Pipe #2

wdteipen · Post by **wdteipen** » Mon May 12, 2008 3:38 pm

Here's my latest pipe. It went okay. The stem is my first handcrafted stem and is made out of absylux with a delrin tenon. I'm not real pleased with the stem/stummel connection. A pipe cleaner gets hung up at the end of the tenon/entry into the stummel because of the angle of the draft hole. Once again, the photos aren't great because I'm a horrible photographer. Let me know what you think.

Charl · Post by **Charl** » Tue May 13, 2008 2:53 am

Interesting shape!

I agree with the shank/stem junction not being entirely what it should be. Also, to my eye, the flow from the bottom of the bowl towards the shank is interrupted.

But rather listen to the pros, I'm just a rookie.

All in all, it's a rather nice interesting pipe.

wdteipen · Post by **wdteipen** » Tue May 13, 2008 3:50 am

I agree with you on all points, Charl. I was going to sand off that lip below the shank but for some reason didn't despite a nagging urge to do so. I should have gone with my gut. I'm really struggling with getting the stem and shank squared and flush. I get the best results using the PIMO counterbore but it's limited to very skinny shanks (5/8" I think.) Sometimes the PIMO counterbore leaves a pretty rough cut. I'm not sure if that's because I'm drilling too slow or too fast or if the tool is dull. I'm wondering if I would get better results with a 7/8" Forstner. I also made a newbie mistake of doing a little sanding on the shank with the stem off. Stupid mistake. As always, I'm learning the hard way. Thanks for the input.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue May 13, 2008 11:30 am

wdteipen wrote:Sometimes the PIMO counterbore leaves a pretty rough cut. I'm not sure if that's because I'm drilling too slow or too fast or if the tool is dull. I'm wondering if I would get better results with a 7/8" Forstner. I also made a newbie mistake of doing a little sanding on the shank with the stem off. Stupid mistake. As always, I'm learning the hard way. Thanks for the input.

Depending on who you talk to, the preferred tools are aircraft counterbore, forstner bit, or facing using a metal lathe. I use a 1-1/4" Freud Forstner bit to face the shank, and a 5/16" forstner to drill the mortis. An aircraft counterbore will do both operations in one motion and leave a finish just like a precision ground Forstner bit. Both an aircraft counterbore and a precision ground Forstner will "shave" the wood, not grind it off like the PIMO counterbore.

souljer · Post by **souljer** » Tue May 13, 2008 2:36 pm

To me, from the way the shank and bowl are, it looks like you started making a bent billiard then stopped and just smoothed out the rest of the wood.

The grain visible seems to indicate that it would indeed make a nice cross-cut, if you chose to go that route. What does the bottom and front look like? Any plateaux on the bottom?

If its only your second or so pipe, it's pretty good. You're still learning and this is part of the process.

wdteipen · Post by **wdteipen** » Tue May 13, 2008 9:58 pm

Thanks for the tip Kurt.

Souljer,

It's funny you should mention that about the pipe looking like there's a billiard in there. You're the second person to make that observation. The pipe design was actually a volcano from the start but I definitely see the billiard in there. It probably would make a decent billiard but I'd lose the nice grain on the bottom. The bottom of the pipe has some very nice birdseye and burl. When I get some time I'll post a pic of it.

souljer · Post by **souljer** » Wed May 14, 2008 3:08 am

Hmmm,

See, now that I find very interesting and a cool challenge...

In reading your post, I completely understand what you're saying. I said a similar thing in response to a post on the thread, "Sand Storm in Chicago" in the Gallery section.

I read what you said here and I have to say I see the bent billiard, however how about a version where the sides come straight down or only slightly taper in, leaving a flat panel on the bottom of the base and shank similar to a sitter. That way you get the shape you see there, but a more creative version that is unique.

Castello makes a straight version of this which is something you should google and check out a few pix of. I believe it's shape number 67.

Just another idea. Or leave it as-is and move on to the next pipe.

wdteipen · Post by **wdteipen** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:13 pm

Here's a pic of the bottom:

The grain is not the greatest but it's still fairly attractive IMO. I opted to leave the small amount of plateaux surface on the edge to make it a bit more interesting because I thought it was quite boring otherwise.