things I see are:

1- your stem/shank junction. It looks to me like your sanding your shank a good deal before you get your stem attached. I say that because the should of the shank appears to be rounded off. You can avoid this by attaching your stem ASAP and doing all your sanding with it attached. That is the biggest problem I see when looking at the pipe.

2- I see in the 1st picture you posted that there seems to be a "hiccup" in the shape. About a half inch from the bowl/shank are there seems to be a corner. Perhaps you are going for a "square-ish" look at the bottom of the bowl? If that's the case then I don't think it quite fits the shape. If that's not the case then I think that holding the pipe up and viewing it from as many angles as you can will help you catch stuff like that... all that advice provided it's not a camera issue.

[mahaffy]

Bill, see Scott's "Etude #9" (I think it was) and the advice on filing the stem; it looks like you could use both a little thinning toward the button and a more pronounced button for a secure grip. And you know, you can still sand this boy and re-finish it to get more taper on the stem and maybe smooth off the shank-stem juncture. For number three, that's a good-looking pipe, however you look at it. Nice work.

[BD]

Ben and John thanks for your comments. I am working harder on the stem/shank junction on #4. I may come back and work on this one when I finish #4.

Bill