Calumet wrote:
Can I ask what the yellowish material is you used on the 'Bumblefish'?
And does it have a millitary mouthpiece or a regular one?
magruder wrote:Could you share some info on the syn. horn? Source, working it, feel in the mouth, etc.?
The first is synthetic amber, a polyester-based material that I found at a knife makers supply place. Same for the synthetic horn. It's a tad softer than ebonite, and seems very sensitive to high heat, but also finishes well and is very forgiving. For instance, I normally sand ebonite to about 2000 grit using Abralon discs to be sure the surface is nice and smooth. However, I quickly found that wasn't necessary with this polyester-based stuff. Anything past 500 grit was a waste of time. Buffing is best done with white compound, and just skip the brown tripoli.
I found it all here:
http://www.masecraftsupply.com/
He's got all kinds of goodies there.
In terms of mouth feel, I'd rank it with good quality ebonite. It has some give, doesn't "click" on your teeth like acrylic can, and has a pleasant warmth. I left the bit on that pipe somewhat thick at .16" just for insurance, and as I get more familiar with the material, I'm sure that I'll be more comfortable thinning it out some. But since it is a tad softer than vulcanite, I don't think it could really get into the .10 range that ebonite and acrylic can sometimes withstand.
Overall, I think it's a great material. It's not the most inexpensive decorative stem material at about $40 per meter (or $1 per inch), but the color of the horn and amber synthetics are so good, that it's completely worth the cost to me.
And finally....
The bumblefish has a really cool stem arrangement. The block of synthetic amber was countersunk using one of the tobacco chamber bits from Brad, and I turned a lip on the stem so that once it's in the hole it provides a nice fit. I did this to save a little weight, since the polyester stuff is a little heavy if you use big chunks of it. A took a quick snapshot of the arrangement to illustrate what I mean:
