first bamboo

[Joe Hinkle Pipes]

I've been messing around with this pipe since Ernie sold me the bamboo. I have screwed up some bamboo, and a few stems and finally decided to give it a quick finish and start smoking it. The shank of the stummel looked good before shaping the block, but is obviously way too long now that it is finished. I also noticed the bamboo looks very dirty, I couldnt come up with a good way to clean the nodules. Let me know if anything else stick out or looks out of place. I am still trying to get my sanding/buffing procedure down. Adding the beall lathe system has helped a lot. thanks for looking.

Joe

[Ocelot55]

That looks pretty good to me. I have NO experience with bamboo, unfortunately, so I can't really offer any critique. I do agree with what you've already pointed out. I would only add that the stem/bamboo transition looks like it needs some refinement.

I think it looks great. A few more and you'll have this bamboo thing down.

[andrew]

Bamboo is a terrific accent material. Difficult to work with. The stuff attracts stains like white gloves. I think the shank would be ok if it was about 1/4" shorter, it's not too far off. I think the taper in the shank adds to some of the off-ness that you're seeing. Bamboo is just plain hard to keep clean. The best results I've ever seen were from someone doing a VERY light blast over the bamboo and then wrapping it in plastic (or something that kept it clean) until the pipe was ready for final finish. The pipe does have a delicate appearance which is good, but the ring between the stummel and bamboo looks a little heavy. I think I would have shortened the stem about 1/2" to keep things at an even cadence with the nodule spacing (there are plenty of really nice/expensive pipes that have a stem longer than this one, so take that for what it's worth). You did a good job of spacing the knob on your stem with the bamboo nodule.

[e Markle]

Make sure your lathe tools are really sharp when you turn bamboo. You can avoid that frayed edge look on the top of the shank. I don't think your bamboo looks bad to be honest. It's a natural material just like briar, so natural discoloration is acceptable... granted, not everyone will like it.

[andrew]

I'll second what Ernie has said, bamboo (wangi) grows in the ground, it is stained naturally by dirt, minerals and everything else you find in the ground. The bamboo you have is not bad by any stretch. The sharp tool suggestion will help too.

[Joe Hinkle Pipes]

andrew: I cut 3 stems for the pipe. The first was short, and didnt look quite right. The second was a bit longer, and still looked off so I made the third about the same length as the stummel/bamboo. I will try masking the bamboo in the future. I didnt mean to make it sound like the bamboo was bad. It was my finishing that made it look dirty. as for the tool marks, that was just me being lazy. I wanted to get it finished so i could move on. The stummel has been floating around for months daring me to screw it up, so i did. Sometimes you just have to realize it isnt perfect and never will be. but maybe the next one will be closer. Sometimes i see pipes i made only a month or two ago and they are painful to look at.

[Ocelot55]

Sometimes you just have to realize it isnt perfect and never will be. but maybe the next one will be closer. Sometimes i see pipes i made only a month or two ago and they are painful to look at.

Ditto to that! But that shows true progress. I'm up to pipe 26 now and I have gotten better. Unfortunately it has taken me this long to start improving. Some of the guys on here have a lot of talent and their early pipes look amazing. I try not to get down on myself and just remember that I need to work harder and with more purpose and patience.

From what I've seen of your work I would say your doing great. Just remember that if you enjoyed the process it doesn't matter what the finished product looks like.

I can't wait to see your next one!

[Joe Hinkle Pipes]

I think this is around the 15th? for me. the buttons on most of those are embarrassingly awful. I think patience is the key to finishing. I am A 90% guy. once something if functional,it's finished. I have to learn to take the extra time to make it look good too.