BSP No1

[Briar Spirit]

The first pipe made from my recent acquisition of pipe kits.

I'm not going to go into this very much as this has turned out to be too depressing to even consider taking seriously.

Like a total plank, to bend the Acrylic stem I placed it in a bowl of salt in the oven, this worked great except it seems to have made the stem bulge a tiny bit on the tenon face end, doesn't matter what I try I cannot get the darn thing to sit flush. The stem is also a tiny bit loose, not loose like you might think, it just aint a nice tight fit as it should be.

This was the kits as it arrived to me.....

This is the finished pipe, you should be able to notice the tiny gap between stem and shank,such a disappointment for the first of the batch.

Yup, I know what you're going to say, just bite the bullet and smoke the darn thing, well I would do but the tobacco chamber is monstrous huge, way too big for my rationed smokes I'm afraid, this pipe will just sit in a box getting old, what a waste.

 

[leftover421]

:shock: I think it's Beautiful! :shock: 

I have had worse looking fits from Savinelli, Pete, and Jobey.

I think you are too hard on yourself. I would be proud to have carved a beauty like that.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks outstanding and, with the limited shop you have, it impresses me.

The only thing I know about bending stems was an old video of Charatan where he lit a candle to bend the stem. Of course that was old black stems and not acrylic.

 

[Slide]

Kirk that is a beautiful pipe!

 

[Briar Spirit]

Thanks for the really kind comments chaps, my confidence took a hell of a wallop with this flop to be honest, I am just finishing off a second pipe today actually and I am faltering in my sense of self ability. I made purchase of 8 pipe kits with money I made from selling the very last things of my late Brother, 2 of the kits have sand pits in the chamber so they're useless, this one of course no one would want to buy, it's very distressing for me. These kits were my one and only chance at getting the cash together to start making pipes myself, I paid a 'lot' of money for these kits, maybe not a lot to some folks opinions but to me it was a small fortune. I needed to be able to sell all of them to make the cash needed, aint life a pain in the butt, it can be a cruel mistress at times.

I am hoping to buy a heat gun (hot air gun) for stem bending in the future, Acrylic is really weird, at one temperature it is rigid hard and totally not bendable, but increasing by seemingly a degree or so and they flop all over the place, Vulcanite (Ebonite) is so much easier to work with but it isn't as purdy.

 

[Anonymous]

You have the knack for that, Kirk.  It's obvious.

A sand pit in the chamber shouldn't mean much except a little extra care the first dozen or so trips around the block with it. There's probably worse out there hidden under bowl coatings.

:face:

 

[dshpipes]

Yup, I know what you're going to say, just bite the bullet and smoke the darn thing, well I would do but the tobacco chamber is monstrous huge, way too big for my rationed smokes I'm afraid, this pipe will just sit in a box getting old, what a waste.

Doesn't have to be a waste, there Kirk. Give it away to a friend or, if you don't know anyone else who smokes a pipe, use it as a gift to bring someone into the fold.

 

[Richard Hester]

Brother I think it is a very beautiful pipe well done sir
Best Regards
Richard

 

[Briar Spirit]

You have the knack for that, Kirk.  It's obvious.

A sand pit in the chamber shouldn't mean much except a little extra care the first dozen or so trips around the block with it. There's probably worse out there hidden under bowl coatings.

:face:

Very kind of you to say Yak, and I know you say nothing you don't mean, I am flattered.

I wish it were so chap, one of the kits has 3 holes in the chamber, one of them is about the size of a small pea, the guy had no place selling that kit or the other with a hole in it, and to make it worse he is ignoring my trying to contact him about them. If you purchased a pipe and the one you got sent had a dirty great hole in the chamber would you just shrug and say what ever, same thing my friend, I made purchase of a product and it is seriously flawed, I am very surprised he is ignoring me though.

 

[Briar Spirit]

Doesn't have to be a waste, there Kirk. Give it away to a friend or, if you don't know anyone else who smokes a pipe, use it as a gift to bring someone into the fold.

To be honest there isn't anything wrong with the pipe in terms of it being a smoker, I really need to get some money back from it but of course that isn't going to happen, I don't know any one who might want it to be honest Buddy, making a pipe like this with just files and sandpaper is a heck of a lot of work as you will know, giving it away would come hard on me but if I knew some one in the UK who would genuinely appreciate it I would consider sending it to them.

Brother I think it is a very beautiful pipe well done sir
Best Regards
Richard

Thanks Rich, it's not in the same league as your own work of course but in time perhaps.

 

[pepesdad1]

:shock: I think it's Beautiful! :shock: 

I have had worse looking fits from Savinelli, Pete, and Jobey.

I think you are too hard on yourself. I would be proud to have carved a beauty like that.

Ditto.

I think it looks great...would be proud to have it in my collection...meager as it is.

 

[huffelpuff]

Kirk I blew these pics up as big as my screen would allow and I don't see a thing that should get you so discouraged. The pipe is beautiful! As far as not being quite tight enough there are fixes for that. I did restoration work for a time on late 1700's early 1800's firearms and often was massively disappointed in some aspect of what I had accomplished on each piece I did. The people who paid for the work however were more than happy with the work done and continued to bring work to me for years. Point being that as an artist it's easy to be hyper-critical of your own work. Relax, tighten up the stem and let somebody enjoy that pipe. I know for certain that if I had the funds I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.

Jim

 

[the rev]

sent you a pm hit me back brother

rev

 

[Briar Spirit]

Kirk I blew these pics up as big as my screen would allow and I don't see a thing that should get you so discouraged. The pipe is beautiful! As far as not being quite tight enough there are fixes for that. I did restoration work for a time on late 1700's early 1800's firearms and often was massively disappointed in some aspect of what I had accomplished on each piece I did. The people who paid for the work however were more than happy with the work done and continued to bring work to me for years. Point being that as an artist it's easy to be hyper-critical of your own work. Relax, tighten up the stem and let somebody enjoy that pipe. I know for certain that if I had the funds I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.

Jim

Thank you for your kind words Jim, that was really heart warming, I am deeply moved.

 

[Briar Spirit]

sent you a pm hit me back brother

rev

Done John.

 

[Briar Spirit]

Some awesome news, ckr on Pipe Chat has told me how to fix the stem bulge, it is such a clever idea I swear, I would never have thought of it in a dozen lifetimes I reckon.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Kirky, besides the beauty and care that came through in this pipe, the only thing I'd work on is getting the tobacco chamber to be smack-dab in the center with the walls evenly-spaced around. I have no idea your shop setup, or even if you have a lathe, or if you're eyeballing this and doing it by hand. This is by no means a flop pipe. Is there room for improvement? Sure. Are you a master in the making? Yeah, I think so. This pipe scoring 8 out of 10 is evidence of that. Don't be rough on yourself, especially if you're simply using what you got...the most important tool in your kit is your determination, followed by your obvious talent, brother. :heart:

8)

 

[Briar Spirit]

Ha-ha, you're referring to that close up shot huh, the bowl is pretty much centred Kyle, I have no idea how I managed to take a shot to look so distorted like that though. All done by hand by the way Kyle, just files and sand paper mate, blooming hard work too, I am hoping to buy a drill press to start making pipes fully by myself but that is something I am working on.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

If the stem is at 9 o'clock, I'm seeing a bit of "overburden" at 5, 4 and 3, and some thinness at 8. I don't want to pull it apart like that, especially since you're doing it by hand, but...it's what my eyes see. A lathe would likely solve something like that 100%...but I also know what lathes cost...and why I don't own one myself. :lol:

 

[BigCasino]

the pic of this pipe is not directly over the top, the bowl is slightly leaning away from the camera making the bowl look out of balance if you notice looking into the bowl you can see the whole side wall down to the bottom of the chamber to the top of the pic and not in the bottom
also if you make a bent stem and don't have it lined up perfectly it will look all crazy distorted too


Nice work kirk