Canted Rhodesian?

[amnell]

Sorry if I’m a bit spammy with my pipes, but I feel like this is the best place to get real feedback instead of only yaysayers (not that thats not nice, but it isn’t very constructive).

Ok, so the plan for this pipe was initially to make a Bodog kind of shape, but due to poor brain activity and lack of planning I didn’t really succeed with that [emoji38]

Anyway. I’m quite happy with how it turned out in the end. With each new pipe I try to do something new to me. This time I decided to keep a small bit of raw top to see what it takes related to finishing and such.

I would like to take away a bit more at the heel(?) to flatten the bottom curve a bit, but I’m afraid to make the walls thinner. If I could do that and also give the end of the shank a bit more flair I’d be closer to something like a Bodog.

Comments and critique much welcome.

[Odissey]

You've got a pretty interesting pipe. The lack of symmetry in the bowl is obvious, and it may not be there either on the stem. You probably do not have a lathe and I understand the problems associated with its absence. The stage of marking on the briar of the future smoking pipe must be done as accurately as possible. I've always drawn axial lines on the briar block. Then, along the axial lines, I glued the projections of the smoking pipe made of paper to a block. I've always had a top view, a front view and a bottom view made of paper. This is not very time consuming if you are familiar with descriptive geometry and drawing drawing rules.
A piece of untreated bark remaining in the upper part of the bowl is best painted black. I believe that you did not do this simply because there is no black paint.
Work on new smoking pipes and constantly think about how you can improve the quality of their manufacture.

[amnell]

You've got a pretty interesting pipe. The lack of symmetry in the bowl is obvious, and it may not be there either on the stem. You probably do not have a lathe and I understand the problems associated with its absence. The stage of marking on the briar of the future smoking pipe must be done as accurately as possible. I've always drawn axial lines on the briar block. Then, along the axial lines, I glued the projections of the smoking pipe made of paper to a block. I've always had a top view, a front view and a bottom view made of paper. This is not very time consuming if you are familiar with descriptive geometry and drawing drawing rules.
A piece of untreated bark remaining in the upper part of the bowl is best painted black. I believe that you did not do this simply because there is no black paint.
Work on new smoking pipes and constantly think about how you can improve the quality of their manufacture.

Thanks for the feedback Odissey [emoji106]
Could you please elaborate on the symmetry issues of the bowl? I do have a lathe and the bowl should at least be perfectly round, or maby we’re talking about different things [emoji846] The shank on the other hand is oval on purpose. It could absolutely need better lines from the sides thou. Maby something matching the top taper?

Other than darkening, and of course picking away all the soft outer bark, is there any other tips and tricks working with a raw top?

Spending more time in the planning phase by sketching is absolutely something I need to improve.

Thanks! [emoji1317]

[Odissey]

There are no complaints about the round shape of the bowl. I talked about this little flaw.
If you place a ruler in the center of the tobacco camera in this photo, you will see that the shank goes about - 1.5 mm to the right.


If you look at the next photo, then the exit of the shank from the tobacco camera does not look symmetrical. I showed these places with arrows.



You are already at a very good level. One little tip. The blocks must be aligned before being installed in the lathe. The block walls that you clamp into the lathe must be parallel.

[amnell]

Thanks for the clarification. I see it now [emoji106]
Yea, making the sides parallel with each other has been a challenge without a band saw. I’ve got one of those 2-jaw chucks from Rawkrafted and that alleviates the problem quite a bit, but not always enough.

[LatakiaLover]

Interesting, and indicative of good things to come.

Overall, line-holding is the issue. Small peaks and valleys that wobble around the intended line.

The way to avoid that is to fine tune the shape by sanding at right angles TO the desired line. (It is counter-intuitive---people think the proper way to shape long things is by carving and sanding lengthwise ALONG the line, like sharpening or whittling a stick to a point---but that doesn't work.)

There is also asymmetry everywhere. It is slight, though. It should also be adjusted the same way, by sanding at right angles. The only time you should "sand lengthwise" is during rough shaping, and final sanding in preparation for staining/finishing (which doesn't remove enough material to affect lines).

The colored lines drawn below are mathematically generated. Geometric sections. Compare the portion of your pipe with the picture below it and this line-holding business should become more clear.

[Odissey]

I don't think a band saw will help.
I have a drilling machine that has a two-axis vise. I mill the two surfaces of the briar block in parallel. These surfaces are then used to clamp the block in a two-jaw chuck on a lathe. But that's not all. I choose from these two planes one which is the reference plane. At any rotation of the block in the lathe chuck, the reference plane is always pressed against the same cam.
The jaws in the lathe chuck may not be symmetrical.

[amnell]

Great feedback and guidance [emoji106]
Never thought that much about the lengthwise sanding issues. I’ll definently avoid it in the future.

Thank you!