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i had this question pop into my mind the other day. does the style of stem matter for the overall style of pipe? this may be a newbie question, since that's what i am. thanks for the info!

Yes.

Hope this helps.











(Can you be more specific?)

The stem is half the pipe, so yes, it matters a lot!

A very common newbie mistake is to think of a pipe as a stemmel and a stem.

The result is a piece of carved wood with a piece of hard rubber sticking out of it.

You need to visualize the stemmel and the stem as a single unit so that the two flow gracefully into each other.

Todd

sethruiner wrote:i had this question pop into my mind the other day. does the style of stem matter for the overall style of pipe? this may be a newbie question, since that's what i am. thanks for the info!

As a newbie trying to carve pipes, the answer is YES, and YES. As one tries to make a pipe that is more than just a vehicle into which one puts tobacco, the stem becomes all important. I have yet to make one, though I intend to take that as the next step (when some bits come in).

Stems were the last thing I thought about for a long time and the last thing I wanted to work on. To me the beauty was in the wood. Now that I see you can't have a beautiful pipe with out an equally beautiful stem, my focus has changed. They both have to be beautiful and they both have to work together to make up the composition.

See below: One could easily say that either option would "work" for a pipe, but the straw just gives it that extra Pizzazz that the lame saddle stem just doesn't offer...

Brian that example is awesome!

Is that a Tom Eltang pipe? That just shows the stummel can be nigh perfect, but without the right stem it looks pretty dorky!

Ocelot55 wrote:Brian that example is awesome!

Is that a Tom Eltang pipe? That just shows the stummel can be nigh perfect, but without the right stem it looks pretty dorky!

Yeah, it's an Eltang.

Growley wrote:Stems were the last thing I thought about for a long time and the last thing I wanted to work on. To me the beauty was in the wood. Now that I see you can't have a beautiful pipe with out an equally beautiful stem, my focus has changed. They both have to be beautiful and they both have to work together to make up the composition.

See below: One could easily say that either option would "work" for a pipe, but the straw just gives it that extra Pizzazz that the lame saddle stem just doesn't offer...

REally hilarious, and correct!

I love the contrast stain you put on that stummel! I know, an Eltang. It sure is gorgeous, however.

Brian,

If that's a 5/16" straw then I think you may have just revolutionized pipemaking as we know it. Can you share your source for the straws?

wdteipen wrote:Brian,

If that's a 5/16" straw then I think you may have just revolutionized pipemaking as we know it. Can you share your source for the straws?

They are in fact 5/16". Unfortunately I have to import them from Germany. It seems the US can't figure out how to extrude the pastic well. We could put together a group buy. They come in red, yellow, blue and green.

Growley wrote:

wdteipen wrote:Brian,

If that's a 5/16" straw then I think you may have just revolutionized pipemaking as we know it. Can you share your source for the straws?

They are in fact 5/16". Unfortunately I have to import them from Germany. It seems the US can't figure out how to extrude the pastic well. We could put together a group buy. They come in red, yellow, blue and green.

I'm in for 12 meters of blue.

....Now I've gone and gotten Seth's legitimate thread hijacked trying to have some Friday Photoshop fun. Let me see if I can get it back on track.

I used to find that cutting and finishing the stem was among the last group of steps in my process. This tends to be the time when I just want to get the pipe polished up and see how good the grain is. I get impatient. My first stems were terrible, and only slightly better now. On top of that, buttons are equally important.

I feel like the sooner you can work your stem into your carving process, the better. Don't see it as a necessary evil to finishing the pipe. See it as part of the beauty.

Indeed I'd like to reinforce what Growley said. Consider your whole pipe as a composition of flowing lines. The lines need to flor from Stem to stern. As such, having the stem attached and shaped early on is probably going to make everything look better and more fluid- especially if you're like me and you're really impatient and just say "f-it" when you get to the stem. Get in the habit of working hard on stems early on. It pays off in the end game.

Cheers.

yeah, sorry, i guess i wasn't specific enough in my question. i understand now though. you guys have provided good (and hilarious) insight for me though. there aren't a lot of rules in pipe making as it's more of an art, and i was thinking that specific styles of pipe (dublin, poker, brandy etc.) use specific styles of stem. i guess it's true to a point though, you wouldn't really put a short staight stem on a churchwarden if you want it to look like a churchwarden. it's up to the artist to make the pipe look good like some of you have said. i don't know if this clears up where i was coming from but i thought i'd try. as i make more pipes, i will post pictures of them and let you guys tear 'em apart until i learn the art!

Growley wrote: See below: One could easily say that either option would "work" for a pipe, but the straw just gives it that extra Pizzazz that the lame saddle stem just doesn't offer...

Umm, hey guys, back to the important stuff. Can we make this happen? Very specific lucite or blown glass or something? This feels like something that needs to happen.