2013 Pipe In The Hat Trade

[Ocelot55]

I'm in!

[oklahoma red]

I have this image of Walle in my head, rubbing his hands with glee as he starts planning his carved rutabaga.
Farmer's Market is a good theme Scottie. JJ and spouse, thanks for the idea.
I'm in.
Chas.

[MonsieurLabo]

I'm still in...

[Vermont Freehand]

I'm in

I can provide long blocks if anyone needs them (ebauchon or plateaux, 3 grades to choose from)

[taharris]

Sounds like fun. I'll play.

Todd

[Massis]

I'm in

I can provide long blocks if anyone needs them (ebauchon or plateaux, 3 grades to choose from)

I need some, but that also requires money, which I need even more

[The Smoking Yeti]

Count me in tentatively- just add a question mark by my name. I'm still ashamed for backing out from last year, so I don't want to get ya'lls hopes up. I love the veggie/fruit idea.

Cheers!

Yeti

[jjpipes]

No way am I going to saddle any experienced pipe maker here with one of my pipes yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing what everybody turns out. Maybe later on down the line I'll jump on board.

The point of the pith exchange this year is to give your best interpretation of what ever fruit or veggie you choose and apply your best pipe making skills ( e.g. bowl shank transitions drilling stem shank connection and so on). fashion that into an organic shape. study go to a farmers market, go to an ethnic food store. look at the produce LIKE you never looked at it before, think pipes then join us. I wish I had participated starting when the theme was Wally I didn't think I was good enough, I regret that decision, I think I would be a better pipe maker today if I had participated.

[jjpipes]

I'm in

...Shape: FARMER'S MARKET
Any Fruit, Vegetable or Nut you want to carve.
The shank length must be at least twice the bowl height (else I"ll come to your house and woop that hine leg!!........Yes, I'm a hillbilly princess )...

Your killing me my first thought was to do an Oom Paul drilling, with the bowl totally encompassing the shank (I have some green and brown ebonite that would be perfect for the stem), second was a horn maid into half of a banana, neither would meet the shank requirement. you may have to come to my house and woop my hine leg, but woop the left one It's already bad I need the right one to walk.

[Literaryworkshop]

Aw, shoot, I'm an amateur gardener to boot. I haunt the local farmers' market on Saturday mornings.

You've talked me into it.

Count me in.

Oh, one more question. I'm assuming the pipe should be briar? Or would an alternative wood be acceptable? Just want to make sure I'm clear on the parameters.

[jogilli]

now this is really sounding interesting.. but if I have to go to some hindi food market to find a fruit or vegetable I like, does that mean I have to come out of the store and hug the first tree I see? and what do you mean by ethic? I'd be hard to make a collard green or cornbread shaped pipe...ham hocks I can see.. but collards.. gotta think about that one

james

[jogilli]

one more thing.. tomorrow I've taken off from work and will inevitably be going shopping with the wife.. daily visits to the food store is one of the things I've never caught on to over here in Europe, but who knows.. I can see all the little German Fraus looking at me with astonishment as I 'fondle' all the veggies and fruits trying to figure out how I can smoke from it

I'm in

james

[scotties22]

Okay fellers. Here's the list so far. Holler if I missed anyone

1. scotties22
2. Ocelot55
3. Oklahoma Red
4. MonsieurLabo
5. Vermont Freehand
6.Literaryworkshop
7. JJpipes
8. Massis
9. Wisemanpipes
10. Taharris
11. The Smoking Yeti (back out this time and I'll woop both yur hine legs!!!)
12. Jogilli (make sure to tell us your fruit fondling story tomorrow )
13. mredmond
14. Rodneywt1180b
15. BigCasino
16. Jthompson1995
17. Smokingdawg
18. fuchi_leg
19. Rev
20. mightysmurf8201


Jon, Walle,??? You boys in for sure?

[mredmond]

I'm in. I like the theme, a lot.

Micah

[jjpipes]

one more thing.. tomorrow I've taken off from work and will inevitably be going shopping with the wife.. daily visits to the food store is one of the things I've never caught on to over here in Europe, but who knows.. I can see all the little German Fraus looking at me with astonishment as I 'fondle' all the veggies and fruits trying to figure out how I can smoke from it

I'm in

james

Yes there is that feeling, I remember when I was training as a faux finish painter, my mentor would say "If you want to paint marble you have to know what marble looks like, you think you do but you don't." I've been out of that trade for almost 20 years now and I still find people looking me funny, when I'm looking at marble walls analyzing how I would reproduce them with paint. they think I'm nuts, staring at the walls. I might be nuts, but I'm not staring, I'm studying, it's a habit.
As far as carvers go (especially new ones) my suggestion to study the fruit or object like they never looked at it before, is because we all think we know what a strawberry looks like but not always, we can all draw a stick figure of a strawberry and every would recognize it as a strawberry but you go to carve one, you need to see more detail, is it symmetrical or asymmetrical, are there flats are they really flat or concaved, are there folds in the shape is the deepest part of the fold soft or sharp(do I use a chisel or rotary bit what bit)? what about the texture is it random or symmetrical? how can I reproduce or simulate it?
In the case of the strawberry it has random concave dimples, with little pimples inside. Don't get me wrong I'm knot saying all these things need to be incorporated in this project, but to see and understand them helps make practical choices. I have never seen a carved strawberry with the pimples in the dimples and even the dimples are not necessary, it could be smooth, I think scotties22 first sandblast would be wonderful on a strawberry, one could use a rotary texture very successfully or even a light nail texture.

jogilli you do wonderful work, this is really posted for carvers at my pay grade and below if there are any carvers below my grade.

[scotties22]

Did you mean to go all bold and big text?? or was that something that just happened?

James wasn't trying to razz you. He was just saying the same thing you did....but in a different way. And I can totally see some little old German woman staring at him in the produce section wondering what the hell he's gonna do with that parsnip.

[Rodneywt1180b]

Fair warning:
I've only made one really ugly pipe. I'd like to play along anyway. I'm pretty sure I can pull off something presentable by Sept. 30.
I'm in if you'll have me.
Rodney

[BigCasino]

ok well I would like to be "in" but I don't know if I can pull off a long shank on my press and I don't have the chucks I need for my lathe but I want to try, half the fun of creating things for me is solving problems

1st problem will be solved by Steve, I need a proper block,
and second I will need a chunk of ebonite, it's time for me to delve into the world of swearing and throwing handmade handmade stems,
I have been practicing Rads method of throwing stuff to the floor while yelling F!@*k

[scotties22]

Rodney, BC...gotcha added to the list.

[jjpipes]

Did you mean to go all bold and big text?? or was that something that just happened?

James wasn't trying to razz you. He was just saying the same thing you did....but in a different way. And I can totally see some little old German woman staring at him in the produce section wondering what the hell he's gonna do with that parsnip.

I didn't go big and bold! I did go large (not large bold). I did that because I'm old some times it's difficult to read, it came out larger than I wanted, but sense it offends you so much I have changed it!

I did not fell razzed by James I was commiserating with him. It does some time feel funny observing things in public but it's an important part of what carvers do (at least in my opinion).