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I got some of the basic shaping done and then glued the bamboo and acrylic ring to the stummel. My question or questions is, did I mess this up? As I am looking at it it seems like I should have taken more off before attaching the bamboo. I have no idea how I am going to sand it with the sanding wheel without messing up the bamboo, unless I just do it by hand. The other question is, there is some T88 on the bamboo and I am worried that when I sand this I am going to take the black off the black bamboo. Is there a better way to get this off without taking the black off too? Should I sand it anyways and then stain it black to match the bamboo?

Thanks.

As long as the ring of acrylic is level on both sides, it should look fine. Shouldn't be an issue sanding it down on the disc.

Whenever I glue, I clean up the outside (stummel, stem/bamboo) before it dries. I don't really know alot about bamboo though.

It almost looks like you should have left it on the lathe until the glue dried, turned the acrylic, then glued on the bamboo, but we each do it differently.

I would love to see the finished product.

Jonathan

Put some masking tape on the bamboo- it'll give you some insurance.

In the future, you'll want to keep the bamboo unsecured until you've shaped, stained, and finished the stummel. Then you'll want to glue the bamboo to the stummel. You'll have the bamboo connected while you shape of course, just not glued. Careful when you stain or you may run into some staining issues because the bamboo is already glued in. If you do, chalk it up to learning and smoke that sucker! If you don't, let us know how you avoided it.

BTW, that's some beautiful bamboo.

cmueller wrote: My question or questions is, did I mess this up?

Not yet!

cmueller wrote:I have no idea how I am going to sand it with the sanding wheel without messing up the bamboo, unless I just do it by hand.

This is the same problem you would have if you hadn't glued it - it still has to match the bamboo's profile exactly. in your case, you just don't have flexibility.

cmueller wrote:The other question is, there is some T88 on the bamboo and I am worried that when I sand this I am going to take the black off the black bamboo. Is there a better way to get this off without taking the black off too?

You might take a little of the black off, just go slowly, and *lightly* sand any scratches out. If you stain the bamboo with chocolate, you won't really be able to tell. The exception to that is if you go through the outer layer on the bamboo and into those inner fibers. Then you're hosed.

Yes, there's a better way to get epoxy off, you just wait until it's almost set up and peel it off. With 5 minute epoxy you wait roughly 4 minutes (depending on the temperature), and you can peel the entire remainder off as one piece.

cmueller wrote:Should I sand it anyways and then stain it black to match the bamboo

Try to avoid sanding it, and again, chocolate is the answer here.

Well, I messed it up or as I like to call it, " the briar and bamboo wanted to be a shop pipe." However, I learned a lot, it's only my 48th pipe, and the next one will be better. Thanks again for all the help and comments.