Thanks Sasquatch, Boekweg, and Taspiper for the kind comments and constructive criticism re: the stem. Both parts appreciated.
KurtHuhn wrote:Well, I'm not going to Lie To You Baby, but a round shank on almost volcano never works well. An inset stem seems to work well so I suggest that you shape like You Got All The Time In The World.
I am Big in Japan, I just got lost at The Bottom of the World!
KurtHuhn wrote:Or, in plainer words, I like it and think that it is a nice start, but the shank is lost and needs all of our help out Upon The Road To Peace.
Understood and hopefully this makes sense: going from the round of the shank to the flat bottom of the bowl, with sharp edges (prior to rustification), was odd, and as you said almost never works. If I had used a square shank I could have resolved this a lot easier however I (in my early days here) don't like to use a square shank as a square shank and square tenon can be problamatic with the few tools I have - however an inset stem to a square shank, especially one that had a reverse taper to add some flare would have worked really nicely on this pipe. So thanks very much and in a couple paydays when I save up some money to order more briar I will get another large to extra large block and have a go at this pipe doing just what you prescribed.
Thanks again,
Bill