My african blackwood pipe

[flyboy]

Here is my attempt at a first pipe, african blackwood harvested for me.









Still have a lot of finishing left, but happy with the progress


Anders

[flyboy]

Feel free to critique!

And any tips on finishing it?

Anders

[Ocyd]

That's interesting is that the way the wood is colored naturally?

[flyboy]

Yes, it is.
Light sapwood and hard black heartwood

Anders

[Jthompson1995]

As for finishing, it will take on a nice shine when buffed, if you have access to a buffer. Otherwise, I would sand as fine as you can, apply some wax and polish with a soft cloth like flannel.

[Charl]

African blackwood is hard as hell, but it dooes take a nice shine.

[flyboy]

And it was a dream to drill it, almost machines like metal

Anders

[Yak]

Deleted as irrelevant.

[flyboy]

I see it now that you pointed it out.
I am on a bit of a tight budget now, so I might just let this one be a hiking-pipe and a learning experience.


Anders

[Yak]

Deleted as irrelevant.

[flyboy]

Thank you yak! Both for the pointing out stuff and for the kind words! I know it is no fun being the one to point out stiff that could be better.
I am really trying to take it as advice and mentoring rather than a knee jerk reaction of being hurt:)
Right now I am just going to use it as it is and then get a new stem and stuff later on sometime.


Anders

[flyboy]

I will pull the stem a bit out and take a couple of pics where it is easier to see where the actual transition between wood and vulcanite is.

I didn't really understand all you said about how the stem ideally should be, so a bit clarification or a sketch would be great!
Also a few words about the length of the shank would be great! I hear people talk about how typical it is for new guys to make really short shanks, but I had a hard time seeing how long the shank would be when I drew it up on the block prior to drilling it.

Anders

[flyboy]

And yes, the stem is pre-fab.
The only bent reasonably short one I could find

Anders

[flyboy]

Anders