First time restoration attempt. How'd I do?

[Thelonious monkfish]

It looks great. DO NOT top it. If you think you don't like the nicks, just wait till you top it. They never look right after that. Those nicks are battle scars and something to be proud of!

And you never know what flaw you might uncover. Material can be removed, that's a one way street.

For your first that's fine work, congrats. Stems have a learning curve, it eventually becomes second nature.

[Thelonious monkfish]

Lessons learned:

I burned a spot. I'm sure you'll point it out.
I left the minor tooth chatter untouched. I should've tried the candle trick. After all, this was an experiment to learn on.

Question:. Would restaining it have covered the numerous fills?

Looks a whole heck of a lot better! Great job. Restaining would lessen how much you see them, but you'd have to use a stain that was pretty dark to get them to disappear entirely. If the rim damage bothers you, you could put some sand paper around a block of wood, top the pipe a tad, and then bevel the inner rim with a piece of sand paper.
The only other thing I can offer is on the stem - I think everyone rounds the edge of the stem that meets the shank their first few times. To prevent this you can sand with the shank masked off, or you can do what I d0, and find a couple thin plastic washers that I put over the tenon and stick back into the pipe. Even an old bread bag plastic clip thing works well(actually I still use them sometimes).
Like so:

this is a great tip! I rounded the stem on my old English made Pete prince. it sends my OCD through the roof, I won't smoke it.

That's a bummer, man. I actually saw that too but bit my tongue. Believe it or not I hate pointing things out but feel it necessary sometimes. Somethings are unnoticeable until being shown, then can't be unseen. I try not be a burden.

[racinghoss]

Looks a whole heck of a lot better! Great job. Restaining would lessen how much you see them, but you'd have to use a stain that was pretty dark to get them to disappear entirely. If the rim damage bothers you, you could put some sand paper around a block of wood, top the pipe a tad, and then bevel the inner rim with a piece of sand paper.
The only other thing I can offer is on the stem - I think everyone rounds the edge of the stem that meets the shank their first few times. To prevent this you can sand with the shank masked off, or you can do what I d0, and find a couple thin plastic washers that I put over the tenon and stick back into the pipe. Even an old bread bag plastic clip thing works well(actually I still use them sometimes).
Like so:

this is a great tip! I rounded the stem on my old English made Pete prince. it sends my OCD through the roof, I won't smoke it.

That's a bummer, man. I actually saw that too but bit my tongue. Believe it or not I hate pointing things out but feel it necessary sometimes. Somethings are unnoticeable until being shown, then can't be unseen. I try not be a burden.

I appreciate your motive, but that wasn't the point of this thread. I WANT to be carved up and served raw. How can I expect to get better at this if I don't good valid feedback?

[Tsal]

Looks a whole heck of a lot better! Great job. Restaining would lessen how much you see them, but you'd have to use a stain that was pretty dark to get them to disappear entirely. If the rim damage bothers you, you could put some sand paper around a block of wood, top the pipe a tad, and then bevel the inner rim with a piece of sand paper.
The only other thing I can offer is on the stem - I think everyone rounds the edge of the stem that meets the shank their first few times. To prevent this you can sand with the shank masked off, or you can do what I d0, and find a couple thin plastic washers that I put over the tenon and stick back into the pipe. Even an old bread bag plastic clip thing works well(actually I still use them sometimes).
Like so:

this is a great tip! I rounded the stem on my old English made Pete prince. it sends my OCD through the roof, I won't smoke it.

That's a bummer, man. I actually saw that too but bit my tongue. Believe it or not I hate pointing things out but feel it necessary sometimes. Somethings are unnoticeable until being shown, then can't be unseen. I try not be a burden.

I was a little heavy handed on that one. It looks good but that joint bothers me. I was thinking on sending it off for a replacement.

[Houtenziel]

this is a great tip! I rounded the stem on my old English made Pete prince. it sends my OCD through the roof, I won't smoke it.

That's a bummer, man. I actually saw that too but bit my tongue. Believe it or not I hate pointing things out but feel it necessary sometimes. Somethings are unnoticeable until being shown, then can't be unseen. I try not be a burden.

I was a little heavy handed on that one. It looks good but that joint bothers me. I was thinking on sending it off for a replacement.

I have re-profiled a stem face by lightly chucking the stem's tenon(about halfway up) into a drill.. You have to run it a few times to make sure it's in there square. Once it's square you can use some 220 wrapped around a bastard file and shave back the face a little until it's sharp again(I am talkin' a tiny bit). I've only tried this on a straight stem, and it only works when you have a little bit of plateau before the stem starts to taper. You might have to shave a little off of the tenon face too, since you are technically making it longer.

[Tsal]

That's a bummer, man. I actually saw that too but bit my tongue. Believe it or not I hate pointing things out but feel it necessary sometimes. Somethings are unnoticeable until being shown, then can't be unseen. I try not be a burden.

I was a little heavy handed on that one. It looks good but that joint bothers me. I was thinking on sending it off for a replacement.

I have re-profiled a stem face by lightly chucking the stem's tenon(about halfway up) into a drill.. You have to run it a few times to make sure it's in there square. Once it's square you can use some 220 wrapped around a bastard file and shave back the face a little until it's sharp again(I am talkin' a tiny bit). I've only tried this on a straight stem, and it only works when you have a little bit of plateau before the stem starts to taper. You might have to shave a little off of the tenon face too, since you are technically making it longer.

I will do exactly that when I have time over the weekend! If I botch it I will send it off sooner than planned for a replacement. Thanks again for the tip!
I have a box of micro files.

[Houtenziel]

I was a little heavy handed on that one. It looks good but that joint bothers me. I was thinking on sending it off for a replacement.

I have re-profiled a stem face by lightly chucking the stem's tenon(about halfway up) into a drill.. You have to run it a few times to make sure it's in there square. Once it's square you can use some 220 wrapped around a bastard file and shave back the face a little until it's sharp again(I am talkin' a tiny bit). I've only tried this on a straight stem, and it only works when you have a little bit of plateau before the stem starts to taper. You might have to shave a little off of the tenon face too, since you are technically making it longer.

I will do exactly that when I have time over the weekend! If I botch it I will send it off sooner than planned for a replacement. Thanks again for the tip!
I have a box of micro files.

No prob. It helps if you have a dial caliper to check the shank diameter, and then the stem so you can see if it will even work(and how far back you can go. You also might need to heat the tenon up to get it to fit totally flush when you are done. This all comes from the book of "Houtenziel's Ghetto-Fabulous Pipe Refurbishing"..

[Tsal]

I have re-profiled a stem face by lightly chucking the stem's tenon(about halfway up) into a drill.. You have to run it a few times to make sure it's in there square. Once it's square you can use some 220 wrapped around a bastard file and shave back the face a little until it's sharp again(I am talkin' a tiny bit). I've only tried this on a straight stem, and it only works when you have a little bit of plateau before the stem starts to taper. You might have to shave a little off of the tenon face too, since you are technically making it longer.

I will do exactly that when I have time over the weekend! If I botch it I will send it off sooner than planned for a replacement. Thanks again for the tip!
I have a box of micro files.

No prob. It helps if you have a dial caliper to check the shank diameter, and then the stem so you can see if it will even work(and how far back you can go. You also might need to heat the tenon up to get it to fit totally flush when you are done. This all comes from the book of "Houtenziel's Ghetto-Fabulous Pipe Refurbishing"..

I have the tools. I'm just going to sand back the face and top the tenon a hair. It'll work.

[Wildcrow]

Ruined it. Ship it to me for proper disposal.

[Preacher1611]

I think it turned out pretty fantastic!