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This has a wild black cherry stem inlay. I know it's not perfect, but I'm trying to improve. The stem/shank junction is not exactly perfect, but it sure will smoke nicely.

At first glance I thought the cherry was white acrylic. It's some clean looking wood!

Did you cut the stem from rod stock?

That was a pre-form stem that I started with.

I'm still learning lighting, here's a better picture of the cherry:

Should I bend it more?

no

rev

But you should take some straight on profile shots.

UberHuberMan wrote:But you should take some straight on profile shots.

More like this?

Much better. For future reference, profile angles of your work are the ones easiest to critique as they reveal the most problems if they exist.

I'm just going to mention what I see. Take it or leave it. I'm still pretty new at this. The pipe has a ton of excess meat that can come off, especially at the chin and the back top of the bowl between the shank and bowl. The stem needs bent just a tad more, but IMHO less bend is usually better than too much bend. The stem looks a little thick. Even though its a pre-fab you should try thinning it out at the bit. Also it looks as if the top portion of your saddle is taller than the bottom. The transition between your stem and shank could also be smoother.

Now onto more aesthetic stuff. I am not personally a fan of rustication that in any way looks mechanical, ie, produced by a machine. Rustication should be craggy and random. Use many different dremel bits, vary your depth, and make the pipe look like its been unearthed from the depths.

Finally onto the overall shape. I think that this is rather ill defined. Is it an Oom Paul? A bent egg? Why the flatter bottom? You should probably try to focus on making classics in order to improve your eye and allow others to have an objective standard to compare your pipe against.

Ok, now that you've waded through all that crap, I'll say that you've done a good job considering your experience. I am impressed by the seamless transitions of the insert on your stem. You're on the right track. You just need to make about 50 more!