First Freehand

[UnderShade]

Here's my first attempt at a freehand. Made it for my Father-in-law last father's day. Critiques welcome...

[wdteipen]

Freehand's are hard to critique because there aren't any hard and fast rules to them so you probably won't get a ton of feedback. That being said, it looks very 70's freehand-ish so I think you did a good job. I really dig the stem. Is it a premold or did you make it from scratch?

[UnderShade]

Thanks Wayne. That stem is hand cut.

[LatakiaLover]

Bloody hell...

Every attempt to illustrate something creates a new post, and there's no way I can find to delete them.

My loathing for "cleverly hidden roll-over-to-expose" website design knows no bounds.

[LatakiaLover]

Bloody hell...

Every attempt to illustrate something creates a new post, and there's no way I can find to delete them.

My loathing for "cleverly hidden roll-over-to-expose-controls" website design knows no bounds.

[UnderShade]

Will do George... as soon as I figure out what "bookend thingies" are. I’d really like to hear your critique.

[UnderShade]

Well, I guess I didn’t do it right...

[LatakiaLover]

Thanks for trying.

Why the new code here doesn't allow people to delete their own stuff will forever be a mystery.

My new favorite is how many sites are effectively becoming impossible to log out of, and some LITERALLY so.

It's to distort their stats for ad rates, site rankings, and so forth, of course, but the latest twist? To track wherever you go on the Web. Those cookie packages are little spybots and worth a fair bit to advertisers and whoever else deals in such information.

Welcome to 2019

[KurtHuhn]

I think I deleted all the shit - I may have erred on the side of caution.

If you copy your picture link, then hit the "insert image" button above, it might work. But, that depends on the image hosting site and how they actually serve the images. We're sort of at their mercy here....

[Sasquatch]

LL is still pissed about horseless carriages so this whole pic linking thing.... pretty sketchy.

[LatakiaLover]

I'll have you know I was NEVER pissed about those horseless monstrosities. That's a vicious rumor. It was adding voices to the moving picture shows. Killed every bit of the required imagination and charm.

[UnderShade]

Got it! Thanks Kurt.

[DocAitch]

Please don’t take this personally. I was where you are in the 1970’s, and want to share with you some of my educational experiences.
It s my highly personal opinion that beginning freehands are “polished rocks”. The materials are so beautiful when finished that we are mesmerized with the finished product. If you look at the true Danish freehands, there is much more going on than external prettiness. There is balance, symmetry, trueness of line and surface and an economy of materials that most beginning freehands lack, all enhanced by an adherence to presenting the beauty of the briar. Don’t point to the American “freehands’ of the 1970’s as your model- most of these are turds (including my own).
These are things that are difficult to learn when you start with a “freehand” and have become entranced with the materials.
The “ Make a Billiard School” on this forum is so, so valuable because it concentrates on the very basics of pipe making- economy of materials (imagine what some of the “freehands” feel like hanging out of your mouth), symmetry, balance, proportion, trueness of line and surface, fit and finish. Do not be dissuaded if you are not turning briar on a lathe- you can make a decent billiard without turning the stummel.
EVERYTHING you learn making a billiard is transferrable to the making of a freehand. You learn to cut a sharp transition and make strong true lines and surfaces, and you learn to finish. (You will incidentally learn about stem making and good airways as well).
Therefore, I highly recommend to you that you enroll in the “Make a Billiard” school.
Make lots of billiards and take to heart the evaluations of your pipes when you post in the Gallery. Doug Finlay (doug535 on this forum) is a student of this school, and look what happened to him.
DocAitch

[UnderShade]

Thanks Doc. I appreciate it. I'd like specifics if you don't mind... I can take it

[LatakiaLover]

Doc was spot on.

I'd like specifics if you don't mind...

Now I'll provide Part B (Doc is Good Cop and I'm Bad Cop):

Don't ask for open-ended info to be handed to you. Let what he said soak in as best you understand it given your current knowledge, research it (everything you need is here on this site), make choices accordingly, and produce something.

Then ask for feedback on it.

Incorporate what you learn.

Rinse, repeat.

If you do it that way you'll reach your potential fast and have a good time in the process (as will we). Any other route has a high chance of you becoming frustrated and flaming out.

15+ years this board's been here. Many hundreds of carvers have shown that's simply how it works.

[UnderShade]

Thanks George.

[n80]

LatakiaLover, I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. I understand that he and all beginners can and should find and take to heart all the info that is on this site.

But Doc said: "There is balance, symmetry, trueness of line and surface and an economy of materials that most beginning freehands lack"

And the OP has asked for specifics regarding the specific pipe he has shown us. Are you saying that he shouldn't ask for specifics about how his pipe does or does not conform to the "balance, symmetry, trueness of line and surface and an economy of materials" that Doc referred to? And that he should be able to figure that out from additional reading?

I'm not arguing I'm just unclear.

[LatakiaLover]

When a new guy arrives he's the zooming lens into an information version of the Mandelbrot Set. Endless branching, the goal never reached.

Like so:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD2XgQOyCCk

The only way task learning works is to deliberately stop the flood of inbound info and take a swing at the ball based on what you know. It's that way because the answers to questions can't be understood UNTIL sufficient first hand knowledge has been gained to give the answer context.

WHEN the stop cord is pulled doesn't matter---beginners NEVER feel confident or comfortable early on---the essential thing is to simply do it.

[UnderShade]

n80- I think I understand what both Doc and George are saying. All of the things that Doc mentioned, my pipe lacks. It’s huge, the stem line is not true, etc. I was hoping for a more detailed critique than I received. But I understand that I am just a learner, and I’ll take what I can get from you guys and gals.

[LatakiaLover]

I was hoping for a more detailed critique than I received.

You didn't get it because the form makes it impossible. So-called "Danish freehands" have no rules or standardized aesthetic by definition.

They were, when thought up in the 1960s/70s, nothing more than a super-cheap-and-easy way to make pipes that caught on (for a short time) with the buying public. "Polished rocks" (thank you, Doc ) is exactly all they are.

Making such pipes for a beginner is the equivalent of going to your first saxophone lesson and playing Free Jazz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0HB8ybKJzo&t=3m20s

Do your best to make a standard shape, though, and you'll get more quality feedback than you can process.