LL
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I posted this on another board, then thought I'd copy it here since BoB is pretty much a different crowd. For some reason the "modify to taste" idea increasingly appeals to me the more I think about it.
Several years ago I bought a pipe that I loved 98%, but was bugged by the other 2% each time I smoked it. I'm sure many of you know the feeling. Details that once you notice you can't not see.
They weren't fit and finish details but involved shape and form, so were definitely a matter of taste, not workmanship. There was nothing wrong with the pipe in any way, in other words, there were just some things I'd have done differently had I made it in the first place.
The other day I finally gave in to the nagging of the Perfectionerizer that is my overlord and master---it's hopeless to resist---and did what it demanded: relax the bend in the stem, shorten the peg, and shorten the bowl itself. (Besides being about 5/32" too tall to my eye, the rim was slightly canted off perpendicular to the axis of the bowl.)
After bending and chopping it occurred to me that "adjusting" a pipe in this way amounted to cosmetic surgery, and thought some of you might like to see the result. (Those who are similarly afflicted by a Perfectionerizer will understand immediately; those who aren't might get a kick out of seeing how far some of us take this sort of thing.)
Sorry that the top pic is slightly oblique, but it's the best I had, taken when the pipe was new. I didn't think to post any of this until after the mods were made.
Since someone is bound to ask, here is "sandless sandblasting":
Several years ago I bought a pipe that I loved 98%, but was bugged by the other 2% each time I smoked it. I'm sure many of you know the feeling. Details that once you notice you can't not see.
They weren't fit and finish details but involved shape and form, so were definitely a matter of taste, not workmanship. There was nothing wrong with the pipe in any way, in other words, there were just some things I'd have done differently had I made it in the first place.
The other day I finally gave in to the nagging of the Perfectionerizer that is my overlord and master---it's hopeless to resist---and did what it demanded: relax the bend in the stem, shorten the peg, and shorten the bowl itself. (Besides being about 5/32" too tall to my eye, the rim was slightly canted off perpendicular to the axis of the bowl.)
After bending and chopping it occurred to me that "adjusting" a pipe in this way amounted to cosmetic surgery, and thought some of you might like to see the result. (Those who are similarly afflicted by a Perfectionerizer will understand immediately; those who aren't might get a kick out of seeing how far some of us take this sort of thing.)
Sorry that the top pic is slightly oblique, but it's the best I had, taken when the pipe was new. I didn't think to post any of this until after the mods were made.
Since someone is bound to ask, here is "sandless sandblasting":
![3-Size[6pc] Fitting Cleaning Brush Set (1/2, 3/4, 1.0-inch) Copper Pipe Cleaner for Power Drill, Stainless-Steel Wire Bore Brush, Metal Tube Brushes, Prep Copper/Bronze/Brass Fittings for Soldering](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41puQGBrVFL._SL500_.jpg)
![[3-Size Set] Copper Pipe Cleaner for Drill, Clean 1/2, 3/4, 1-in Copper Pipes & Tubes for Soldering, 3 Tube Cleaning Brushes, Model InerLok050, 075, 100, w/ Stainless-Steel Wire Bristles & 1/4” Shank](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41QVxunlqML._SL500_.jpg)
