Bamboo Volcano

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kamkiel
Posts: 405
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:35 am
Location: Chongqing, China

Bamboo Volcano

Post by kamkiel »

Hi everyone. This is my first attempt at a volcano, and I'm sure there are plenty of things I could do better. This was just a left over piece of wood from a bigger block so I added the bamboo. I also tried adding some acrylic beads into the bamboo since I was experimenting. I ran stainless steel tubing through the length of the bamboo and did one of those reverse mortise tenon connections for the stem. Originally a saddle stem was going to be used, but I couldn't get it to look the way I wanted it and ended up just doing a tapered stem. The bottom line on the stem is kind of crappy...something to work on(think I say that everytime). There is also a fatal flaw where on the shank near the bowl. It is a really skinny crack that goes from top to bottom on the right side (driver's front right).

Enough blabber. Critiques and comments are welcome. Thanks for looking.

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DocAitch
Posts: 1113
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 12:44 am
Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Re: Bamboo Volcano

Post by DocAitch »

Interesting pipe. It is generally attractive and puts me in mind of an opium pipe.
Understanding that you were limited in your options by the fact that this is a piece of scrap briar, I still have a couple of comments.
1) The shank appears to curve to the right on the bottom view
2) the bowl rim treatment looks 'kinked' with a relatively sharp upward sweep that I think would look better if it were smoother (less sharp)
3) I think that this would look better with less bamboo, perhaps only two knuckles
4) I agree that the stem has something going on, but I am not exactly sure what that is. It looks like you continued the groove from the bamboo into the acrylic, and that affected your profile, but I am not sure. I am also not sure I like those beads at the leaf joints, seems like something that will be quickly lost.
DocAitch
"Hettinger, if you stamp 'hand made' on a dog turd, some one will buy it."
-Charles Hollyday, pipe maker, reluctant mentor, and curmudgeon
" Never show an idiot an unfinished pipe!"- same guy
kamkiel
Posts: 405
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:35 am
Location: Chongqing, China

Re: Bamboo Volcano

Post by kamkiel »

Thanks DocAitch for taking the time! You're right about the shank coming out towards the right of the bottom. That piece of bamboo isn't drilled in the "center" either. I followed center dot on the bamboo and let the drill bit do the rest. As a result the shank is thinner on the left side of the pipe. I think that it is what also messed me up on the stem. When I was going for the original saddle cut the stem looked even more off center.

As far as the other design choices/experiments go, it was also an experiment to see what others thought. With this pipe, I wanted to see how other pipe makers felt about them. I did three knuckles on the bamboo because its a small piece of wood, and I didnt want it to appear too "stubby". The mini holes around the knuckles was to exaggerate that texture, and the beads(more like the shape of the top of a hamburger bun) were for the fun of it. I am not worried about those falling out. They are in there pretty good.

The pipe won't be smoked because of that fracture around the shank stemming from the flaw. I have a friend who runs a tea shop out here and he likes to collect and display all kinds of knick knacks. I will probably just give him the pipe to put in his "neat stuff" case.

Thanks again!
Kiel
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