Specs in inches: The bowl diameter 1.47 by 1.78 tall. The chamber diameter is .75 by 1.6 deep. The over all length is 5.85. The insert is briar from the same ebauchon as the stummel, with an attempt to match the grain with the shank.
After the first staining and buffing I noticed a file mark and had to go back to 220 in that area, and work back through the grits, then lightly re-sand and re-stain the entire stummel. In the process, I ended up loosing it off the buffer. 8O Could have killed myself after that, but amazingly, the only damage was a minor ding on the rim, which I was able to sand out. Seems like all the staining and re-sanding ended up improving the over all finish. It's not great grain, but it is interesting, with some flame and some birdseye (falls out badly in spots though), and with a few minor flaws and sand pits.
This is my third hand cut stem. This time I used German Ebonite, which I really like. The stem is not as thin as might be nice, but it's very comfortable, and I wanted to be on the safe side this time after sanding through the last one. I tried a fish tail type flare. I like the feel of it, but need to work on the aesthetics next time, especially the transition to the flare.
I think the ebonite ring after the briar insert is too wide. Looks a little chunky to me. I think it might look classier with one about half that width. The fit between the stem and shank is not bad, but there a a couple of very small chips at the end of the shank that can be seen in spots. Not sure what caused that. Perhaps it's time to sharpen or replace the Forstner bit I use for squaring up the shank. The over all symmetry and shape turned out decent. The mechanics are nearly perfect. Still lots of work to do on my skills, but I feel like I'm making progress.
All comments are welcome. Tear it to shreads folks, I'm here to learn!
