wish I didn't have to rusticate...

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 3:53 pm

I know I don't have to rusticate, it's my choice and all that jazz... I made up my mind.

I know it's par for the course but I wish didn't have to rusticate this one...

LatakiaLover · Post by **LatakiaLover** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 4:05 pm

Don't worry, it's like any severe injury. Massive trauma causes a numbing shock effect within seconds. You won't feel a thing after the initial sting...

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 5:07 pm

Try Ye Olde Contraste Ftain. It might hide those minor imperfections.

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:20 pm

Damn, I wish I had bookmarked the site, but somebody out there is doing some really awesome partial rustications.

I could kick myself for not bookmarking it. But basically the maker was rusticating approximately 1/3 the pipe in 2-3 roughly 3/8-inch, fairly irregularly shaped sections.

The rusticated areas looked a lot like the original surface of the root ball. And they were stained almost black, while the rest of the pipe was stained a darkish brown.

But a large percentage of the grain was still on display.

I'm planning on doing it on the next pipe I make that turns out with some major "birthmarks".

But damn, I wish I had bookmarked that guy's page, because his partial rustications were really tastefully done.

LatakiaLover · Post by **LatakiaLover** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:49 pm

pierredekat wrote:Damn, I wish I had bookmarked the site, but somebody out there is doing some really awesome partial rustications.

This wouldn't be it---it's a Castello factory pipe---but your comments brought some clever stuff to mind. I love the "cracked egg" look happening here:

(The bowl shape sure is close to Ben's, too, isn't it?

)

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 11:22 am

pierredekat wrote:Damn, I wish I had bookmarked the site, but somebody out there is doing some really awesome partial rustications.

I could kick myself for not bookmarking it. But basically the maker was rusticating approximately 1/3 the pipe in 2-3 roughly 3/8-inch, fairly irregularly shaped sections.

The rusticated areas looked a lot like the original surface of the root ball. And they were stained almost black, while the rest of the pipe was stained a darkish brown.

But a large percentage of the grain was still on display.

I'm planning on doing it on the next pipe I make that turns out with some major "birthmarks".

But damn, I wish I had bookmarked that guy's page, because his partial rustications were really tastefully done.

your description of the rustication made me think that you MUST be thinking of this site:

http://www.fillenwarthpipes.com/rustic1.htm

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 1:12 pm

Yeah, those are sorta what I was talking about, but those weren't them. And I spent like an hour this morning trying to remember how I even found that site, back about a month ago ... What was I looking for? Did I follow a link from someplace? Was it something I was googling for?

I got nothing.

But anyway, I did a crude mock-up of what I was talking about. And I mean it's terribly crude. It was really hard trying to visualize 3-d rustication areas and sketch them on a 2-d picture.

It would be a whole lot easier on the actual pipe, where you could sit down with a pencil and draw on some kinda organic looking rustication areas -- kinda like cow-spots or leopard spots or something.

And then picture the rustication dark and the rest of the pipe nice and smooth, stained darkish reddish brown...

I don't know. Like I said, I wish I had bookmarked the site, because I was really impressed with the maker's use of partial rustication, and I was hoping I could pitch it out there as one possibility.

bluesmk · Post by **bluesmk** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 2:08 pm

As Kurt said, try the contrast stain, they really aren't bad....I mean they are not open.
I fight with partial rustication all the time, I can't bring myself to chew up a whole pipe when it has grain like yours !
Dan
Gabrieli Pipes

LatakiaLover · Post by **LatakiaLover** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 3:22 pm

bluesmk wrote:As Kurt said, try the contrast stain, they really aren't bad...

It's hard to imagine Eltang letting that one get away, for sure. You can always rusticate if it doesn't work (though it would have to be dark, I imagine.)

bluesmk · Post by **bluesmk** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 4:28 pm

That's what we're saying. If it works ....great, if not, then blast or rusticate.

Dan
Gabrieli Pipes

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:24 am

That sure is pretty grain. Why not see if a friend can blast it?

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:26 pm

pierredekat wrote:But basically the maker was rusticating approximately 1/3 the pipe in 2-3 roughly 3/8-inch, fairly irregularly shaped sections.

Robert, I have seen a couple of pipes similar to what you describe. I must admit, the first thought that came to my mind was, "This rustication was done to remove minor blemishes". I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it seemed obvious to me.
Here's an example of one I sold recently on eBay:

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:46 pm

Hey Ben,

Do yourself a favor and do not spot rusticate. There was a time when this was popular, but there aren't a whole lot of mid-graders who would consider doing it today. Partial rustication is only tasteful, in my opinion, if you can separate it by lines to make it look intentional and part of the overall design.

To be honest, the sandspots don't look too large or deep to be out of place on a sub-$500 pipe. Use a drop of superglue, sand it off, and then use a dark contrast stain. If it looks bad, you can always rusticate afterwards.

Just my opinion.

Jeff

bluesmk · Post by **bluesmk** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:31 pm

There ya go Ben, That's your best advice yet! Thanks Jeff!
Dan
Gabrieli Pipes

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 5:53 pm

jeff wrote:Hey Ben,

Do yourself a favor and do not spot rusticate. There was a time when this was popular, but there aren't a whole lot of mid-graders who would consider doing it today. Partial rustication is only tasteful, in my opinion, if you can separate it by lines to make it look intentional and part of the overall design.

To be honest, the sandspots don't look too large or deep to be out of place on a sub-$500 pipe. Use a drop of superglue, sand it off, and then use a dark contrast stain. If it looks bad, you can always rusticate afterwards.

Just my opinion.

Jeff

Ben on another forum wrote: Yeah... I'd love to but I'm having trouble finding a way to do an elegant two-tone or partial rustication. I usually won't do it unless there is obvious dividing lines... I guess I could create some obvious dividing lines....

sweet... I have the same ideas as jeff!

Post by **Tyler** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:34 pm

Just to throw out an opinion that no one asked for, all spot rustication is is taking a small flaw and making it bigger. I don't get it and don't like it. Like Jeff said, it can only be done well, IMO, when the shape allows for natural breaks in the rustication.

Tyler

souljer · Post by **souljer** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:37 am

Please don't spot or fully rusticate that. I agree with Jeff and Tyler.

If you can't hang on to it until you can sandblast it somewhere and you don't want to just do a dark high-contrast stain, then just leave it alone for now. Comeback to it when you can do it right. Or sell it to me as-is. I'll hang on to it for you!

I would not even add fills (glue) to it. The easiest thing is to finish it as a smooth and give it a dark high-contrast stain. Then stand back and see how it looks. It might not be as bad as you think. Sure it's not going to be your highest grade, but it will be better than rusticating.

If the flaws are still too much for you, then you can fill or sandblast. Or just stand farther back...

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:36 am

Frank wrote:Robert, I have seen a couple of pipes similar to what you describe. I must admit, the first thought that came to my mind was, "This rustication was done to remove minor blemishes". I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it seemed obvious to me.

Frank, well let me begin by saying that I agree with the others about just staining the pipe darker and running with it. I couldn't see what all the fuss was about, myself.

But Ben had said

bscofield wrote:I made up my mind

about rusticating, so I thought I would toss out the idea of doing partial rustication as a way to salvage the majority of that beautiful grain he had there.

Yes, spot rustication can be a really cheesy way to hide flaws, but only if it's done without much thought or care, like many examples most of us are accustomed to seeing.

But when done right, it can be really gorgeous and add a lot of character to a pipe. I think the key is that it has to be treated as a design element, rather than as a cheesy way to hide flaws.

Like I said in the original post, I wish I had bookmarked that maker's site, because he was really a master at it, and I have since that time been thinking I would like to attempt to duplicate his technique the next time I have some flaws that won't simply stain-over.

sprangalang · Post by **sprangalang** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:31 pm

Ouch, how could you rusticate over that beautiful grain.
I would let it go, those itty bitty spots are not that bad.

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:35 pm

pierredekat wrote:
But Ben had said
bscofield wrote:I made up my mind

Heh... I did say that didn't I...

Honestly I didn't expect people to think this overcome-able with a dark stain. I guess I haven't had enough experience to know what a dark stain can do... I think at this point, as many have said, "why not give it a try?"

Thanks for the advice guys! I'll be sure to post pics after the contrast stain and before the rustication (if I get that far).