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Here's the latest pipe. It's not drilled properly. The draught hole sits to the left and not at the very bottom of the bowl. Ugh. I was even more mad about it when the pipe started to look pretty good at the shaping disc.
Overall I'm pretty pleased, but I definitely screwed up here and there...the rustication was easy, but it was difficult to stain it black without getting it everywhere. I did it with the tip of a pipe cleaner, and VERY slowly to make sure I stained the joint completely, but didn't spill it all over the pipe. Let me know what you think! Critical words welcome.
That looks pretty sharp. The shaping on the stummel looks great. My only complaint is the stem It could use a lot of thinning out, and IMHO I would have made the stem uniform thickness after the flare. I think that would look more refined. Overall great job!
I agree with you actually. I'm still struggling to get past the hump of my own impatience. I noticed the stem was kind of lumpy but found myself too lazy to do something about it. It's a really bad habit and the cause of more than one "less than perfect" pipe.
This pipe seemed to turn out pretty well for you. I would make the stem more uniform. The lump stands out prominently. The button could be thinned out quite a bit (front to back, not top to bottom). The part of the stem in front of the ring could probably be shortened a bit. The stain seems more of less even. there is a light spot near the stem/shank junction. The back and front of the bowl are not jiving quite as well as I would hope. The front has a nice curve to it, matching the majority of the pipe, but the back of the bowl is pretty straight. Kinda throws off the groove a little. The area on the shank where it meets the bowl (the rusticated area) has a lip on it (on the shank side) that messes with the flow from shank to bowl. If it were a little smoother (plus adding some curve to the back of the bowl) it would add to the overall gracefullness of the pipe quite a bit. This is a whole lot better than some of my firsts.
Haha, wow. It's funny how I could finish a pipe, look at it, think "Hey this is awesome!" and then read a review like that, and say "wow, he's right...it's garbage." I know you don't think it's garbage, but suddenly all those things are sticking out like a sore thumb and I didn't really notice them much before.
Don't be too hard on yourself. The pipe is not garbage. I don't think I know of anyone on the forum (including myself) now that would talk about a new carver's work as garbage, even behind closed doors. You're not expected to produce the Sistine Chapel right now . Enjoy the learning process! I would never intend my comments to make you feel like your work was "garbage". If that's what came across, I aplologize. I'm glad to see you posting your work on the forum. Keep at it! If you ever run into something while you are working on a pipe feel free to PM me or any of the other members for advice. Sometimes I have questions that quite honestly don't deserve the full attention of the forum, so I send a PM to another carver. Anyway, take care.
Bowl shaping and rustication are really good, and the shank and stem are good right up until the flare, after that it all goes a bit wrong. Thin that saddle after the flare, blend everything together nicely and get a good polish and shine, then you will be looking at a great pipe!
. Enjoy the learning process! I would never intend my comments to make you feel like your work was "garbage". If that's what came across, I aplologize. I'm glad to see you posting your work on the forum. Keep at it! If you ever run into something while you are working on a pipe feel free to PM me or any of the other members for advice. Sometimes I have questions that quite honestly don't deserve the full attention of the forum, so I send a PM to another carver. Anyway, take care.