Shank ring with flat bottom?

For discussion of the drilling and shaping of the stummel.
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Charl
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Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by Charl »

I've been asked to do a flat bottomed billiard (a la Dunhill style), that must have a silver band on.
How would you go about that type of thing? You can't fit a ring and then just sand the whole thing flat on the bottom, because the ring is going to be messed up. If you get a ring made especially with one flat side, the cost I assume will not make it worth the while.
Maybe go aluminium? Any of you guys ever done anything like this?
Any idea will help (even Rad) :lol:
caskwith
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by caskwith »

Tell the customer flat bottomed billiards are ugly.

:)
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Nate
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by Nate »

Why does the whole length of the pipe need to be flat? I've made billiards where just the front half or so have the flat spot. That's one option.
Charl
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by Charl »

Ha! But Chris, don't you know that the customer is always right? Huh? :lol:
Might be an idea, Nate.
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Nate
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by Nate »

I imagine if, at the point the ring is on the shank the flat is much smaller, you can just reshape it without a lot of distortion. That is, if it's a regular band.
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Alden
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by Alden »

Charl wrote:Ha! But Chris, don't you know that the customer is always right? Huh? :lol:
Might be an idea, Nate.
The customer is not always right. But the customer is always the customer...

Maybe, flatten the wood, add the ring, then hammer it flat to match?
socrates
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by socrates »

Shape the shank and then using silver stock in the width of the recess you made for the band wrap, mark, cut and solder using the appropriate soft solder. When you cut prior to soldering do it where the flat meets the curve of the band. Slidind a ring of silver onto the shank and hammering it flat will distort the band. It sounds complicated/difficult but with minimal practice it will be easy. This skill can be used on other pipes you may make. This is a technique used in jewelry making to make bezels for holding stones in jewelry. Google and query bezel making.

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caskwith
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by caskwith »

Charl wrote:Ha! But Chris, don't you know that the customer is always right? Huh? :lol:
Might be an idea, Nate.
Before I became a full time pipe maker I worked in retail for several years. One of the earliest lessons I learned was that the customer is very rarely right and is almost always wrong and a pain in the ass.
The phrase should be modified to:

"The customer is nearly always wrong, but the customer has the money that we want so we will pretend they are right, smile through gritted teeth and do our very best to extract what we need and then bitch and laugh about them behind their back whilethey go home thinking they have won a victory for the common man"

Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue though :P

Now pipe customers of course are another matter, they are always right........... ;)
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by pipeguy »

Charl,fit the band as normal the band will conform to the shape with a little persuasion. Just like a band on a diamond shank it's usually the smaller of the one you think you need hope this helps :evil:
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sandahlpipe
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by sandahlpipe »

caskwith wrote:
Charl wrote:Ha! But Chris, don't you know that the customer is always right? Huh? :lol:
Might be an idea, Nate.
Before I became a full time pipe maker I worked in retail for several years. One of the earliest lessons I learned was that the customer is very rarely right and is almost always wrong and a pain in the ass.
The phrase should be modified to:

"The customer is nearly always wrong, but the customer has the money that we want so we will pretend they are right, smile through gritted teeth and do our very best to extract what we need and then bitch and laugh about them behind their back whilethey go home thinking they have won a victory for the common man"

Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue though :P

Now pipe customers of course are another matter, they are always right........... ;)
+1
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d.huber
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by d.huber »

caskwith wrote:
Charl wrote:Ha! But Chris, don't you know that the customer is always right? Huh? :lol:
Might be an idea, Nate.
Before I became a full time pipe maker I worked in retail for several years. One of the earliest lessons I learned was that the customer is very rarely right and is almost always wrong and a pain in the ass.
The phrase should be modified to:

"The customer is nearly always wrong, but the customer has the money that we want so we will pretend they are right, smile through gritted teeth and do our very best to extract what we need and then bitch and laugh about them behind their back whilethey go home thinking they have won a victory for the common man"

Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue though :P

Now pipe customers of course are another matter, they are always right........... ;)
+100
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PremalChheda
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by PremalChheda »

caskwith wrote:
Charl wrote:Ha! But Chris, don't you know that the customer is always right? Huh? :lol:
Might be an idea, Nate.
Before I became a full time pipe maker I worked in retail for several years. One of the earliest lessons I learned was that the customer is very rarely right and is almost always wrong and a pain in the ass.
The phrase should be modified to:

"The customer is nearly always wrong, but the customer has the money that we want so we will pretend they are right, smile through gritted teeth and do our very best to extract what we need and then bitch and laugh about them behind their back whilethey go home thinking they have won a victory for the common man"

Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue though :P

Now pipe customers of course are another matter, they are always right........... ;)
Retail has changed my friend. Now it is "The customer is always right, because if they become upset, they will post on yelp, forums, etc.. nasty shit about your business"

It sucks.
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Alden
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by Alden »

caskwith wrote:
Charl wrote:Ha! But Chris, don't you know that the customer is always right? Huh? :lol:
Might be an idea, Nate.
"The customer is nearly always wrong, but the customer has the money that we want so we will pretend they are right, smile through gritted teeth and do our very best to extract what we need and then bitch and laugh about them behind their back whilethey go home thinking they have won a victory for the common man"

Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue though :P
So basically, the customer is not always right, but the customer is always the customer ? :lol:
Charl
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by Charl »

:? Now all this crap about customers are not really helping my problem, hey?
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Alden
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by Alden »

Sure it is, tell him he doesn't want a flat ring.
It will throw off the harmonic dissonance of the airway, leading to consternation of the laminar airflow, and the pipe will smoke wet.
Rings should be round, or the universe will disapprove.
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W.Pastuch
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by W.Pastuch »

Just make the ring thick enough to have enough meat to flatten it without sanding through.
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by The Smoking Yeti »

W.Pastuch wrote:Just make the ring thick enough to have enough meat to flatten it without sanding through.
This is kinda what I was thinking.
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by jjpipes »

I would;
1. Put a flat on a on a band, parallel pliers work great.
2. Cut a hard wood dowel or two, to shape and fit band.
3. Cut shank to fit band using dowel size as pattern.
Remember the band will enlarge during shaping.
I find it much easier to size the shank to fit an odd shape band than the reverse, making repair work a pain.
Artisans never finish their work – they merely abandon it.
Ideally, they abandon it at that point, where they are not sure if change, will improve or diminish it.
(Paraphrase from an unremembered source).

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Charl
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Re: Shank ring with flat bottom?

Post by Charl »

Just make the ring thick enough to have enough meat to flatten it without sanding through
What I was thinking from the start. But the customer wants a silver ring and I suppose I was scared that sanding/filing would damage or burnish the silver in such a way as to be unusable. I don't have lots of experience with silver.
I was thinking that maybe aluminium might be easier to work with?
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