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Detail Shaping
Depending on
what style of pipe I'm making, this can either be a short stage
or the longest of them all. Now that I have a drilled stummel, it's
time to start turning it into something people will recognize as
a pipe. The first step is the general shaping, pictured below. This
is where the flat edges and the base of the bowl are sanded away
to give the bowl its proper look.
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This
pipe is being rounded off around the bowl using a flat sanding disc.
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The
next step is to move to the detailing table, where I will embark on
what can occasionally be an extremely long process of tweaking the
shape until I'm happy. Complex forms such as the tentacled Cthulhu
pipes or carved figures can take just about forever to get right, and
all that work happens here. On standard shapes such as billiards and
pokers, however, this is a simple process and just takes a little
tuning to get the best look. I use two flexible carving tools with
various sanding drums and cutters, and then move on to hand files for
the fine work. Below is pictured the general area where this work is
done, which is always a mess. One can see the smaller flex-shaft carver
and the handpiece of the larger foot-pedal-operated carver, as well as
the selection of detail files on hand.
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Our detailing area
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The
final detailing of the shape is done using hand files, both
flat and round. Here I am using a large file to get the join
of the shank and bowl right before moving on to smaller and
smaller files as I make the join more defined.
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The
stummel is now shaped and ready for its finishing stages,
which may include rustication and/or sandblasting, plus fine
sanding, curing, and coloring. This stummel has been lightly
sandblasted already.
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Talbert Briar 
