Plateaux can go surprisingly deep!

[JSPipes]

First off, I'm not sure if I should post this here or in the "Stummels" section.

This pipe I'm keeping for myself. It's a bit of an experiment. The walls at the base are quite thin and I'm wondering how it'll hold up. In addition, it's got a major flaw. You'll see in the pictures.

When I layed the pipe out on the block, I didn't see any indication of what was going to happen at the bottom. It fit best with the base of the pipe about 3/8 inch from the plateaux of the block. I like to put the side of the pipe where the birdseye will be best shown on the plateaux side.

Anyway, when I trimmed it out before drilling I saw that the plateaux went quite deep into the wood in a few spots. So I got a little concerned. After drilling, while shaping, it didn't seem to get any better and I finally had to stop if I wanted to have a smokeable pipe. I think that the plateaux on the bottom ends very very close to the chamber.

There isn't enough wood left to rusticate, so I kept it smooth and I'm keeping it for myself. There's no way I'd sell a pipe with a flaw like this that might burn through. I'm smoking it right now with some GLP Fillmore. I figured I'd try a new blend with a new pipe.

Anyway, I hope you like the shape and find the flaw in the bottom interesting.



Joel

[RadDavis]

Hey Joel,

The shape on that pipe is really nice.

I don't find the flaw on the bottom interesting. I find it very frustrating.

I hate having an otherwise great looking block come up with a flaw that starts at the plateaux and just keeps going, and going, and going..............

When I lay out a shape that close to the plateaux, I always cut that part first on the band saw. If there's a nasty flaw that comes in from the plateaux, then I back off and reconsider. Maybe cut another shape, maybe try to move the shape further away from the plateaux.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Rad

[TreverT]

I've found it's best to quickly hit the top of plateau with the sandblaster before I even start to draw the shape, so I can see how deep the grooves and ridges go, and if there are any fissures hidden under all that packed dirt. This is, unless I have no desire to keep the pointy bits, in which case I just bandsaw it off like Rad.
For folks without a sandblaster, you can also clean plateau tolerably with a soft spinning wire brush.

[LexKY_Pipe]

With all of the above said, it is a nicely shaped pipe.

[JSPipes]

Thanks for the suggestions Rad and Trever. There wasn't room in the block to move the pipe anywhere else. It was a pretty small block to start with. I imagine I could have done something completely different with the block, but it is what it is.

Now I'm interested to see if it'll burn out or not. So far so good.

Joel