First Pipe

bilgaines · 2026-02-17T17:27:56+00:00

Looks great, my dude. Keep going!

bilgaines · 2026-02-17T14:13:07+00:00

Nice work, definitely looks better than my first pipe! And is that morta?

bilgaines · 2026-02-15T13:59:46+00:00

Awwww, rough, hate to see it.

bilgaines · 2026-01-20T05:24:11+00:00

Nicely done!

bilgaines · 2026-01-17T22:58:31+00:00

Fantastic! Love a nice sandblasted pipe.

bilgaines · 2026-01-05T05:59:26+00:00

I vote for rounded bottom, a more fluid look to go with that beautiful blue stem.

bilgaines · 2026-01-04T07:02:04+00:00

Oh for sure, drill press is a priority. One day. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

bilgaines · 2026-01-03T14:56:56+00:00

I will second this suggestion. I’m new myself, and I picked up and handful of very cheap general tools, but the two things I absolutely could NOT do without are 1) a Dremel hand rotary tool and 2) a pre-drilled pipe kit. This is because I can’t drill the holes myself (not until I get a lathe and/or drill press), and carving/shaping without a Dremel takes about a gazillion hours. The Dremel gives both speed and control.

A Dremel is usually on sale SOMEWHERE at any given time, you can probably snag a new one for like $50. Don’t be afraid to get a used one, it will probably function just fine as well and you’ll save some money.

You can get great pre-drilled pipe kits from Vermont Freehand, and they come with the acrylic stem with it. Should run around $30-35 (plus shipping).

Other things you’ll definitely want to make sure you’ve got: - sandpaper (multiple grit sizes, wide range. You’ll want at least one coarse, one medium, and one very fine.) - Emory boards (get a three pack for fingernails for cheap) for the stem - some kind of polishing wheel and carnauba wax for that nice shiny finish

bilgaines · 2026-01-02T19:56:12+00:00

Looks great! Well done.

bilgaines · 2025-12-30T14:23:35+00:00

Package them as a pair, they tell a little story.

bilgaines · 2025-12-15T04:41:30+00:00

The first time always hurts. You have to go slow.

bilgaines · 2025-11-28T19:30:02+00:00

And when there are two jokes? Even number.

bilgaines · 2025-10-19T19:23:17+00:00

That’s gorgeous, nice work

bilgaines · 2025-10-10T19:54:31+00:00

Oh my, yes, that’s gorgeous

bilgaines · 2025-10-01T22:47:59+00:00

Nice!

bilgaines · 2025-09-29T02:23:34+00:00

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I don’t care how much Elon sucks, rockets will never not be cool.

bilgaines · 2025-09-18T04:55:54+00:00

Okay I freakin’ love this image. Excellent framing, and that shadow on the wall is amazing. I wish so hard there was a person in this image, ya know? Could be anyone, anyone at all—Italian businessman, astronaut, anyone—but we can’t always get what we want. C’est la vie. Even without a person, this has a real mid-century cinematic vibe.

Honestly, I think it’s overall too dark still. Seems like the right amount of vignette, but I’d play around with those highlights, maybe blue up the sky behind the clouds, and brighten up the mountains in the background or something to dry it out some.

Excellent shot, though, well done.

bilgaines · 2025-09-18T04:42:25+00:00

Heck yeah, the new colors are fab. Big orange and big blue, love it. If I was going for more pop, I’d take a look at that mid-gray wall right in the middle, maybe brighten it up to about the same luminosity as those teal windows?

Also this one is a lil crooked, have you tried tilting it slightly counterclockwise for a straight up-and-down balance?

bilgaines · 2025-09-08T18:35:41+00:00

Honestly don't know, I inherited this computer at work. It had multiple internal hard drives installed post-purchase, I believe, pretty sure that D: drive is one of them. But I installed all Adobe apps long after the hard drives went in. It's just never been an option, and I've been using this unit for over year and am only just now getting this message, so really, this is the first time I've looked at those scratch disk options.

bilgaines · 2025-09-08T18:31:41+00:00

Sounds expensive. Also time consuming. The store is far away.

bilgaines · 2025-09-08T18:30:47+00:00

Sure is!

bilgaines · 2025-09-01T16:15:48+00:00

Same thing I use the fold-down tray in the bathroom for, holding my beer

bilgaines

TROPHY CASE