Thanks for the comments guys. Some of those things I've noticed, some I hadn't. I completely missed the notch on the top of the bowl-shank junction. I looked again in person and it's hard to see, though it's quite clear in the pictures. I might have to take pictures of my pipes before I finish them to try and bring out the flaws.
The finish is very uneven. I made the mistake of trying to use hardware store wood stain. It worked great on my first pipe, but I wanted a really light color anyway. I wanted this pipe dark, and that's where the trouble started. I sanded and refinished the pipe 4 times, by the end the thing was an ugly dirty looking mess, and there's no real grain pattern that can be distinguished through the blotches of pigment. Lesson learned, leather dye is on the way.
The button is too small as well. Not by much, but it slips out of my teeth sometimes.
I'll have to work on getting a light box of some kind, but I just bought a lathe
![Two Thumbs Up :thumbsup:](./images/smilies/2thumbs.gif)
two days ago and now my wallet could fall through a crack in the sidewalk, so I'll wait a little.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)