No. 3 - Rusticated Bulldog variation

hollywood · Post by **hollywood** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 1:06 pm

Here is my 3rd pipe. Finished it last night. Decided to try some rustication on this one due to finding a lot of little pits during final sanding. It is a stubby Bulldog variation. I hand rusticated it to give an appearance of an old Dunhill blast. Kind of interesting I thought. I also used a small acrylic insert for the stem. Not perfect, but getting better.

Dimensions: Length - 5 1/2" Height - 1 3/4" Chamber - 1"

LexKY_Pipe · Post by **LexKY_Pipe** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:44 pm

Nicely shaped. It almost looks like a light sandblast. Good job.

flix · Post by **flix** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:42 pm

Quite attractive...reminds me of a Stanwell I saw once upon a time...hmmm..

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:42 am

If you hadn't told me, I'd have sworn that was blasted. Very nice pipe!

hollywood · Post by **hollywood** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:21 am

Thanks guys. I did that all with my Dremel. Not quite the right finish on it, but I think I figured it out. I'm going to go back over it today and try a different staining technique. Certainly fun to experiment with these first few pipes! I'll post new pics in a few hours.

LatakiaLover · Post by **LatakiaLover** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:04 pm

Hollywood --

The finish, shape, and proportions of pretty much any (meaning reasonable) pipe can't be "right or wrong" by definition. That's the artistic expression part, and what one man likes, another doesn't, and vice versa. So, no comments from me, there.

The execution of that vision---bringing into existence what your mind sees and heart wants---is another issue entirely. There the standards are distressingly exacting, and (for the most part) thoroughly agreed upon.

That said, what jumps out as the next "thing" you should strive to achieve is stem-shank flow. Smooth transitions between materials in both seamlessness and line. The slightest line break is instantly apparent in any pipe. There are many reasons why achieving a smooth flow is difficult, but that it is desirable is certain: It is a flaw that is never seen in the output of top-shelf carvers, and almost always seen in the output of everyone else.