bamboo apple

[Josh B.]

this is only my 2nd time working with bamboo to practice frothe pith. any feedback and critique is openly welcome

[Josh B.]

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[Josh B.]

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[JMG]

Pretty pipe overall. Things to work on...the stem is overbent and maybe a touch long. The SS tube tenon is pretty chewed up. Rustication isn't bad, but I think if you would have kept going with it, maybe another round over the entire thing, it would have looked better. Shaping on the bowl looks great.

Nice job. I'm just now starting to use bamboo and it's a testy material.

[Josh B.]

Thanks. Yea messed the tennon up pretty bad and i ruined all my rodstock trying to male a stem (my 1/4 bit seems to self feed and ripped the rod out of the vise) so i had to use one of the preforms i had around. Thanks again gave me more stuff to work o for the next one

[wdteipen]

Not bad. One thing to work on is to work the briar part of the shank so that it continues the lines/shape of the bamboo. Your transitions aren't terrible for only your second time but still need practice. Bamboo shanks tend to look more harmonious and natural when the overall design takes the bamboo characteristics into account. For example: mimic the spacing and angles of the knuckles into the stem and shank design.

Another thing to improve is to soften the edges of your slot and round the corners. Rounding the corners makes the stem airway easier to clean and softening the edges eliminates uncomfortable sharp edges. I used to make my slots just like yours until I later found out that guys will actually use their tongue to feel the slot. I think it's weird and never do that because it puts saliva in the airway but apparently it's not all that uncommon. Sometimes you have to make adjustments with the customer in mind even when it goes against your own common sensibilities.

[sandahlpipe]

Some good things said already. It's not bad for a second time.

When you look from the top and bottom view, the stem looks too flat on the sides. A little bit more taper (fishtail) on the stem will help it look classier as well as make it more comfortable in the mouth.

The other thing I think I see (hard to tell for sure from the pictures) is that the stem transition to the bamboo is slightly rounded over. The tedious part is sanding the stem to fit flush with the bamboo while not scratching the bamboo itself. I use a sharp carving knife and files to get the fit right.

A bamboo trick that will help keep stain off the bamboo is to go ahead and epoxy the tubing into the stummel, but use just a little dot of superglue on the tubing to glue it to the bamboo. Then you can do all your shaping and fitting with the bamboo attached before removing the bamboo when you stain.

Looking forward to seeing your next piece!

[Josh B.]

thank you guys. Yea i see all things you have said I wasnt quitw sure how to make the briar\bamboo transition flow better, and the stem is definately rounded over a bit i sanded it down removed from the bamboo(i was really scared to sand through the bamboo) and with the slot i just plain suck at makeing the funnel look nice when i try to round out the edges it always makes a rounded bulge at the edges so i left it as is after i cut it with a ground down jig saw blade

[sandahlpipe]

Josh,

Don't be afraid to leave the bamboo attached. I put masking tape on the bamboo to protect it until I get closer to the perfect fit.

For rounding over the edge of the funnel, I recommend the slot tool from Steve. http://vermontfreehand.com/miscellaneous/

They're cheap and you can also use them instead of the jigsaw blade to do the whole funnel. It leaves behind a relatively smooth surface that you can touch up with sandpaper.

[Josh B.]

Ah that looks alot better than what im using i have been using a jewlers saw to finish the the funnel and i cant seem to get it to look nice. Im about to get a pretty large lrder from steve and i think im going to add in one of those to my order

[socrates]

No evaluation from me as I'll leave that to the experts. Nice pipe in my eyes.

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