Finished my latest - Poker A

hollywood · Post by **hollywood** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:04 pm

Just finished my latest. If I may say so; I may have stepped it up a notch. I had several pipes envisioned and then put down on paper; and now was the time to start bringing them forward. It took me a while to decide on which should come first, but once I decided, I knew it was the right choice.

This poker is by far my best work to date. Quite large in stature; the feel and flow just came out great. It came very near being the best grain I've had as well. I used Corian for the shank extension; and it was a breeze to work with. I think I'll be using it often in the future. The swirl stem was pre-formed but I hand ground it to make it much more suitable for what I had in mind. Without a lathe; this was a b*tch!

It did turn out to be the flushest fit I've had. I then finished the pipe by buffing it out and applying a thin coat of carnuba over the natural wood. No staining here.

Here are the dimensions:

Height: 3.00 Length: 7.00 Bowl Diameter: 2.125 Tobacco Chamber: 1.00

kkendall · Post by **kkendall** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:36 pm

Fantastic work! Turned out really nice!!

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:35 pm

Time to come clean, man. You've had classical artistic training, haven't you? You're actually Jeff Gracik, playing an elaborate joke, right?

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:22 pm

KurtHuhn wrote:Time to come clean, man. You've had classical artistic training, haven't you? You're actually Jeff Gracik, playing an elaborate joke, right?

Man, no crap!

Okay Jeff, good one. Time to fess up.

LatakiaLover · Post by **LatakiaLover** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:24 pm

There's some sort of line flow issue with the portion of the bowl extending below the shank (hard to tell without handling/seeing the pipe in person), but you know what I'm talking about, anyway. Otherwise it looks to be a fully realized idea.

Quite reminiscent of Will Purdy's work... That, Mr. H, is not a bad thing.

The curved shank, the balance and flow of the stem to the shank, the extension, are all noteworthy. (If it were mine, I'd re-heat the stem just to the point it relaxes slightly, then quench it. It looks slightly over-bent, imo.)

As any student / aspiring carver's 8th pipe (or about that), it's truly exceptional. Any number of guys who put out branded pipes don't do as well. With this one---assuming the out-of-sight stuff is as well done as what's visible---you are already nibbling at the near edge of "high grade territory." Congratulations.

flix · Post by **flix** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:24 pm

Well done, Dave! If you had a lathe, you'd be dangerous!

hollywood · Post by **hollywood** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:28 am

Who's Jeff Gracik!?!? ROFL!

He is definitely NOT me! That man is edumacated ... at Princeton no less. Although I can not think of any higher compliment than to be even remotely compared to what he puts out pipe wise.

I really like how this one turned out. A few glitches here and there, but an overall success.

Thank you all for the help and comments!!

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 8:54 am

LatakiaLover wrote:There's some sort of line flow issue with the portion of the bowl extending below the shank (hard to tell without handling/seeing the pipe in person), but you know what I'm talking about, anyway. Otherwise it looks to be a fully realized idea.

I noticed the same thing. Perhaps its just the pictures but it seems like the lines don't quite line up. Like too much was taken off the backside of the bowl under the shank. Again, these things are hard to be sure of without holding the pipe in hand.

Also, the base seems to be a bit out of round.

Even with these fine tuning points, its a nice pipe. Keep it up!

donbernard · Post by **donbernard** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:49 pm

My compliments to a fellow novice pipe maker.
I think this one has a "great spirit"......
It sure does catch me right there.

Keep it going.

Bernard (DonBernard)