Bent Dublin With My First Hand Made Acrylic Stem

[shikano53]

Hi folks, I would like some feedback on this. It's my first attempt at turning an acrylic stem.
A bit of info
I used a tapered drill bit to drill to 1/2" of button.
Used a 5/64" to drill the button hole
Used a Dremel to start the slot. Then used various files and a 1/16" bit in my hand drill to work the slot.
All comments welcome.


Delrin Tenon




Got a bit of stain in the bottom

[Ratimus]

Not at all bad for a first hand cut stem. The bite zone looks like it could be a bit thinner, it's slightly under bent, and the taper could stand to start closer to the shank.

The bowl kind of evokes the image of a guy who is starting straight up at the sky, so much so that he is about to fall backwards. If you lessened the overall height (particularly in the front) and took a bit off the heel, I think the oval composition flow better. My opinion.

I can't fix the bend, but here's a quick hack job I did on my phone to illustrate what I'm taking about.

[shikano53]

Thanks Ryan, I see what you mean. I will incorporate your comments in the next Dublin.

[DocAitch]

A tiny bit of taper on the lateral sides of the shank would also look nicer. The vertical shot of the shank looks good, so the shank is a little ovoid at the bowl.
There is also an apparent 'wave' to the contour of the bowl where it meets the top. This has to be addressed by eye ball and file. I mark the high spots with a pencil and give them a few kisses with the file until the contour satisfies me.
You job on the stem is pretty darn good. I do think that if your last 1/2" of stem were drilled at 1/16", that little crescent wouldn't show in the slot. Those 1/64" ths add up.
Nice job.
DocAitch

[LatakiaLover]

[shikano53]

Awesome feedback! Thank you. Ryan and Doc, I copied both of those pictures along with your comments to my working learning file. I was wondering about the difference between drilling that last 1/2" 1/16" or 5/64". Would the draw be more restricted if I drilled that last 1/2" 1/16"?
I don't have any pipes with an airway that small.

[sandahlpipe]

For drilling, I'd suggest trying it to find out. I drill 1/16" and open it up. I don't think the extra 1/32" will do much one way or another.

Besides George's corrections, I think there should be less sharp of a radius on the top of the shank heading into the bowl. Not much, maybe just 1/8" or so.

You also have some scratches on the rim. towards the shank side.

[shikano53]

thanks Jeremiah, I will make those changes on my next try. Missed the scratches.
In the pic below is this what you are referring to?

[Sasquatch]

Yeah there's a fine line between "forced and ugly" and "relaxed and graceful" and "this guy didn't bother". You can make things too perfect, too tight, and I guess it depends on whether the pipe is full of those kind of ideas. What's right for any given pipe depends only on that particular pipe. This is where drawing a dozen of the same pipes with tiny variations is helpful - you can kind of see what relaxing some aspect of the shape does, and usually the result is astounding with only a minimal amount of change in shaping.

[sandahlpipe]

You got it on the picture. I'd go for more of the Cavicchi kind of radius next time.

[shikano53]

Thank you so much guys for your feedback!
Sask, I don't know how it works for each individual person but I know that when I sketch something, after erasing, redrawing something will 'pop' and say 'Yeah'!

[pipeguy]

Sas are those tooling marks I see or blotches????

[shikano53]

Probably both. Tooling marks for sure in the bigger blotches.

[RickB]

Sas are those tooling marks I see or blotches????

Actually they look distinctly like the markings of an ursus opificibus minoris.

[Sasquatch]

Tiny Shop Bears do range fairly far north. And unlike bees they aren't seasonal.

[shikano53]

So to eliminate tooling marks, is the answer, being more careful, sanding to a higher grit, going over the work piece with a magnifying glass to identify those areas? If you miss some tooling marks after the first stain, do you have to work those areas with a lower grit, say 320? then a higher grit. After I complete first stain and sanding, I take a damp cloth and go over the surface of the work piece looking for those tell tale signs of tooling marks. What do you folks recommend?

[RickB]

So to eliminate tooling marks, is the answer, being more careful, sanding to a higher grit, going over the work piece with a magnifying glass to identify those areas? If you miss some tooling marks after the first stain, do you have to work those areas with a lower grit, say 320? then a higher grit. After I complete first stain and sanding, I take a damp cloth and go over the surface of the work piece looking for those tell tale signs of tooling marks. What do you folks recommend?

This has been what I've been doing, and I'm yet to not have to go back and duplicate a step or two. Damn shop bears.
Eager to see what the folks who know their shit say.

[Sasquatch]

Sand REALLY thoroughly at like 220-240. Then 320, then stain, then sand it back and look for the wounds, sand them out, 220 and 320, then sand the whole thing at 400 and stain again, you want to pay really close attention to moving through the grits and doing a good job in the tough areas - shank bowl transition etc.

Once you have a pipe that is stained up and sanded back and it doesn't look like shit, you can either top stain or just move on to a sealing coat.

This is why factory pipes are done with colored topcoats so often - just fire that dark red lacquer on there and no one can see all the miniscule sanding marks.

I often wipe the pipe right after I stain too, with a super thin shellac, like a sealer - evens out the stain and lets me see what the grain is doing.

[LatakiaLover]

[RickB]

Sand REALLY thoroughly at like 220-240. Then 320, then stain, then sand it back and look for the wounds, sand them out, 220 and 320, then sand the whole thing at 400 and stain again, you want to pay really close attention to moving through the grits and doing a good job in the tough areas - shank bowl transition etc.

Once you have a pipe that is stained up and sanded back and it doesn't look like shit, you can either top stain or just move on to a sealing coat.

This is why factory pipes are done with colored topcoats so often - just fire that dark red lacquer on there and no one can see all the miniscule sanding marks.

I often wipe the pipe right after I stain too, with a super thin shellac, like a sealer - evens out the stain and lets me see what the grain is doing.

I'll integrate that into my process. Thank you!