No. 11- Bent Egg

[UnderShade]

My 11th pipe. Turned out pretty much like I'd hoped. I might post some better quality ones at a later date, with better angles. Looking at these photos, the junction where the shank meets the bowl looks weird. (I always seem to take photos that are not completely side-on) I'll be getting one of those photo boxes Kurt recommended. Also, for the fingerprints and the stem was on a lil crooked in some Also for the Christmas crap my wife refuses to put away As always, critiques welcome!

[LatakiaLover]

Tech details are difficult to see because of the resolution, but there's a couple design-y things:


--- The stem is somewhat underbent (spaceships can get away with the "periscope" look, classics not so much)

--- In the middle of that luscious curve-fest is a nearly straight-sided cylinder (as a rule don't mix lines... either geometric and prism-y, or swoopy and French-curvy. Not both.)

.

[UnderShade]

I totally see your points. I really like that line thing you do. Is the extension curve best done when turning the piece or done by sanding? Your feedback is invaluable to my growth- thank you!

[Adui]

I only hope my number 11 is that good. my number 5 was so bad I gave up on it. I'll start over from scratch and use that one as a shop pipe

[UnderShade]

Thanks Adui! I feel like each one gets a little better than the one before it- that’s my hope at least.

[UnderShade]

Sas- Good? Bad? Ugly?

[Sasquatch]

The biggest thing to my eye is what LL already mentioned, that long straight section on the horn detracts from nice curvature (and the nice curvature is echoed on the little flare on the stem pretty nicely, so that's doubly jarring that it's not carried in the horn). Net takeaway is on a curvy pipe like that, make your horn or whatever cap you are doing shorter, or work the shape by hand for flow.

Basic proportions are good, it's a tiny bit jaw-heavy - if you forsake a little symmetry on that brandy and take a little off the chin, the pipe will bounce a little more - that first picture shows a big white reflection on the chin - if that or something like it was the actual line of the pipe, it would look nice - shifting the balance point slightly toward the shank is almost always a nice touch.

[UnderShade]

Thanks Sas! Great advice, as always.

[JMG]

I'd add that the transition from bowl cheeks to shank seems a little too crisp. And maybe a little more curve going into the stem's flare (bit side) might look nice.

Overall, however, a well above-average 11th pipe.

[UnderShade]

Thanks JMG!

[n80]

Looks great to me. Agree with LL on the bend of the stem.....but you can fix that in a matter of minutes!

[UnderShade]

Thanks George! The stem has already been fixed. However, I'm wondering if I should even bother with the horn. Don't wanna mess up what I have already achieved... Being this is a personal shop pipe, I'll prolly take a crack at it after I finish a current commission. Again, I appreciate the kind words!

[LatakiaLover]

Trying to make that extension uniformly concave by hand at this point would be absolutely insane. Not impossible, but would take many hours, and VAST experience with some specialized tools designed for the task. Much better to spend your time on a new project, I think.

[UnderShade]

Good advice LL. I’ll keep it the way it is as a reminder what to do better next time.