George - Topping A Bowl

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hauntedmyst

Lifer
Feb 1, 2010
4,006
20,750
Chicago
So I am down to one handed smoking (three town muscles in my shoulder, just had surgery, yada, yada, yada). I have a lighter that does both soft flame and torch. I wasn't paying attention and roached the top of one of my favorite Upshalls. As you can see in the pic, there is still a remnant of the burn at the 12 o'clock position. So I thought I'd try to fix it and sanded the top of the bowl. It has a couple of issues I'll address but if I missed anything, I'd very much like your input.

  1. I used British Tan. It's close (too orange) but not perfect. It actually looks worse in the pics than in person. I should have used the lighter tan from Fiebings. I can correct that but was wondering, can you cut stain? I've cut paint to go a shade lighter or darker but never stain. Seems like it would be best to us the standard Tan rather than trying to get the British Tan where I want it.
  2. As usual, when an amateur first tops a bowl, it looks off. I think this is because the rim isn't softened. Do you think that's the case? Do you sand it or buff it softer?
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ChuckMijo

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 26, 2020
775
2,348
Looks like you did a good job. It’s not a perfect match, but nothing wrong with that. If your happy I’d just leave it be. I have topped quite a few pipes, ones I smoke hard and aren’t concerned with. However on my high end collector pieces, I leave them be, I could never exactly match the color.
 
I have a Radice Bulldog that I laid down in my workbench tray when I finished and then dropped a very heavy file on it, really niching up the top. I sanded it out, and couldn't match the stain like you, but then after smoking it for a few years, the colors all just sort of mellow out together. I suggest just smoking it. Smoke the shit out of it.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,434
This is a cosmetic question, and only you can say how much more work you want to put into it and what you expect it to look like. To an observer, it looks fine, as if it came that way with a slightly more orange stain on the brim that most wouldn't notice. Smoke and enjoy. But if you want to tweak and fine tune it, as an exercise in pipe restoration, that's good. I'd go with it as is, but that's me.
 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
The reason your rim looks "off" shape-wise is an optical illusion / presupposition that people have of things being flat when they actually aren't. It becomes obvious that it wasn't truly flat after you see it re-made as truly flat.

Giving rims a contour which doesn't trigger the "something's off" vibe is a tricky business. It can be done completely by hand or using slabs of high density gel as a backing surface.

Regarding stain matching, in virtually all cases the color must be mixed. Sometimes it must also be layered. And the final gotcha is the match must look right under every source of commonly encountered light. Flourescent, incandescent, and sunlight. Mixing and matching in an indoor workshop that doesn't have full-spectrum lighting will result in something that looks wrong when taken many places outside the workshop.

There is no manual, just experience. It's a bit like the Duch Masters who found a way to make their paintings appear to be lit from within. Looks like magic, but is 100% explainable with fizzicks.

Something that also plays a part is your innate color acuity. You know those pastel balloon combinations shaped like numbers and letters that optometrists make you read through, test-style? That's what they are measuring. The better you can actually SEE colors, the better a pipe refinisher you'll make.

In short, one of the simplest procedures imaginable---remove a bit of wood from the top of a pipe bowl---is exceedingly difficult to do undetectably. Wish I had better news.



For anyone interested, here's refinishing project that includes topping:

 

hauntedmyst

Lifer
Feb 1, 2010
4,006
20,750
Chicago
The reason your rim looks "off" shape-wise is an optical illusion / presupposition that people have of things being flat when they actually aren't. It becomes obvious that it wasn't truly flat after you see it re-made as truly flat.

Giving rims a contour which doesn't trigger the "something's off" vibe is a tricky business. It can be done completely by hand or using slabs of high density gel as a backing surface.

Regarding stain matching, in virtually all cases the color must be mixed. Sometimes it must also be layered. And the final gotcha is the match must look right under every source of commonly encountered light. Flourescent, incandescent, and sunlight. Mixing and matching in an indoor workshop that doesn't have full-spectrum lighting will result in something that looks wrong when taken many places outside the workshop.

There is no manual, just experience. It's a bit like the Duch Masters who found a way to make their paintings appear to be lit from within. Looks like magic, but is 100% explainable with fizzicks.

Something that also plays a part is your innate color acuity. You know those pastel balloon combinations shaped like numbers and letters that optometrists make you read through, test-style? That's what they are measuring. The better you can actually SEE colors, the better a pipe refinisher you'll make.

In short, one of the simplest procedures imaginable---remove a bit of wood from the top of a pipe bowl---is exceedingly difficult to do undetectably. Wish I had better news.



For anyone interested, here's refinishing project that includes topping:


Thanks for your thoughts! Going to watch the videos!
 
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hauntedmyst

Lifer
Feb 1, 2010
4,006
20,750
Chicago
The reason your rim looks "off" shape-wise is an optical illusion / presupposition that people have of things being flat when they actually aren't. It becomes obvious that it wasn't truly flat after you see it re-made as truly flat.

Giving rims a contour which doesn't trigger the "something's off" vibe is a tricky business. It can be done completely by hand or using slabs of high density gel as a backing surface.

...

In short, one of the simplest procedures imaginable---remove a bit of wood from the top of a pipe bowl---is exceedingly difficult to do undetectably. Wish I had better news.



For anyone interested, here's refinishing project that includes topping:


I shotgunned all the videos today. The Part 3 was particularly enlightening. I think the rolling over the edges and crowning the radius was what I missed but as I watched you do it, it made perfect sense. Thanks for sharing your wisdom George!