An especially difficult re-stem (another giant straight grain)

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Drucquers Banner

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,919
Actually, the pipe isn't quite a true giant --- it's 7" long and 125 grams (5 ounces) --- but as we used to say back in the day, "It's close enough for government work."
How this specimen came to have a mis-matched but correct brand stem is anybody's guess. Maybe the original got lost or was damaged beyond repair and the owner did a swap from his own collection. Or sent it back to the maker who gave the owner the option of a quick fix since making a new fitted one would be expensive. We'll never know. It is certain that the odd match-up wasn't sold that way as some sort of "Art Statement", though, since the face of the shank had tool marks and was countersunk. Things that would have been properly dealt with if it was intended to see the light of day.
Anyhow, for those of you who like messing with this sort of thing, the gold plated pig bitch here is the "hooked" shank, a la Hawkbill. Not only does extending the lines of such a shank require actually carving/sculpting the stem into a bent shape instead of heat-bending it, but the lines created by the original maker were off. Meaning inconsistent in radius. (Grrrrrr...) Also the bottom line of the shank has a bulge. (Double Grrrrrr...) So, I had to fudge here and there to make the best of things.
Also the airway had to be drilled considerably below center, the diameter of the necessary rod was quite large, and the pipe's owner wanted the new stem to be acrylic. (Acrylic is wonderful stuff for most pipes, but it is more difficult to work with than vulcanite as a general thing, and the larger the stem the more difficult it gets.)
-
GjAgbDY.jpg

3YlmI6t.jpg

Gi5oXck.jpg

IL1JqDF.jpg

rnItDRU.jpg

xm2ZooO.jpg

7iJwX5G.jpg

mIW10ak.jpg

NKBpU6n.jpg

jIPox1j.jpg

VQk5Xfu.jpg

M9h7p9Q.jpg

0pkBt1y.jpg

1axQbQZ.jpg


 

drwatson

Lifer
Aug 3, 2010
1,721
5
toledo
You do REALLY great work. Making a stem seems very hard and is one thing that I have never tried. Would not even know where to start.

 

kiel

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 27, 2016
208
2
The tapered stem looks much nicer than that saddled replacement. Even if the saddled stem fit the pipe, it still looks kind of....ugly. Too bad there isn't a picture of the original stem to see what everything looked like before. Why do I feel like a lot of makers should consult with you before they design a stem?
Great work! Except for a few fuzzies left on the stem :twisted: its beautiful.
Kiel

 
May 31, 2012
4,295
34
Your gleam lines are showing.
:)
Dayum!
That's a stunner.

Excellent work.
How'd the duckhead transplant go?

Was it taunting you the whole time?
:mrgreen:

 

beefeater33

Lifer
Apr 14, 2014
4,063
6,118
Central Ohio
It is Posts like this why I will never leave this forum........... Truly amazing stuff here, So cool to see start to finish photos. Well done, and thanks for sharing!!.......... :clap:

 
Mar 30, 2014
2,853
78
wv
Just send it to Georged. It's much easier that way. ...oh wait, never mind.
Well done as always George. Beautiful pipe.

 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,919
How'd the duckhead transplant go?
It was metal, so I just heated it until it could be comfortably twisted out of the old stem with a pair of padded needle-nose pliers. Then I cleaned up the little 3mm long post, added a few notches to it with a file, applied a touch of black epoxy, and pressed it into a just-snug .048" receiving hole on the new stem.
The only tricky part was drilling the hole squarely into a 90-degree near knife-edge. Those tiny bits are very flexy, and missing the exact center of the edge's .5 mm radius would have resulted in a mess.
Was it taunting you the whole time?
It honked, actually. (It's a goose) Quite a bit, in fact. Kept doing it at critical moments trying to mess me up. Don't be fooled... them goosii are evil little bastards.

 

newbroom

Lifer
Jul 11, 2014
6,087
6,394
Florida
As I read the opening description, I thought, why not modify the wood to make it have a more 'consistent' curve?

I know, changing the integrity of the original pipe is verboten.

The results of your work are spectacular! The stem you 'created' gives the stummel balance to the eye if not the hand, and your sense of proportion is (here's the operative word for all your work, George) impeccable. :worship:

 

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
Trying to finish a stem without screwing up the original finish has to be a nightmare...Great job!

 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,919
As I read the opening description, I thought, why not modify the wood to make it have a more 'consistent' curve?
You have no idea how difficult it is to resist that urge, newbroom. :lol: Not only is the voice in my head saying, "Do it! Do it! Do it!" but my tools are all dancing this sexy little dance while nodding yes and batting their little tool eyes at me.
Self-control in such matters is required by my trade, though.
I know, changing the integrity of the original pipe is verboten.
Yup. Not only would the shape no longer be what the original maker intended, topping-the-bowl style, but in this case would erase the info that gives the pipe its value and collector appeal:
1KHziug.jpg


 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,919
George while you were torturing the Goose with heat did it give up the Secret why they fly in a V?
Being a one-time bicycle road racer, I already knew the answer so didn't ask. (they're drafting---saves energy)
The next time someone wants an L'Anatra head transferred, though, I'll ask it why one side of the "V" is longer than the other, though. :wink:

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,065
Carmel Valley, CA
Excellence in work and photography.
I can think of a dozen reasons why I'd leave the goose head off, and one or two to leave it. Those trump the former, I guess!
It's a nose warmer that's not a hand warmer! Correction: at 7" it's not even a nose warmer; the huge bowl makes it look so.

 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,919
It's a nose warmer that's not a hand warmer! Correction: at 7" it's not even a nose warmer; the huge bowl makes it look so.
Isolated in a photo it definitely looks nose-warmer-ish, doesn't it?
Fitting it with a longer stem---even up to 1.5" longer---would have given the pipe a more conventional profile, but at the cost of making it really difficult to smoke. A 115 gram (quarter pound) bowl at the end of a six inch long lever would test the teeth of even Richard Kiel, and the man who owns this pipe (and dozens of others like it) very much intends to smoke it.
In fact, the bowl was pretty heavily caked when I received it, which implies that it smokes really well. I've only seen a handful of heavily caked giants in my life.

 

lohengrin

Lifer
Jun 16, 2015
1,198
2
Nothing to add.

Unfortunately (for me)I live far from you, otherwise I would immediately visit you to learn your technique!

Congratulations.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.