2nd Pipe For Critique Please - Small Volcano

[shikano53]

This is my second pipe. It is a small volcano made from a medium piece of grade 3 briar. There are a number of pits/flaws that were impossible to sand out. I didn't want to rusticate it and since no one will ever smoke or gaze at it but me, I decided to finish it smooth and live with the flaws. Hopefully one of these days I'll get a piece of briar that doesn't have pits or flaws. Luck of the draw unless you are buying grade one plateaux, but I know. All comments, suggestions welcome.
Nothing fancy.

[baweaverpipes]

I believe a Smurf left a piece of gum behind the stem.

[shikano53]

It's actually stick-tack just to hold the pipe in place but gum would work fine too.

[shikano53]

Just a few comments???
Anything at all to help me work at correcting flaws and mistakes and learning?
Please???

[baweaverpipes]

When sanding, do not remove the stem, leave the stem in the pipe. This keeps you from rounding the stem at the shank.
The bend on the stem is too abrupt at the middle. A graceful bend would be an improvement.
The stem looks a bit thick at the button.
Clean up the button hole. A pipe cleaner with tripoli should help.
Sharp edges on the button hole are unpleasant.
If you look at your photos I'm certain you see the same things.

[shikano53]

Thank you very much!
I will start working on those comments.

The button, yeah, as you mentioned I saw that. I actually kept the stem in the stummel for the entire process of sanding and shaping and it was a good fit, (in my eyes) until I took the stem off and worked my way through all my Micro-mesh pads and then when I put the stem back into the shank I said, "rats." Do you finish staining and then take it to your wheels for the diamond process still keep the stem in the shank? I haven't been starting off with red diamond. My understanding is that red diamond is on the order of 400 grit so I have been going to white diamond, green, then Carnauba wax. I haven't used shellac yet. Thinking I might start using it. 1lb shellac.

[LatakiaLover]

Either borrow a friend's pipe for a few days or use one of your own to use as a model. Choose a simple one, shape-wise.

Then do your best to copy it. Every detail, every line, and in every way. When you've done your absolute best, take photos of it plus the original and post them.

Asking questions will then have a point. You'll already know what matches and what doesn't, so you'll want to know HOW to do the specific things you were unable to figure out/get right, and the explanations will make sense.

New carvers trying to compose pipes out of thin air makes no more sense than sitting a kid down for his first piano lesson and telling him to play music.

[Ratimus]

I would hold off on the shellac for a while longer. Learn how to get it super shiny on its own first. Shellac won't take a pipe from dull to shiny, but it can take a pipe from "shiny as heck" to "shiny as hell." It will also help keep it a little shinier for a little longer, and will help keep the stain from bleeding. If you jump into using it right now, it will only complicate your process, giving you one more thing to worry about and one more thing to troubleshoot if things go wrong.

Also, I don't know what compounds you're using, but green is often the coursest, followed by red and then white.

[shikano53]

Either borrow a friend's pipe for a few days or use one of your own to use as a model. Choose a simple one, shape-wise.

Then do your best to copy it. Every detail, every line, and in every way. When you've done your absolute best, take photos of it plus the original and post them.

Asking questions will then have a point. You'll already know what matches and what doesn't, so you'll want to know HOW to do the specific things you were unable to figure out/get right, and the explanations will make sense.

New carvers trying to compose pipes out of thin air makes no more sense than sitting a kid down for his first piano lesson and telling him to play music.

Great advice, thank you! I will do exactly that.

[DocAitch]

I think you are doing very well for a second pipe. The general lines and symmetry look OK, and I can tell where you are headed.
Your problem is with maintaining those lines. The lines of the bowl have a couple of minor abrupt direction changes and the line of the stem has that bulge, worse in the vertical but present about an inch out in all views. Watch the gleam lines (the light reflected from the polished surfaces).
Using a file and watching the cut surface helps me to maintain my line. It also may be helpful to use a bright light tangentially looking for those unwanted line changes, flat spots, and ridges.
It has taken me a while to accept that George is right when he advises you to rein in your creativity and try to produce a good copy of a classic shape. You will learn a lot by figuring out how shape and finish a fixed, classic shape, and those skills can be applied to your own shapes when you have mastered them.
Until you have standard by which to judge your technique, you will be floundering around and wasting your time, or learning the wrong things.
DocAitch

[shikano53]

Thanks Doc! I really appreciate the comments.
I copied them and pasted them into a word doc for referral.