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Let me start by saying that I'm not excessively happy with this one. I won't go into detail, but there was a lot of pain, blood, and frustration put into this pipe. While trying to fix a crack in the shank, I crushed the shank. I know, right? I'll include a few photos to illustrate what happened at the bottom of this post.

For now, here's the completed pipe #2. Sigh. At least it smokes well.







Before the shank was crushed:



The crushed shank:

Ouch!

Now, as my Mother would say "What did you learn?"

Don't take it too hard. We've all screwed up pipes (well, except for Sas...)

Todd

Well, that is too bad about the shank. On the bright side, you have a pipe which is fully functional, despite the accident. Don't be too discouraged, I have thrown many a piece of briar away...

taharris wrote:Ouch!

Now, as my Mother would say "What did you learn?"

Don't take it too hard. We've all screwed up pipes (well, except for Sas...)

Todd

Yeah, speak for yourself Harris. I mean, I've had bad briar, drill bits that didn't work, inferior stem material.... but I've never screwed up.

Ouch!

Well, it was pretty nice looking. Don't fret too much. It happens to everyone. Did you cut the stem yourself or was it a pre-mold?

Better luck next time. Looking forward to seeing it.

You learned (screwed up a shank lat night myself) and you got a brand new pipe for yourself. No loss there.

Sucks that happened. I've crushed a few shanks in my day. I've just thrown them into the pile for when I decide to try bamboo one day.

Your pipe reminded me a bit of this one. http://www.alpascia.com/detail.asp?detail=20744 Take a look.

Brian.

The local pipe shop here has a couple of those. They are actually kind of cool and feel good in the hand. (insert touching balls joke here - I may as well beat the obvious punch - insert next joke here).

Brandon

Thanks for all the words of encouragement, fellas!

taharris wrote:Now, as my Mother would say "What did you learn?"

That I need to learn to use bamboo.

Seriously though, bamboo would have saved the day. I also learned that I need to plan ahead a bit more instead of only going with the flow, man. Had I figured out how to fit that stem before the shank got so thin, I probably could've saved it. I'm also learning to move on. Ruining a pipe that you think has promise sucks, but I'm gonna have to learn to stop working on a pipe that I ruin. For this one, since it's only my second, I just wanted to wind up with something that worked after the shank cracked. I wound up sinking a lot of time into creating something marginal that functions and I think I'll try to do that less in the future.

Oh! BTW, this one only took about 17 hours from start to finish! There's a victory right there!

Additionally, I learned that putting very thin pieces of wood with big holes in them in a vice is a bad idea.

Ocelot55 wrote:Did you cut the stem yourself or was it a pre-mold?

I "custom carved" this one from a premold stem. Unfortunately, I don't yet have the material to cut one from scratch. Severe budget mode has been reached so now I'm saving in order to buy some material before my premolds run out.

HumblePipe wrote:On the bright side, you have a pipe which is fully functional, despite the accident.

Growley wrote:You learned (screwed up a shank lat night myself) and you got a brand new pipe for yourself. No loss there.

You are both absolutely right. Thanks for the silver lining! Thing is though, this pipe was already destined to be a shop pipe due to the nasty flaw on the shank. Now it's just not as cool a shop pipe.

Growley wrote:Your pipe reminded me a bit of this one. http://www.alpascia.com/detail.asp?detail=20744 Take a look.

LOL! You're right! That makes me feel a bit better. When the pipe was done, my mind jumped to a Dunhill shape that I've always kinda liked:



Thanks again fellas!

Man, that really sucks when you have those slap your head moments right? I see that your supplier isnt letting you down with beautiful grain yet! She seriously gave you some good wood...no pun intended...

Seriously though, like you said, you knew it was going to go south with that fissure in the side...

FYI, a shank extension doesnt just have to be bamboo either bubba!

I look forward to your next project!

Hi,
don´t worry, that happens in a live of a pipemaker.
Next time will be better.
Over and above you have saved the pipe.
Best regards
Tommi

david.. don't get too bummed... sanding through.. busting.. and breaking are all part of it.. when I first got my stamps i though you were supposed to use a hammer and lightly tap it in.. never figured you could just push the stamp in... too smart for my own good.. busted 3 shanks before I figured it out... felt like I should have been riding the big doored bus..today I laugh at some of the STUPID things I've done...

most important is to have fun...

james

We recommend using Teflon cones.
Best regards.
Félix

Te recomiendo que utilices conos de teflón.
Saludos.
Félix

Thanks for all the kind words, guys!

I've got a couple small rods of other woods, but I've rarely found a lengthy shank extension to be really beautiful unless it was bamboo. I might give something a whirl on another pipe down the line just to experiment.