Here's my Sunday offering. I finished Etude #4 last night. I'm pleased with this attempt overall, but it has been a comedy of errors, one of them involving trying to use the Pimo Tenon Tool (PTT) to face the Maple insert. That was NOT a good idea! I did finally get the blood off the stummel, and was able to make a new insert and stem after shreading the original. And of course I have symmetry issues again, and this time an annoying flat spot from early on in the shaping that I could not seem to eliminate latter.
Sort of a modified Poker shape. It sits pretty well. I made a partial rustification effort where some significant flaws turned up. I would have loved to have a blasting rig for this. I'm just not happy with anything I've managed so far with rustification. I’m using inexpensive ebauchons until I can get the basics learned and have been able to avoid most major disasters. This block was from Mark Tinsky ( BTW, I highly recommend him for briar), it had some very pretty grain in it, but only in small areas. With a blasting rig I think I would have tried blasting all but the bottom, the shank, and the portion of the left side hat has nice grain leading into it. Here is a shot of the best angle grain wise:
Specs in inches: Bowl is 2.33 high, and overall length is 5.5. Tobacco Chamber is .75 (3/4) x 1.5 deep.
Ok, now for "issues" I've noticed, and I'm here to learn, so please don't hold back on what you see. Offer up anything I need to know to avoid issues like these, and anything else to make the next pipe better.
In this pic above you can really see the flat spot on the stem side and just down for the top of the bowl. It's actually not as obvious as this angle indicates, but it sure is there. It was a carry over from disk sanding that I just could not get out latter without messing with the rest of the shape, and I was going to run out of room. This shape had a huge evolution as I worked it. You can also see some bulge in the stem just behind the insert. I saw this as I was shaping the stem, and I worked and worked on this, but it's still there at certain angles! I was scared of leaving hard to get out filing marks on the stem (like my other pipes ALL had), so I think these bulges came from trying to do too much with hand sanding. Perhaps a good compromise would be to make a small flat backing board in the shape of a file that I can use with the various grits of sandpaper.
You can't see real well, but the drafthole, or airhole (what is the preferred nomenclature for that anyway?) is just slightly off center and a bit too far back where it enters the chamber. Thanks to some advice and some excellent technique suggestions from Hazmat and others for drilling the draft hole first I at least didn't drill through the back of the pipe this time! The Pimo modified spade bits I'm using are not leaving me with a very clean chamber, especially at the bottom, and the sides almost always have some break out, even though I first use a 3/4 HS jobbers bit. It's almost impossible for me to accurately position the block/drill between the two, and that may be part of the issue. I'm really wanting to look for a better solution for the tobacco chamber. It would also help if I could only use the Pimo bit in one pass, but I have not been able to work that out and still get depth in relation to the draft hole correct. Still longing for a lathe, but this ended up with better mechanics, so no more excuses.
Here is another pic from the front that shows the bulges in the stem:
This is not a very flattering angle on this one, and if anything it makes the bulges look worse than they are, but they are there, and I sure wish they weren't. I might even take a stab at working that area again.
Ok, in addition to the flat spot mentioned above, I have symmetry issues that are apparent here in the picture the bottom:
Once again, this angle looks worse than it is, but I want to make pipes that look good from ALL angles in ALL kinds of light. My shank/stem transition areas are giving me fits in terms of symmetry. It is especially noticeable with when looking into the mortise with the stem off. I should have snaped a pic of that, but couldn’t quiet bear to do it. A lathe would help a bunch on any round straight shanks, but would not have at all for this one. Any tips on symmetry, especially in the shank/stem area? BTW, at one point on this pipe I had the fit between the insert, stem, and shank almost perfect, then I ruined it in a careless moment on the disk sander. I recovered it mostly, but I’ve still got a hairline gap between the insert and shank that I simply could not get out.
Again, please tear it up folks. I’m hear to learn.
