Better pictures..

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 11:18 am

Got some much clearer pictures of my most recent pipe..

Also, a poker I made a few months ago..

achduliebe · Post by **achduliebe** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 11:34 am

Hey those are nice. I really like both shapes. I really like the rustication on the poker as well as the shape.

Some good looking pipes, keep it up. :thumb:

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 12:31 pm

Thanks, Bryan.. that poker was the first pipe I made after not doing anything with my hands for about 2 years. I was kinda jazzed that it turned out as well as it did.. the rustication was fun. I got a couple of ideas from some different techniques touched on in these forums. I love the feeling of a deeply rusticated pipe when you hold it.

achduliebe · Post by **achduliebe** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 12:41 pm

You know, I love the feeling of a rusticated pipe too but have never been able to get myself to make one. I have a hard time digging into the grain. I guess the day that I come across a pipe with too many surface flaws might break me of that.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 1:06 pm

The last 6 or so pipes I've made were from ebauchon. Didn't want to put out too much money while getting myself back into it, so I haven't had to deal with really nice graining when deciding to rusticate. I just did it because I couldn't see the point in doing all that finishing sanding when it would do nothing for the grain.

achduliebe · Post by **achduliebe** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 1:12 pm

I understand that, I have had a couple that I probably should have rusticated.

mahaffy · Post by **mahaffy** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 1:42 am

Haz (being on a first-name basis), did you try or think of extending the taper all the way to the button? Oh, sorry; I like them both, and now you mention it, both rustication and sandblast do have a nice tactile feel, but like most, the high I get as the grain comes to life is still pretty hard to wean myself away from. (Compliments first, my mother used to tell me. Well, actually, she'd look at me and say "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.")

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 7:20 am

John.. thanks for the comments. I'm not sure which pipe you're talking about extending the taper on?

I love fine grains myself.. that poker just didn't offer much. The horn variation up there offered some good contrast, though, and I tried to play too that where I could.

mahaffy · Post by **mahaffy** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 12:16 pm

Haz, old fellow, the pipe I'm referring to is the one with the tapered shank leading to the tapered stem --- the first one above. . . . Thought maybe if the taper -- tapered off? toward the button instead of ending abruptly it might (or might not) look, oh, more of a whole piece perhaps, instead of two pieces stuck together.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 2:00 pm

I think it may just be the angle, John(and my name is Matt, by the way.. Hazmat... that's a nickname with a whole other story to it!). If you're holding the pipe as if you're smoking it, it tapers from the button down to the shank. It started as a round saddle bit with no fish-tail, so it was relatively flat to begin with. I know what you're talking about now, and from the pictures it does look like the stem is just kinda "there". Better shots would have allowed you to see the stem work better...

mahaffy · Post by **mahaffy** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 11:49 pm

Just caught your name on another thread, Matt. I assumed the hazardous material sobriquet was a nickname, but also assumed a dumb, presumptive mistaken use of it would be taken as a joke. But I think what you're saying is that, viewed from the top instead of the side, the taper continues, which would obviate my objections to the abrupt cessation of taper. A small objection at best; a couple of very nice pipes.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:37 am

mahaffy wrote: But I think what you're saying is that, viewed from the top instead of the side, the taper continues, which would obviate my objections to the abrupt cessation of taper. A small objection at best; a couple of very nice pipes.

Yep.. that's pretty much it.. but that doesn't mean what you were seeing wasn't there! I looked at the thing first-person last night, with your comment in mind, and the stem could have used a bit more filing along the other plane. I may have to rework that little bit of the stem, if I can yank the thing from the owner's hands long enough!! Thanks for your comments, they are appreciated!