Practice Straight Billiard

[Walldepartment]

I want to make a straight billiard with some plateau briar and don't wanna mess it up. I started a practice piece with some cherry wood. It's still in progress, but please tell me everything wrong with it.

[Sasquatch]

Your shank is too long and the overall impression is that the pipe is sort of sagging at the bowl - more material definitely needs to come off the bottom of the pipe. IF you you make a fist and hold it straight out, and compare that with the shape of your hand when you are holding up and apple, this is what your pipe needs - it's too much fisty and not enough upward gesture so to speak.

Watch the "pinch" where the stem and shank come together. In flattening that out it looks like you've made it smaller diameter than the rest of the shank and stem.

[Walldepartment]

Thanks. I'm not completely sure what you mean by the apple thing. Are you saying it needs to be more curvy?

[Joe Hinkle Pipes]

If you look at the last picture the bowl appears to be a cylinder, which is what most people make when they attempt their first billiard. At least in my opinion A billiard bowl should be widest around the bottom 1/3 of the bowl, then taper in towards mid bowl and have a milder taper from halfway to the rim. The shank should have a even taper from the point where bowl and shank meet to end of the shank. the stem could be treated in a few different ways, but in your case it should probably stay the same size as the mortise end of the shank. In picture #4 you can see that there is some wavyness and a few bumps in the shank and stem. if you take a flat file and rest it against the side of the shank/stem it should be obvious. Use that file to smooth out the bumps and pinches. These are a few things that can be done at this point in the shaping to get you more toward the billiard shape. I know this because Sasquatch gave me almost the EXACT same advise a few years ago when I was cutting my first few straight shank pipes and it was very good advise. Thanks Sas!

[Rodneywt1180b]

Sasquatch and Fuchi-jeg have covered the areas that need work very well. You're in luck because a little more material removal will give you a pipe you can be proud of. What Sasquatch was referring to with the fist and apple is that you have a sag at the bottom of your bowl. If you hold a straight edge to the bottom of your pipe you will see a slight gap at the shank/bowl transition. That line either needs to be straight or have a very slight upward sweep on the bottom of the bowl.
I'm just starting my first billiard and I'll be very happy if it even looks close to as good as the one you're making.
Billiards are harder than they look but I'm finding it to be a very good learning pipe.
Rodney

[the rev]

on the billiard the shank is supposed to be the same length as the height of the bowl, and the stem is supposed to be half the length of the pipe, just to keep in your mind

rev

[Growley]

Tyler gave this to me about a year ago, and I keep it around for reference. This was put out by P&T for a carving contest. I refer to it often.



I hope this helps.

Brian.

[Walldepartment]

Well, so much for that. I put the pipe on the drill press so I could shorten the shank with a forstner bit. The bit barely tapped the shank and a big chunk just flew right off. WTF?

[the rev]

sorry man, should have used a cold chisel and a rock

just fix it, you can do it

rev

[pipedreamer]

an aircraft bit seems to work better after the pipe has been drilled.Stole that one from Mr. Kurt. Glue it and go...

[Rodneywt1180b]

Harsh.
Wish I had some decent advice for you. I'm not sure if it's worthwhile to try to salvage it if you should just move on.
Rodney

[wisemanpipes]

do another one. its only cherry.

[phmann]

Shank extension! Although it is cherry...

[e Markle]

...and don't wanna mess it up. ]

I say this before I start every pipe.

I made about 5 or 6 high quality pine (a la 2x4) pipes before I got up the courage to massacre a $15 block of wood.

I probably should have made double that.

[Sasquatch]

At least, Ernie.

[Literaryworkshop]

Aw, man, too bad that snapped. You could do an extension, or just make/get a longer stem. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would smoke.

I want to make a straight billiard with some plateau briar and don't wanna mess it up. I started a practice piece with some cherry wood. It's still in progress, but please tell me everything wrong with it.

Looking at this picture, I can't tell if the bowl does actually sag, or whether that's a shadow under the bowl. If it's a shadow, I'd say the bottom of the bowl is (was?) about right.