On the bench

Today I have these 2 pipes on the bench, a Rhodesian variation and pear-shaped chubby.

 The rhodesian variation is sort of in the Danish fashion, with a flattened gently curving shank. I wanted to see  what the bowlrings would look like if I have one that is very shallow and the other a bit deeper. Not sure I like it this way, I definitely won't do it again. The stem fitted is a premold, the first in years. I used it because it's been lying around for ages waiting for a pipe exactly like this and I thought that I would see if I can still do premolds. I still like making my own stems much more!

 The chubby pear has amazing flamegrain. It goes from the heel of the pipe through to the bowl and to the shank. At some stage I was actually thinking of sandblasting, just because I felt that the resulting blast would have been stunning. But with me smooth always wins over a blast! A bit of bark has been left on the rim, with a stemring from protea nitida (waboom).

 The bowlcoating is to follow, then wax and polish and the pipes should be done.