rusticated billiard and rusticates egg with cumberland stem

[the rev]

so this is the billiard I posted a few days ago all finished and ready to send out to his happy new owner













Charcoal and Brown Marble













rev

[taharris]

Nicely done.

[d.huber]

3 things, take 'em or leave 'em:

1. More sanding
2. More symmetry (in these symmetric shapes)
3. Shorter button

[WCannoy]

Ok Rev, I'm gonna chime in on your latest works, and it's not going to be pretty. I hope you understand that I'm not trying to discourage you or bash your work, but I want to help you take your work to the next level by pointing out some issues that need to be addressed! So as you read this, don't imagine me standing above you, pointing my finger down, scolding and laughing at your work. Imagine that I'm standing beside you, having a frank conversation as a colleague, in a helpful, friendly, and encouraging voice!

Now, your "Big Bottom Brandy", I want to like it, but I can't. This could have been a hit, and was very, very close to being a hit... but if it's not a hit, it's a miss. The shape of the bowl looks fine, and it matches the grain of the briar very well. I don't understand the shank and stem. They do not seem to belong with this pipe, it's not cohesive. You said it's either a hawkbill or a Brandy... well, the confusion shows, and it needed to go more one way or the other. It might be better if there were more shank to it, but as is it feels very out of balance. The stem needs more bend to it, so it ends up more parallel to the rim of the bowl, and the bend should be very smooth, not abrupt.

The "Silver Nightsong" eggie kind of pipe is a mess. It's a great idea, great design, but the execution is not good. Again, this one seems to have too little shank. It's hard to tell if a short shank is trying to curve up or curve down. It confuses my eye. I like the silver ring on there, but then the stem... The joint between the stem and ring is, well, sloppy. The stem looks faceted? Paneled? It should be round at the joint, and the lines extending from the shank through the ring, on the profile, should continue to flow through the stem. Again, the stem looks like it should have a tad more bend to it, and I don't know if it is just reflections or what, but the lines of the stem look lumpy and uneven. This stem just does not belong with this pipe. I used to make that mistake until, at a pipe show years ago, Teddy Knudsen was looking at one of my pipes, one that I was particularly proud of, and he pointed out the fact that my elaborately turned stem did not "match" the pipe. He told me it made the whole pipe look bad. I think a lot of pipemakers consider the stem as an afterthought, but it can make or break a pipe.

The billiard and the charcoal pipe are much better in terms of overall flow and cohesiveness, so I'm not going to nit-pick those. But a couple more things that apply to all of these pipes in general... Spend more time on your fit and finish! These stem/shank joints could all stand to be much cleaner. If you need help on this, just say so and I'll try to make a video (although I can't promise that it will be made soon). The stems all show scratches and sanding marks, and lack the high gloss shine one would expect from a fine handmade pipe. As mentioned above, the buttons are quite tall. File them down a little more, they'll look much better and feel much better. Making the stem nice and thin at the button will make the pipe feel lighter when clenched!

The rustication on the billiard and the eggie pipe looks cheap. It looks like tool marks, looks mechanical. A good rustication should look organic. It doesn't have to look like a rock, or a piece of coral, or tree bark, but it shouldn't be recognizable as tool marks. The rustication on your charcoal pipe is much better than the others.

Lastly, a couple of things about uniformity... On the charcoal pipe, especialy the photo of the bottom, and the last photo of the side view, the finish on those smooth parts needs to be smooth! It looks very blotchy, and that's not good! On the top view, there's a place on the shank right where it meets the stem that looks like it got scuffed or something. Also not good. These things will also make or break a reputation!
On the billiard, the front of the bowl especially, it looks like your rustication tool left some burn marks in the briar and they are showing through the stain. This lack of uniformity just does not look good. If you can't avoid burining the wood with the tool, maybe use a darker stain.

Rev, take your time. You should not be concerned about producing many pipes at this point, you should be concerned with producing better pipes!

I could be wrong...

but I don't think so.

[Sasquatch]

If Walt is wrong, I'm wrong too. I see the fundamental confusion here of "what does it mean to have a bent stem and how does that relate to the stummel". The curve of the stem has to be reversed or S'ed on most bent pipes, rather than continued in an arc all the way. The continued arc is one specific shape, a hawkbill, which sees it's origins in a pipe like the Castello 55 and the pinnacle in a true hawkbill like the Casello 84.

The bowl on the billiard is a really good shape. Everything else on the pipe needs work. Technical stuff, not artistic stuff at this stage.

[the rev]

thanks guys, I have been waiting for this. I appreciate it. As to production, I am not trying to blast out pipes, I have been working on these four for about four weeks. I think my fit will be better now that I have the lathe back, but I would appreciate any video help I could get.

rev

[the rev]

so on the brandy type one should I have made the pipe smaller to create a longer shank? I kept feeling like the stem was too long, should I have made it shorter?

by the way, I do sincerely thank you guys for helping me

rev

[wisemanpipes]

i have no right to comment or critique these pipes like Walt, but i will say that i like the billiard most followed by the brandy. like he said, bowl is sick. stem, not so much.

Walt, this is great critique and although it takes alot of time to carefully look over every pipe, im sure everyone reading this will benefit and know what to look for.

anyway, keep at 'er Rev

-evan

[Ocelot55]

John, this is excellent stuff to take to heart. Walt critiqued one of my pipes a while back. While he tore the bloody thing apart and my self esteem was reduced to a quivering blob in the corner, you better believe I tried darn hard not to make those mistakes in the future. I still made some, and will probably still continue to, but being conscious of what you need to fix is the first step to correcting the problem.

I think you've come a long way pretty fast. This is where most hobbyists stop. Keep pushing forward.

[the rev]

Oh Walt is showing love, I appreciate it. If he was just a dick like Sas I would be planning his death

I am not quitting, I am a bit frustrated as I learn better hands on with a teacher, mentor at my side. But I am currently working on that.

rev

[wisemanpipes]

Oh Walt is showing love, I appreciate it. If he was just a dick like Sas I would be planning his death

I am not quitting, I am a bit frustrated as I learn better hands on with a teacher, mentor at my side. But I am currently working on that.

rev

howd you get sas to goto cali? he only stays in negative temperatures, like most of us canadians

[Sasquatch]

The stem is probably long, and probably you looked at the pipe and took the proportions of an ordinary pipe, found that to get them, you needed a longer stem because the shank is short, and the net effect is exactly what you DIDN'T want in the first place - it actually accentuates the fact that the shank is a little short.

Extended and slightly recurved (shank), you can indeed shorten the stem and the whole thing comes back into more ordinary proportions.

[the rev]

thanks heaps Sas, that looks much better.

I was actually talking about the straight grain pipe, if its not too much trouble can you photo shop that one too? I so appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

rev

[e Markle]

These are nice pipes, but the stems are all wrong. You should have drawn them out first. ;P

I didn't read everything Walt wrote (verbose lil' sucker, huh?), but I'm guessing I agree with most of it. I'm not sure where you are in your learning process, but to state the obvious, you want to develop an eye for pipes as well as an ability to realize what you envision. If you have trouble seeing some of the things that Walt points out, just make a pic file of pipes you like when you browse websites, and go back and review them constantly. The potentially frustrating thing is that (based on the pics I see here) what you really need to do is spend more time making pipes. I think most people start seeing how they could/should have done a past pipe with time. You'll start to self correct a lot of the issues you have with these just through repetition.

[Sasquatch]

thanks heaps Sas, that looks much better.

I was actually talking about the straight grain pipe, if its not too much trouble can you photo shop that one too? I so appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

rev

You cross threaded! I'll go look at that one too.