Bamboo shanked Morta Billiard

[jogilli]

Well, good evening all .. and good afternoon for those in the States.. this is probably one of the last pipes I'll be finishing this year.. I have several week long business trips coming up and then there's Christmas.. I am working on one for a friend.. and might get some shop time if I can get a paper written that I have to write.. continuing education is a good thing.. yet sometimes time consuming.

I want to personally thank those I've had the time to personally dialog with over the year.. thank you for your time and ... just thanks

Anyway.. comments are welcome

james

[HumblePipe]

James, I really like this pipe. I have never been a huge fan of the bamboo on pipes but this really goes together well! Great work!

[Nate]

Nice work James! Only thing I see that stands out is the knuckle spacing on the stem end (I think that is toward the front of the pipe), it's a little too close as opposed to the spacing you have through the rest of the shank. But that is pretty minor as the overall pipe is pretty nice. How do you like working with morta? Do you prefer smooth over blast?

[jogilli]

Personally I like working with morta.. it stinks to high heaven during working, but once the pipe is done.. it's done.. just fine sanding to get out the scratches.. its hard to work with but once you start to get a feel for it the material is just as much a joy to work with as briar... I've tried a few times to get a blowfish out of a piece to no avail as my files end up taking more material off than i want....

as for sandblasting... I think sandblasted morta is the cats meow... no sandblasts for me though unitl I can find a local blaster I can use or get my own... I have a lead on a sandblaster that lets another person in my area use thier machine.. just taking my time..so I can justify my own

I can't disagree with the distance... a misjudgement on my part.. had I thougt a little better on the bowl shank transition to the first knuckle I could have extended the mouthpiece end a tad to keep the distance the same.. or done without the flare in the mouthpiece..

james

[billiard]

Very nice looking pipe, has made me go drag out my morta pipe for my next bowl