pictures of first pipe!

[sethruiner]

it isn't very good so i need some critiqing. be brutal if you have to.






thanks for looking.

[Ocelot55]

Well, without seeing the engineering I'd say you've made the same rookie mistakes a lot of new pipemakers do, but yours is better than some I've seen.

Most of the critique I can give is on shaping. You need to be more deliberate on your shape. Is it a a billiard or a poker? If it was a poker you rounded the bottom too much, if it was a billiard then you need to remove a lot more material. The top isn't round. I would suggest getting a round stencil and sand or file to that line when you shape.

Did you use a power sander or files? If you used a sander I recommend you do the finer shaping with files. They don't take off material as fast so it gives you more time to contemplate what material needs to go. Try to taper the shank ever so gently into the stem. Its got a few bulges in it now.

Your sanding looks good as far as I can tell.

It takes lots of practice. The best advice is just to slow down and take your time. For a first pipe that is pretty good. Now go make 10 more.

[Tyler]

Way to go!

Congrats on your first.

[Growley]

Great work on your first pipe! It looks like you put a lot of time into it. There is certainly critique I could offer, but it's your first pipe, so I'd say enjoy it's completion.

I would also say that it seems you have an eye for it, so here's my advice: If you started carving without a particular pipe in mind, find a pipe that's close to yours in shape (like a poker for example) and compare yours to it. If you had a particular pipe in mind or something to copy from, go back and see how close you got. Really look at the lines, connections, symmetry and so on.

Also, I find it good to put the project down for a bit. You'll find that once you've put your pipe down for a few days or so and come back to it with a refreshed perspective you'll find all kinds of things you can do better next time, (areas for opportunity, as is so subtly stated in the corporate world.)

Take that, and all the wonderful information you'll get from this site (especially other critiques on other pipes, as they so often apply to each first pipe) and you'll make an even better 2nd pipe.

Nice work.

Brian.

[sethruiner]

thanks for all the advice, i will definatly use it.

[kkendall]

Here's an exercise you can use

Consider your pipe up on the pipe board behind the counter at your local B&M. There it is among several pipes by various makers. For your first few pipes, you can see for yourself what your pipe needs as far as shape, wavy profiles, symmetry, stem/shank joint, etc. (All the things you would look at on a pipe you asked the clerk to let you look at up close).