Two New Ones

[hammer8]

After finally slowing down at work (road construction) and catching up on most everything I let go around the house all summer long, I was able to get back into the garage over the past few weeks and come up with these two.

This bent brandy was intended from the beginning to be a X-Mas gift for a friend who took up pipe smoking last year. It measures 1 7/8" by 6", and the tobacco chamber is 13/16" by 1 1/2".













I slightly over drilled the draft hole, and am not especially happy with how the stem button turned out, and I feel that the stem/shank junction could be better, as well as the stem probably should have been shortened.

This one was destined to be a shop/yard/dog pipe from the start, as it has a rather nasty crack in the bottom of the bowl, as well as smaller ones in the left side. I admit there wasn't a whole lot of time spent on this pipe, considering it's intended use. It measures 1 3/4" by 5 3/4" nad the tobacco chamber is 3/4' by 1 1/4"









Like I said, not a lot of effort went in here, and there are still a few scratches in the finish, and the back of the bowl could match the front better. Given the thickness if the bowl, the stem and shank should thinned up, but I was didn't want to go too far, given the crack inside the bowl. I think the stem should be shortened here also.

As always, criticism is expected and welcomed. Thanks for looking!

[wdteipen]

I like the brandy. I agree that the stem is significantly too long by at least an inch. The bowl shaping looks nice. There's maybe a slight symmetry difference between the left and right side of the bowl but it's not bad and may be the photo angle. The saddle could be a bit more crisp. be sure to buff at the right angles, never against the edges. It's hard to tell but it looks like there may be a tiny bit of rounding at the stem/shank junction. Nice job.

[JMG]

As was said, I think the brandy would look better with a shorter stem. Other than that, however, this is a really nice looking pipe and looks the proportions are right on...some really nice grain too. Overall, really nice job on this pipe. I'd be willing to bet that your friend will be very happy with this gift.

The second pipe...well, I completely understand about how hard it is to put yourself into a pipe when you know from the outset that the briar is bad. Bummer, man. If you ever decide to do anything else to it though, I would suggest a couple things: I would take the taper out of the shank. I think it would help make the proportions of the bowl look better. Also, I would shorten the stem by about 1/2 an inch or so, and thin it out near the bit.