3rd Pipe (Freehand Dublin)

[Silverspur81]

Let me know what you think.
[img]http://i1053.photobucket.com/album ... .jpg[/img]

[Archer]

Either the image is broken or am yet a victim of internet censorship? If not, thats the best execution of a freehand red x I ever saw...

Ah photobucket...work computers dont digest it...

[Ocelot55]

That's really not too shabby. For a freehand the shape is a little boring. I probably would have taken off more material. Still, nice looking pipe. The finish turned out really well.

[Silverspur81]

Here is a picture of the top.
[img]http://i1053.photobucket.com/album ... .jpg[/img]

[maxmil]

A well-executed classic.
Best regards.
Félix

Un clásico bien ejecutado.
Saludos.
Félix

[The Smoking Yeti]

Very well done by all means. Some things you could do to improve would be removing more material and creating sharper lines. What I have in mind is the rim of the bowl especially, if you adjusted the angle of the bowl by taking off a hair more material it'd give the bowl a very distinct and defined look. However- I'm not an expert by any means, thats just my personal preference speaking. One thing for sure is your finish looks nice. Keep making pipes!

[Sasquatch]

Silver, I'm going to disagree with what's been posted. I don't think it's especially well executed, good looking, harmonious, balanced or proportioned.

I haven't de-constructed a pipe on here for awhile, not in a serious way, and I'll do it for you if you want. It's not a real fun process, and if you are a guy who is just wanting to putter away at pipes and have some fun, that's great, I'll leave you to it. If you want your next freehand to be "better", we gotta talk.

[Silverspur81]

Hey Sas,
Go ahead and let me know what you think could be changed. Just so you know this was a kit pipe so I was limited on the stem .

[Sasquatch]

Okay, that's good to know. A bunch of comments I'll make here are fairly generic, and if you can't apply them to this particular pipe, maybe it's something for next time.

First, the good: Your finish is real good - I see no sanding scratches at all. You made the most of the grain, got a great birdseye rim, and kind of echoed that shape on the shank.

Improveable: The overall shape is unconvincing - it's pretty heavy and the nice sharp work on the rim is sort of wasted by the less sharp shank and bowl shaping. Is it a dublin? Why is the bottom drooping down? Is it a free-flowing will-o-the-wisp expression? No, because the rim and the end of the shank treatment are more or less planar. So it's kind of stuck between nice tight shaping and nice flowing shaping: winds up being neither.

In either event, a lot more wood could come off - this is probably the single most telltale sign of an early freehand. That flat area just above where the shank meets the bowl is pretty common, a remnant of the sawed shape, usually.

The stem has nothing to do with the stummel - it's a lumpy indistinct shape that doesn't flatter the pipe (and it's too long to boot). That neat angle you cut on the end of the shank is wasted by the next part - the harrow-disc on the stem. So there's no compositional carry through - simply a stummel and a random stem.

When you show a pipe like this off, most people will say "Hey that's terrific/beautiful/wonderful, you're so talented!" and if you show it to a pipe maker, he sees a #221 stem and a half finished stummel. No offense.

It's impossible to get good at freehands without making about 10 that look like this. And everywhere you look, you'll see ugly freehands that have no purpose in design and no continuity or compositional identity. Compare an 80 dollar Nording with a Jacono (or even with a 300 dollar Nording).

These are very hard pipes to start out with. There's no real rules, and yet it's far easy to make them ugly than pretty, until you get some fundamental ideas squared away. I'm totally convinced that making pipes "with rules" is the fastest way to improve on pipes without. Get your hands used to doing pipey stuff and your brain used to thinking pipey thoughts. Learning tolerances and proportions on those pipes lends itself to doing the freeform stuff better.

Anyway, that's a creditable attempt with a pipe kit. There's only so much a guy can do when the stem and the angles and everything are decided for you.

[Tommi]

Hello,
that is a very good 3rd Pipe, Please continue.
Greetings Tommi

[Silverspur81]

Thanks for the idea's Sas. I think you are correct about the bottom of the bowl dropping down. I'm still learning alot so the suggestions are greatly appreciated.
What is the harrow disc on the stem? I don't understand that part.

Thanks
Jeremy

[Sasquatch]

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http ... CGYQ9QEwAw

[Silverspur81]

Ha, I think that might be alittle bit over the top but I get the idea.