1st ”Author” and 1st stem

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Flygare
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1st ”Author” and 1st stem

Post by Flygare »

Tried to make an author-ish shape on this. Its the first time that I do a pipe in morta and also my first try to make a stem from scratch.

Got some advice from @LatakiaLover (Big thanks!) in another thread on shaping and bending the stem and tried to follow them... After a few bend and rebends I still managed to get it a bit lopsided I think.

Maybe the stummel is a bit bulky and the shank/stem is a bit to long?

I feel like the overside of the stem follows a line but the underside lacks a bit?

Forming the button was a challenge and I feel like I have a bit to go on the learning curve there. But I enjoyed the stemwork and will do more, pherhaps a straight billiard next time...

If anyone have any critique or other comments you are more than welcome to tell me!

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LatakiaLover
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Re: 1st ”Author” and 1st stem

Post by LatakiaLover »

Impressive work given your limited experience and the intrinsic difficulty of the shape.

You can now either tweak this one into "tighter" condition overall (nowhere has too much material been removed, there are only surpluses), or make another pipe.
UFOs must be real. There's no other explanation for cats.
UnderShade
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Re: 1st ”Author” and 1st stem

Post by UnderShade »

Great job! Keep up the good work! Like George mentioned, you definitely have enough excess material to refine/tighten up your stem. Can’t wait to see more from you.
wdteipen
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Re: 1st ”Author” and 1st stem

Post by wdteipen »

To correct the underside of the stem line issue, you have to take more material off the bottom. It's easiest to do this after you've bent the stem. When you bend (especially a thicker stem) the material on the top is going to stretch somewhat and the underside of the bend is going to smush together causing all sorts of wonkiness. I actually undercut the bottom of my bent stems prior to bending. It takes a bit of experience to know just how much to remove but it makes bending thick stems a little easier when the material is removed prior to bending. Here's are some examples:
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Wayne Teipen
Teipen Handmade Briar Pipes
http://www.teipenpipes.com
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mightysmurf8201
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Re: 1st ”Author” and 1st stem

Post by mightysmurf8201 »

Flygare wrote: Tue Dec 17, 2019 3:47 pm
I feel like the overside of the stem follows a line but the underside lacks a bit?

You’re on the right track there. The side view looks like that bottom line is a bit flat. If you look at Wayne’s examples, you’ll notice a constant curve. Those are great examples that would be good to reference as you move forward.
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Emmanuel Atilano
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Flygare
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Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2019 6:29 am

Re: 1st ”Author” and 1st stem

Post by Flygare »

Thank you all so much for taking your time to help me out!

I’m going to make some more authors, really like the flowing shapes on them.

Merry christmas from a snowy Sweden!


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DocAitch
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Re: 1st ”Author” and 1st stem

Post by DocAitch »

Another point about your bite area- although we aim for a stem thickness of ~0.15” behind the button, our teeth actually meet the stem in front of the button (1/4”-1/2” or more). Look at the taper on both of Wayne’s pipes above. Your taper is too abrupt/steep and the stem way too thick for comfort where the teeth will actually contact it.
DocAitch
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LatakiaLover
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Re: 1st ”Author” and 1st stem

Post by LatakiaLover »

DocAitch wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 5:35 pm Another point about your bite area- although we aim for a stem thickness of ~0.15” behind the button, our teeth actually meet the stem in front of the button (1/4”-1/2” or more). Look at the taper on both of Wayne’s pipes above. Your taper is too abrupt/steep and the stem way too thick for comfort where the teeth will actually contact it.
The "magic".15" thickness is the pipeworld equivalent of horsepower for auto engines and wattage for sound systems. Terms/things that "everyone is familiar with"---and 95% think are all that matter---because simple answers are easily marketed.

The truth is there's a lot more to the story, as any auto or audio engineer will tell you.

Pipe stem comfort involves every dimension, angle, and curve to some extent; and the perception of bite zone thickness is a combinatorial thing.

The most important relationship is button height to tooth contact area. As a general rule, the steeper the taper rate, the taller the button must be.

Since a chubby author dictates its shape by definition---meaning slimming the stem past a certain point will turn the shape into something else---the best way to be comfortable and still look like one is to not round the bite zone's cross-section too much, and not lower the button height too much. The actual, measurable thickness of the bite zone and button is secondary to overall comfort to the extent they're almost incidental as long as everything else is in harmony.
UFOs must be real. There's no other explanation for cats.
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