I started with a hand held jig saw, in an attempt to seperate bowl from shank. But I couldn't find any of my longer blades, so I just cut it as far as I could, and used that as a guide. Then used the belt sander to finish that part off and do the final shaping. (I really need a band saw) {and maybe a lathe some day} I then used a large file, to help take some larger chunks off the block and try to even it out more. Then I moved to sand paper, and smoothed it down as much as I could. Then went to the micro mesh pads for the final step 1800-3200 grit.
Then remembering when I stained my last pipe, It was a lot darker than I wanted. Luckily the little brush that comes with the stain still had stain on from last time. The fact that I didn't re dip the brush, kept it a little lighter this time. I then sacrificed an old micro mesh pad, and sanded a little bit of the finish off, before applying Caranauba wax to it.
And then of course I screwed up my stamp, but was able to make it tolerable...the third time.
I boiled some water and dipped the stem in it for a couple minutes in order to bend it to the curve I wanted.
Upon then ( Cramming ) the stem back into the shank, It cracked about 1/4th of an inch. So I will be sanding that portion way down, to a much thicker area of the shank, and re drilling the stem hole with my drill press.
THEN I will have the first smoke!
And yes MSO, I kind of liked the odd look of the shank. " Freehand" Right?? :D