Want to show you work to the world? Want a place to post photos of your work and solicit the opinions of those that have gone before you? Post your work here.
Its been a while since I posted a pipe, so I thought I'd post my latest and get some feedback. I would definitely like some opinions on the stem. I ran into a void in the ebonite while shaping the stem and had to radically change the design. I probably should have just started over with a new piece of rod stock but I'm frugal (cheap!) and tried to save what I had. Now I'm not sure if it works with the stummel or not. One minute I think it is ok, the next I don't like it so I thought I'd ask the "experts". My original design was for a "standard" taper bit rather than the Faux push stem seen here. The best I could come up with and eliminate the void in the ebonite.
Hi,
I think the general design and execution of the stem work well. I would have made the stem a bit thinner where it is thickest. Visually, that section seems to need a bit more material removed, but otherwise, I like the stem and the pipe as a whole. Nice work.
Best ,
Steven Magruder Morrisette
Thanks for the input guys! Steve, I think you are right, some more material removed from the "belly" of the stem might make it flow better. I will give it a try!
Great looking pipe bud. The stem is a bit thickish, but not really too bad. The one thing that I do notice is the taper of the shank. To my tastes, the shank should either be tapered all the way or not at all. This one seems to tape a little bit near the bowl and then flatten out.
I think I see what you mean, Nick. The bottom of the shank tapers nicely, but, the top doesn't match it. I think you're saying that the tapers should match top and bottom.
I'll disagree and say that the stem looks right for the shape. At first look, it didn't flow to well, but after looking again I realized the problem I was seeing - the shank cap.
The squarish shape of the shank cap interrupts the flow from shank to stem, making the stem look out of place. It also makes the shank look too thin right at the end, and has the effect of making the taper in the shank seem too severe. The square profile is in stark contrast to the curving and fluid nature of the rest of the pipe.
I think that the way to solve that is to make the end cap more round, like a ring, and get rid of the cylindrical profile. Also, make the end cap slightly narrower in diameter - though only slightly. You may find that it doesn't need to be any smaller once the profile is rounded out.
Here's some quick photo editing that illustrates what I was mentioning. I also added Kerts critique about the square shank adornment needing to be rounded. I also rounded out the backside of the bowl, which seemed to me to give it a much more eggy shape.
KurtHuhn wrote:
I think that the way to solve that is to make the end cap more round, like a ring, and get rid of the cylindrical profile. Also, make the end cap slightly narrower in diameter - though only slightly. You may find that it doesn't need to be any smaller once the profile is rounded out.
Thanks Kurt, I knew there was something that felt "wrong". I think the cap may have been the issue. Wish you'd have told me before I glued the darn thing on!
Thanks for the input Nick. I could see what you were getting at. Although there isn't anything wrong with your ideas, its just not my style. Good or bad, I prefer more subtle transitions from bowl to shank. I know some won't agree with me on that though. The sharp transitions always look mechanical to me. There are some shapes that require the sharp transition, but to my eye, this one isn't a shape that is complimented by sharply defining the bowl/shank junction. As for the taper on the shank, blame the briar on that one! The only reason there is a shank cap was due to a flaw. Unfortunately I started working on the shank to see how deep it was before I went with the cap. There is a little more taper from the bowl to the shank cap than I would have liked. Although I don't think it detracts too much from the overall effect of the pipe. However, that is purely subjective.
Cool. Its so darn hard to critique via text some times. The same phrase can sound very constructive or condescending depending on how its read. Ohh well. I know I'm better off because of all the critique I've gotten here and wouldn't trade it for the world.
