pipemakersforum.com

I attended the St. Louis Pipe Show a few months ago, where I had the pleasure of getting to know some of the gracious gentlemen of the Kansas City Pipe Club. They prevailed upon me to enter their North American pipe carvers contest to be held in June.

This year the shape is in the billiard family with a strait shank...could be a billiard or a lovat, lumberman or Canadian.

Upon my return to Bellingham from St Louis, realizing that I would have to abandon the workshop in favor of the boat at the beginning of March, I set to work to make a worthy entry for the contest. I found a properly grained block for the shape and crafted a pipe that I was quite proud of. Unfortunately, while I was waiting for the finish on the briar to dry, I set about polishing the stem, inserted into a rod of hardwood. The buffer grabbed a corner of the bit, snatching it from my grip and tossing it across the shop. The result: a broken tenon.

I have repaired the pipe with a delrin tenon. However it is no longer the simple, two piece pipe, with one-piece stem/tenon I had intended and no longer represents my best work. Hence, I have decided not to enter it into the contest. As we depart for another charter season in Alaska in just a few weeks so there is no time to make another pipe or even make a new stem.

The upside is that I am now free to share the pipe here on PMF and get some needed feedback from those who know.

6.25 inches long, 2" tall the bore is 13/16" with 5/16" walls and a 5/32 drilling . It weighs just 53 grams despite being a rather large pipe.

Richard,

You should enter it. You don't have to win to make a good impression on potential future fans. That's a nice pipe!

Tyler

Thanks Tyler. With the posting of this pipe here, that ship has already sailed. I will try to make an entry for next year.

Richard I meant to ask you on Friday night - why not just make a new stem, non-repaired? It's obviously easier to work the pipe as one piece, but on the other hand, in terms of shaping, the stem is a separate entity on this type of pipe.

Sasquatch wrote:Richard I meant to ask you on Friday night - why not just make a new stem, non-repaired? It's obviously easier to work the pipe as one piece, but on the other hand, in terms of shaping, the stem is a separate entity on this type of pipe.

I thought of that but there is NO TIME,,, we have a 96 foot boat that requires a huge time commitment getting ready for a charter season in Alaska. All the exterior teak bright-work has been sanded and varnished, all the equipment in the engine room is being gone over, inspected, and renewed, spares being organized, cataloged and procured. The boat has been hauled out with thorough renewal of bottom paint, zincs, etc. The exterior paint is being repaired and renewed. The list is endless and we go north in less than three weeks. My pipe making workshop is effectively shut down until late September. If you are curious about what we do our web site is http://yachtexplorer.com

Next year we will be turning over operational duties to a hired captain and cook. This year it is still Nancy and me.

Work to be done (even on Sunday)...gotta go.

Oh, by the way, we do have as close family with our first grandson. Any spare time I can get these days is reserved for family time. (or a few minutes of on line fun).

I hear ya. I am behind on commissions, behind on real-job construction schedules, behind on my Chicago pipes, and way behind on the contest pipe. Other than that I'm ready on all counts.

It looks pretty nice! I would bring the chamber down maybe a 1/16" lower all the same, I think you should enter it.

I would offer that the widest part of the bowl needs to be about 2/3 of the way down the bowl and gently taper towards the rim. The widest part on your pipe appears to be just above the half way point. Other than that, it looks pretty good. Really nice grain and finish.

This is a beautiful pipe. There's something about the cant of the bowl that seems just right to me. Great work.

Is there a rule in the competition that says you can't show the work online before entry?

jpkulp wrote:
Is there a rule in the competition that says you can't show the work online before entry?

Since such a thing would be difficult to prove, as would intent, the answer is technically no. The KC club isn't---and doesn't want to be---the NSA.

The SPIRIT of the contest is strong, though, and it is that an entry should represent an individual carver's work, not a HiveMind that guided a pair of hands.

I guess I was not clear. I put this pipe up here after deciding not to enter it into the pipe carving contest. This was due to a screw up on my part when polishing the stem. I broke the tenon. I am too much in the short strokes of getting my boat ready to go to Alaska in a few weeks for my real job that I do not have time to make a new stem. I replaced the integral tenon with a delrin one and decided that it no longer represented the level of integrity I wanted for my entry. Thus I put it up here for comment and feedback. This pipe will not be an entry into the KC NAC contest. Please feel free to share impressions, ideas for improvement or whatever.

Yachtexplorer.

"I replaced the integral tenon with a delrin one and decided that it no longer represented the level of integrity I wanted for my entry. "

Even so, it is still a nice piece of work and commends your integrity.

Have a good season in Alaska.

Danindayton
ilurkalot

Very pure design & realisation. Don't touch it.