pipemakersforum.com

Hi all. So after lurking for many months I finally am posting a pipe. This is either my first or second pipe depending on how you count. Last year I did a kit pipe and it resembled a potato more than the brandy it was supposed to be. So I signed up over here and have been reading everything I could. This pipe is the result. In many ways this is a big thank you to everyone here, I couldn't have done it without you.

I am not really looking for a critique at this point. I have a huge laundry list of things I can improve already. I would like to give a self critique though, if you would care to get meta feel free to critique my critique. For a first from scratch pipe and first stem, I am pretty happy. Some big things I learned working through this

• God damn symmetry is hard, but it is so obvious when it is wrong
• How the hell did I not notice the huge asymmetry between the left and right side when I noticed every other tiny little deviation
• Toolmarks and other scratches never go away, they don't buff out, you have to go back to a coarse grit
• There is nothingmore disheartening then thinking you have a perfect mirror finish on your stem only to have scratches reappear when polishing because they were not really gone just hiding
• If you don't get the slot straight it sure is hard to fix
• Briar is more heterogeneous than I expected
• Spending an hour to do it right is better than 4 hours to cover up a shortcut
• Sometime it is better to call something done, learn, and move on, rather that screw it up worse
• When shaping the stem, pay attention to where the stummel is and vice versa
• I need to up my photography game.

So big things to work on next time

• Shape - Bottom is too parabolic and not spherical. It is supposed to be a billiard not a belge
• Fit issues with stem - This came from grain swelling when stripping a bad finish with an alcohol soak. After that I should have worked it back after but to be honest I didn't notice it got wonky until later
• Line of shank needs a little work. I didn't pay enough attention to differential removal rates when working the stem
• Blast is uneven but I kept hitting some big craters in the briar. If it wasn't a learning piece this would have gone in the BBQ pile pretty early on. Pits and fissures inside and out.
• Slot is fugly. Oh well, I will do better next time
• Stem has a slight twist
• Some duckbilling
• There are still scratches in the stem, but god damn I am tired, oh so tired, of reworking the stem. Next time will be better. Note the things that look like gouges in image are actually fingerprints in the flash. I forgot to clean up the pipe before taking pictures. I was smoking it about 10 minutes before these were taken

Things I am happy with

• I actually did it!
• It sort of looks like a billiard
• I still have all my fingers
• Drilling is good. Need a better chuck though, holding the block in only 2 jaws of an 4-jaw made me nervous
• Bowl is circular even though I didn't use the lathe for shaping. I did it mostly on a 1" belt sander followed by hand work.
• Smokes really well. About 5 bowls of Prince Albert through it this week
• Managed to actually bring out some grain with the blast and did a reasonable job of blending the blast into the stem without a masking line
• Only took about 40 hours! (in 15-30 minute chunks over the course of 3 months or so)

I will do another billiard in the not too distant future. I have a backlog of other projects but have another block and rod at the ready.

Professor, I think you did a good job for a first pipe.
You mentioned most of the things that I would cite.
I believe that “duck bill” refers to a biconcave stem. Yours is the opposite- “blimpy”
You have potential.
As for your photography, the lines will show up better is you use a light back ground and stay away from that leather pipe rest.
DocAitch

For photography, the important part is to have enough light so you don't need to use a flash. The flash casts shadows that obscure details.

As for the pipe, it's probably the best first billiard I've seen. Honestly, aside from the stem needing a bit of tweaking, it looks pretty close to a Dunhill. You'll do better on your next 9. And doing 10 billiards will mean you have it down pat.

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Hopefully over the next few I will progress to the point where you can offer criticism!

Doc

I believe that “duck bill” refers to a biconcave stem. Yours is the opposite- “blimpy”

Yes, I am getting my messed up stem nomenclature backwards. Mine is like a zeppelin.

Jeremiah

it looks pretty close to a Dunhill

While I will gladly take the compliment, I was actually trying to copy the profile from a Savinelli billiard with a much fatter bottom.

Good for you on recognizing the distinction between what you're going for and what you've achieved. That attitude will help you go far in pipe making.

It's good dude. Solid start, you already listed some good things to work on for the next one... So go make the next one. Thumbs up emotojiconvention.