Dublinesque Half Bent Poker

[wdteipen]

I finished this one up today. The stem is acrylic/lucite with a Delrin tenon. The shank ring is American Holly. This one has great grain and ring grain and I was hoping for a smooth but final shaping revealed a hair thin inclusion on the face of the bowl that I just couldn't sand out without drasticly altering the shape so I sandblasted it. The shank was originally going to be longer but I had to shorten it due to a large crack. It has a few minor aesthetic flaws. Some stain bled into the Holly shank ring as you can see in a couple of the pictures. I dyed my epoxy black and it bled into the Holly. Dumb mistake. I can't seem to keep the Holly white either. It picks up everything and sucks it up like balsa wood. It's worse than bamboo! Even if I'm able to keep it clean, it turns yellow when I seal it. I've tried shellac and CA glue. Any other ideas? There's a slight gap on the bottom of the stem that I just couldn't seem to eliminate. There has been some debate over the actual shape. Anyone have an opinion? Critiques are welcomed and encouraged. Thanks.

Dimensions:

Overall Length: 4.66"
Chamber Diameter: 13/16"
Airway Diameter: 5/32"
Chamber Depth: 1.5"
Tenon Diameter: 0.374"
Bit Thickness: 0.135" (Probably the most comfortable bit I've made so far)
Button Height: 0.263" (maybe a hair too tall)
Button Width: 0.135" (A tad too thick I think)
Weight: 1.4 oz/40 g

[e Markle]

I'm surprised the CA didn't work. You might just have to get it stabilized.

[wdteipen]

I'm surprised the CA didn't work. You might just have to get it stabilized.

Me too. I tried it on the half saddle billiard I made awhile back. It worked better than the shellac that I used on this one but it still discolored the Holly a little. I was thinking about trying to have it professionally stabilized but I'm wondering if it would still discolor the wood. It's only uniquely attractive when it's bright white, IMHO. I won't use it anymore if I can't figure out a way to get that result. Simeon and I were discussing it a bit. I think I'm going to try the ping pong ball trick next but not on a pipe.

[pereu]

Hi Wayne,
you could try to stabilise the wood (http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com/wo ... ation.html). But also this will very probably make the wood a little darker.

It has become, nevertheless, a very nice pipe!

Greeting from Graz
Peter

[DMI]

To my eye the stem looks really chunky but overall really nice pipe.

With pale wood you need to seal the surface well, I use Wood Hardener (Dry Rot) which is a very thin/watery resin that dries rock hard. With porous woods it soaks in well, for deeper penetration I have made a 'pressure chamber' from a converted jam jar which I hook up to my airbruch compressor (75 psi) and leave the wood in it overnight.

The same stuff works on bone aswell.

David.

[Alden]

I dont care what you say, thats a beautiful pipe

[TRS]

Wayne, that is a very attractive pipe. I'm working on a pipe right now with holly which I bought stabilized. I'll let you know how it works out.
Tim

[Sasquatch]

To my eye, the stem needs to taper more, top and bottom - the curve is lost on the bottom side, and a little "puffy" on the top side. On one hand, it balances the pipe, visually, some, but on the other hand, I think with the hard/definite lines of the bowl, the chubby stem is inappropriate, and the pipe would look sharper, have more punch, if the thing skinnied out faster and matched the size of the shank better (ie appeared to taper/curve more).

I really like the low-slung, understated curve of the shank, I think it makes the stummel sing, and drawing attention from it with the thick stem is probably shameful in the eyes of God.

Nice blast, nice finish, good proportions.

[TRS]

Here's a picture of a discarded first attempt of the aforementioned stem. It hasn't been sanded or polished, just run over with a turning bit. The stabilizing makes it work a lot nicer and the whiteness holds up slightly better.

[Sasquatch]

Maybe Wayne's problem is the thick coat of lacquer he applies after.

[LAH]

I like it.


Abe

[wdteipen]

To my eye the stem looks really chunky but overall really nice pipe.

With pale wood you need to seal the surface well, I use Wood Hardener (Dry Rot) which is a very thin/watery resin that dries rock hard. With porous woods it soaks in well, for deeper penetration I have made a 'pressure chamber' from a converted jam jar which I hook up to my airbruch compressor (75 psi) and leave the wood in it overnight.

The same stuff works on bone aswell.

David.

I saw that stuff at the local hardware store and wondered if it would work. I'll have to give that a try. Your pressure chamber setup sounds cool. I'm gonna have to make me one of those. Thanks for the tips.

[wdteipen]

Here's a picture of a discarded first attempt of the aforementioned stem. It hasn't been sanded or polished, just run over with a turning bit. The stabilizing makes it work a lot nicer and the whiteness holds up slightly better.

That's the look I'm going for. That looks sharp. Where did you get the stabilized Holly?

[wdteipen]

Maybe Wayne's problem is the thick coat of lacquer he applies after.

NOT!

Although this is the first pipe I used a thin coat of shellac on and I really like the results.

[pereu]

To my eye the stem looks really chunky but overall really nice pipe.

With pale wood you need to seal the surface well, I use Wood Hardener (Dry Rot) which is a very thin/watery resin that dries rock hard. With porous woods it soaks in well, for deeper penetration I have made a 'pressure chamber' from a converted jam jar which I hook up to my airbruch compressor (75 psi) and leave the wood in it overnight.

The same stuff works on bone aswell.

David.

Hi David,
how have you made with the jam jar? Tube? I have an airbrush compressor, would be feasible. Nevertheless, I thought that stabilisation needs subpressure and not overpressure?

Greetings from Graz
Peter

[TRS]

Where did you get the stabilized Holly?

http://www.lazerlinez.com/products.asp?cat=34
I ordered 4 blanks and only one had some very slight discolorations in it. The other 3 are really nice. If I remember correctly, shipping took forever, but the price is right.

[DMI]

I found a bolt and nut the same size as the adapter on the air hose and drilled through the bolt, I then made a hole in the lid of the jar and fitted the bolt/nut with epoxy as a seal. When in use the lid of the jar is sealed with electrical tape.

If you try this use a thick jar and wrap it in tape just in case it cracks like my first one did.

Sub-pressure (vacuum) is more likely to be used to dry wood as it would pull out moisture.

Positive pressure will force moisture in.

If I can remember my flickr password I'll post a pic.

I have also started to use the hardener on bamboo before I start working on it, the outer surface is far less prone to dents and marks and the mortices don't split as easily.

David.

[pereu]

Thank you, David
Peter

[andrew]

I like this pipe. I like it a lot. The only issues I saw were the same ones you pointed out.

I've had the same bleeding in the end grain of other woods (even with clear t-88). The bleeding can apparently be solved with a plastic based type glue that comes as a powder. I asked a buddy a while back who makes high end instruments what he uses and this is what he said to use:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2005350 ... Resin.aspx (plus it's cheap:)

wood-wood bonding it would make sense to use a good wood glue, but they generally have too much creep over time.

Whenever I work with light woods (and need to absolutely maintain finish clarity) I use a water based poly-crylic. Woodcraft will have multiple brands of this stuff. General Finishes is probably the one they will recommend if you walk in and ask them. You can also go down to Home Depot and pick up a very small container of poly-crylic by Minwax. It works fine on furniture, but you might need to thin it a bit for pipe work. The HD version would probably be the least impact on $$.
Here is the Woodcraft stuff:
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/200075 ... -Pint.aspx

[sethile]

I've been using white holly for end caps where I can finish the pipe first and finish the end cap separately before gluing it to the shank. The trick for me is not using anything with any color to it. I sand with clean sandpaper, then buff it up with white diamond buffing compound on a wheel that never sees anything else, and has never picked up any stain. Then I buff up the cap with carnuba before gluing it to the shank. Here's the end result:


I've also had some success using holly in a stem insert by just being extra careful during sanding and buffing. If you have any color anywhere that can transfer to the holly it will.