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Nice! Those canted bowls are tricky, it's easy to lose the shape and/or not have enough meat on the hot side. Token criticism is that it looks like there's a little wood showing on the front of the bowl at the rim - over buffed in one spot (shows in all the photos so I don't think it's a light thing). But it's a lovely pipe well executed.

I'd like to see a deeper slot, it's kinda sorta the difference between a really good modern handmade stem and ... everything else. I'm not convinced (Castello smoker that I am) that it's as big a functional difference as some people (Tyler) do.

Turns out a bleachy spot is definitely in the pics, but isn't really on the pipe.

Some sort of hazy reflection of a reflection type of thing is happening inside the light box. Not just with the camera... You can see it live in the box at some angles, then it goes away at other angles. Definitely weird. (and something I'll have to fix)

Outside in daylight would be the final word, but it's night outside so here's the front of the bowl from three different angles that DON'T show the hazy reflection of a reflection.

As for the funnel, yeah, it looks like shit. Being one of those cast acrylic things, it was made with a pre-existing half-round (?!) "slot" with concave sides... that was off center. (seriously?) Meaning straightening everything up meant going wider and deeper than I like on .155"-thick acrylic, so had to choose between pretty and more delicate and fugly but more durable. Since I can always "go forward" (so to speak), I decided to sleep on it before removing more material.

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Looking good.

In the close ups of the bowl, is that wax streaking or scratches in the wood? What sanding process did you use?

Great job, Quinton and George! Is this the beginning of a habit?

Bowls with rims that are not perpendicular to the chamber axis always look a bit odd to me on English pipes, but that's an aesthetic preference.

Who's idea was the stem inlay? Does it mean anything or is it just cool looking?

Ocelot55 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 9:56 am Great job, Quinton and George! Is this the beginning of a habit?

Who's idea was the stem inlay? Does it mean anything or is it just cool looking?

I hope so. So far things look pretty dang good.

I'm interested in the inlay as well.

Beautiful pipe. Bummer with the funnel issues. Risky game trying to fix it when everything else is done.
I’d love a little more meat on the back of the bowl. Maby a touch of Eltang-ish cutty bump. Cool inlay [emoji106]

caskwith wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 5:43 am
In the close ups of the bowl, is that wax streaking or scratches in the wood? What sanding process did you use?

The apparent texture is a combination of factors. Any smooth organic material looks rough under enough magnification, so there's some of that. Maximum sharpness with camera and post-process settings also add to it. Meaning it looks worse than it is. In hand, it's acceptable. Plenty of shine, nice feel, etc.

But it definitely isn't optimal. Not there yet. Quinton thinks what's visible looks like the result of me not sanding a final time immediately before finishing to remove the raised grain following long storage. It was dead-smooth originally, in other words, but many months exposure to atmospheric humidity roughened it a bit.

We'll know with the next one, because it'll be from the same batch. I'll hit it ever-so-gently with 800 or 1000 before staining.

Ocelot55 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 9:56 am Is this the beginning of a habit?

Probably

Who's idea was the stem inlay? Does it mean anything or is it just cool looking?

That came to me following a long wrestling match with dots and uniqueness. In short, since dots are simple to apply, unique combinations of them are virtually impossible to come up with after a century.

Turns out an inlaid crescent/half moon sort of thing was NOT "taken", though, so I grabbed it. It's a solid gold pig bitch to get positioned right, though, so am starting to fiddle mentally with ideas for a jig to make it easier.

amnell wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 4:53 pm Beautiful pipe. Bummer with the funnel issues. Risky game trying to fix it when everything else is done.
I’d love a little more meat on the back of the bowl. Maby a touch of Eltang-ish cutty bump. Cool inlay [emoji106]

Decided to split the difference with the funnel: a little more evening-out and deepening, but nothing dramatic. It's going to be a shop pipe in any event---Quinton will keep #1 (the straight grain Dublin) and I'll keep #2 as "smoke testers", a memento of our partnership, and because they aren't up to the standard we're shooting for.

10-4 on the Eltang Bump. To my eye, Tom's belge always looked a bit odd/off compared to the classic French version, though, which this one is (and that Q nailed dead-on). It's a blondes vs. brunettes thing in any event.

Here's a legit example of the Old School version. A GBD made between 1880 and 1890. (Sorry for the drab/weird color rendering... It's caused by some kind of photo software incompatability)

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Great smoking pipe, George!
You are a good master. There is nothing to find fault with, except for one detail. And what about the diameter of the chimney in the stem? Not too small?
With all respect, Andrey

All righty, then...

I refinished the bugger, tweaked the funnel as much as possible without weakening the bite zone, and took some pics with the lights arranged to be as harsh and revealing as possible with regard to finish, lines, and shaping.


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Very attractive pipe, George!