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My latestest. Critique em if you got em.

Beautiful pipe, Ryan. What type of wood is the insert on the stem?

Ocelot55 wrote:

Beautiful pipe, Ryan. What type of wood is the insert on the stem?

Speschul Magicwood.... Its very rare
Actually its a widespread species in the NE, but I've never seen it spalted like this. Its called Sweet Cherry Birch and I am hoarding all I got !

Damn, dude! Nice.

Another Ryan Aldan! Sweet!

Critique:

In the photos, it appears that there's a gap between your ebonite spacer between the stummel. It's tiny, but visible. I like the sweet cherry birch, but I'm not sure I personally like the second flare. It might be better if they were closer together? My eye wants the first flare to be the only flare.

The stem looks pretty good, but it appears to be a little... underbuffed. In the photos, it appears to have texture instead of being mirror smooth. IMO, the stem is too flat on the top and bottom. It appears that you created a rectangle out of the stem, then rounded the extreme edges. I'd recommend giving the top and bottom some curve and having them meet in a point on each side of the stem that you then round so it's not all pointy. This would help with the definition of your button as well. IMO, the stem gets too thin too fast. My eyes want a nice swoop from the flare as it transitions into the stem and then tapering down to the button.

It may just be the photos, but the inward countersink towards the chamber appears to have more stain on it than the rest of the pipe.

I think this is a sweet lookin' pipe, but it could use some tightening up.

Mom says, "Hi."

More good stuff. I like the sweep of the grain on the side of the pipe - it flatters even though it's not the ideal shape-matching straight grain, and I bet the back (or "front" for Tyler, or "part that faces you during normal usage" for Wayne ) of the bowl has good bird almost all the way up and around that corner, and that's a worthwhile payout in itself.

I think the stem is too long, I abbreviated it in my redux. Be curious to see what other people think.

In terms of shaping, you are getting good joints and nice cuts, all the technical stuff is there I think, but there's no harmony in what's going at with the piece as a whole, most notably the shank extension. I copied your curves in red right on the pipe and then suggested some "nicer" ones. Between the stem and the shank extension, for example, you have a small tight-radius curve that flattens right out, this joins onto another flat area and swings up into a larger peak with a larger radius. This is, in technical terms "ugly". Same can be said of the lines from the shank onto that extension - there's no harmony in the shape, no continuity of the curves or the ideas presented in the rest of the pipe. And that's what separates a master-level pipe from a good pipe with a "neato" extension. Your extension is beautiful, interesting wood, it's shaped intelligently and reasonably well, and overall it detracts from the pipe's lines. So your homework on the next one is to use the same ideas but tie them together in a harmonious composition.

Thanks Michael.
David, some mostly very valid points Sir. Actually my natural inclination is to spend another 45 hours fixing every tiny thing that is or isn't wrong... However, I have already lost 23 pounds on my "Buy groceries with the proceeds of making pipes diet" and I am having to force myself to make excellent pipes for the money asked, without obsessing over perfection.
The pipe is exactly as awesome as I can possibly make it in 15 hours

Thanks Todd. Thats actually what I'm most concerned about taking from the pipe, how do I turn the aesthetics of this pipe into a better design next time. I was tempted after completely finishing it, to take it back to the wheel and change the whole thing.... I obviously have to quit doing that.
I see the subtle change in line you suggest. I would also like to make the extension itself shorter, drop it a bit further down the shank and make the ebonite flare a bit smaller in diameter. Live and learn. I still find it incredibly difficult to envision any of these changes until a pipe is completely finished. Then I want to go back and change them, but I cant afford to keep spending 30 hours on a pipe.
It passes the "Hell yeah I'd smoke it" test, so I am letting this one go as is. Next time, sell for big wampum.

That "see it as a whole as I'm building it from pieces" thing is tough. Rinse and repeat.

Great points, Todd!

Alden wrote:Thanks Michael.
David, some mostly very valid points Sir. Actually my natural inclination is to spend another 45 hours fixing every tiny thing that is or isn't wrong... However, I have already lost 23 pounds on my "Buy groceries with the proceeds of making pipes diet" and I am having to force myself to make excellent pipes for the money asked, without obsessing over perfection.
The pipe is exactly as awesome as I can possibly make it in 15 hours

Dude, for 15 hours, you're doing it right. I just thought I'd share all the impossibly nit-picky things I could see.

Keep it up, man! The pipes are lookin' great.

UberHuberMan wrote: I just thought I'd share all the impossibly nit-picky things I could see.

David you're always welcome to share your thoughts. Some of the issues are just due to my crappy photo taking skillz.
P.S. I lied about losing weight. I'm fatter than ever. Meaner too.

Alden wrote:

UberHuberMan wrote: I just thought I'd share all the impossibly nit-picky things I could see.

David you're always welcome to share your thoughts. Some of the issues are just due to my crappy photo taking skillz.
P.S. I lied about losing weight. I'm fatter than ever. Meaner too.

Well get off your fat ass and learn to take some decent photos, lardo!

UberHuberMan wrote: Well get off your fat ass and learn to take some decent photos, lardo!

I just told yer Mom what you said... She is going to have a talk with you later.... After that, I'm going to break your face....