Sitter

[kamkiel]

I have learned a lot through making this pipe. The ring on it is some sort of semi petrified wood that one of my friends gave me. I was really brittle and I had two or three just break into piece on the lathe.
I kept on having to sand my buff off and re stain because the wheels were too thick. I finally took a new wheel out and broke it into thirds so I could have a thin enough wheel. Even with that I still buffed a little unevenly around the shank.
I spent way too much time making the stem because I thought it was a little boring with a saddle, but I had a lot of fun making the pipe.
Critiques and comments are welcome!

Kiel











I had a dream last night that Todd Johnson chose 3 of my pipes and opened one of pick your favorite answer threads on pmf, but there were 4 options. The last option was "None of them" which most people chose as their answer. Then he proceeded to tell me why my pipes are terrible and I should stop trying.
I woke up and almost immediately went to the shop to get to work. Maybe I should take a step back. I spend so much time reading stuff on the forum that I even started to dream about it.

[sandahlpipe]

The stem is interesting. I enjoy playing around with different ideas on the stem as well.

The shank/stem junction looks better, though it looks like there is a slight gap between the white ring and the darker one.

I see a knick in the side of the stem in the second picture. It also looks like there are a few sanding scratches on the top of the stem. The stem should have a bit more taper as it heads towards the shank.

Finally, you need to sand out your chamber before Wayne gets on your case...

the overall idea of this pipe is good, I think. It's classy and yet has some original elements to it.

[JMG]

Pretty cool job mimicking the the plateau on the stem. Nice and thin as well.

I don't think the brown accent ring's color compliments the color of the stain that well. Lastly, your button seems a bit tall.

Overall though, this is a pretty cool pipes, bud. Nice proportions. Great job.

[kamkiel]

The stem is interesting. I enjoy playing around with different ideas on the stem as well.

The shank/stem junction looks better, though it looks like there is a slight gap between the white ring and the darker one.

I see a knick in the side of the stem in the second picture. It also looks like there are a few sanding scratches on the top of the stem. The stem should have a bit more taper as it heads towards the shank.

Finally, you need to sand out your chamber before Wayne gets on your case...

the overall idea of this pipe is good, I think. It's classy and yet has some original elements to it.

yes, I did a lot of stupid and careless things while trying finish this pipe: shank/stem junction was ruined a bit trying to buff hard to reach places without the stem on, stem had no scratches before I tried "do something", and as soon as I posted this my wife came over and told me it looks good, but the chamber looks shitty.

I am trying to create better habits one pipe at a time.

Thanks for the critique

Kiel

[kamkiel]

Pretty cool job mimicking the the plateau on the stem. Nice and thin as well.

I don't think the brown accent ring's color compliments the color of the stain that well. Lastly, your button seems a bit tall.

Overall though, this is a pretty cool pipes, bud. Nice proportions. Great job.

I wasn't too crazy about the ring's color either. The pipe is a gift to the teacher who gave me the brown semi petrified wood. It is kind of a pipe diplomacy. The teacher is a sculpture teacher at the university and has been collecting a lot of different semi-petrified wood that he is willing to share with me. I just have to give something back in return. The dean that I gave the tomato-ish pipe to helped my wife find a teaching job through "guanxi." Guanxi is a complex system of relationships and networking that is necessary for success in China. I also gave a pipe to the man in charge of issuing scholarships which helped me get a full ride plus allowance. These people will also become my lab rats in a way. They don't really know how to smoke a pipe, but really want to start. Eventually, I will be able to gage the quality of my pipes after they have used them for a period of time.

Thanks for your feedback!

Kiel

[wdteipen]

I liked this pipe until I got to the photo of the stain in the tobacco chamber. Now I just think it's terrible. Sand out the chamber or coat it then you'll have a pretty decent pipe.

[kamkiel]

I liked this pipe until I got to the photo of the stain in the tobacco chamber. Now I just think it's terrible. Sand out the chamber or coat it then you'll have a pretty decent pipe.

Thanks for the critique. I am sure there are a ton of small things that I didn't do while making this pipe, and sanding the chamber is one of them. In the future I will have to make sure to pay attention to this particular step before I jump straight to taking photos.

Kiel

[wdteipen]

I liked this pipe until I got to the photo of the stain in the tobacco chamber. Now I just think it's terrible. Sand out the chamber or coat it then you'll have a pretty decent pipe.

Thanks for the critique. I am sure there are a ton of small things that I didn't do while making this pipe, and sanding the chamber is one of them. In the future I will have to make sure to pay attention to this particular step before I jump straight to taking photos.

Kiel

I'm just razzing you. It's kind of a running joke.

[kamkiel]

Update

I gave this pipe to my friend, and while I was teaching him how to smoke it, it bled a little color into his hand. I was disappointed. This has happened with two of my pipes: the first one and this one.

On this pipe I had problems buffing the hard to reach places and ended up restaining and rebuffing a few times. Everytime I restained I would first sand back the pervious buff with same piece a old 400# sand paper, stain with medium brown, and then buff. I was beginning to think the old sandpaper was actually sanding it to a higher grit and the stain wasn't sinking in completely until I saw some other pipe makers on the forum sand to 600 and above. Now I am thinking that I didn't get the old buff completely sanded out before reapplying stain. I was also thinking that not using shellac to "set" the stain was my problem until I reread premal's paper towel test post. He said that even with a coat of shellac the stain could still bleed out. Please help!

Without any problems, I rough shape, sand through the grits to 400, then stain black.
Sand black back with used 400, apply second color, then buff brown, white, dry, carnauba.

Kiel

P.S. Said friend with pipe doesn't care about the bleed. He is just really happy to enter into the pipe world... for now.

[kamkiel]

I liked this pipe until I got to the photo of the stain in the tobacco chamber. Now I just think it's terrible. Sand out the chamber or coat it then you'll have a pretty decent pipe.

Thanks for the critique. I am sure there are a ton of small things that I didn't do while making this pipe, and sanding the chamber is one of them. In the future I will have to make sure to pay attention to this particular step before I jump straight to taking photos.

Kiel

I'm just razzing you. It's kind of a running joke.

I realize that, but you are right. Getting the "runs" out of the chamber can take the presentation from shitty/sloppy/I spent so much time making this pipe, but fuck the final products look to a nice clean looking pipe.

[sandahlpipe]

You want to make sure your stain is set and dry before buffing, otherwise the stain gets into the compound. Shellac is one way to do it. Just giving it some time and keeping your wheels clean should also do the trick.