billiard 6

[Doug535]

I've started yet another, gimme the good, bad, ugly.

[LatakiaLover]

By far your best yet. VERY nice.

One side is just a smidge flatter than the other, and the front near the heel has a faint point (Do you see it?)

Fix those things and you're home.

[RickB]

By far your best yet. VERY nice.

IAWLL - this is miles and miles better than the last one.

[Sasquatch]

I'd like to see a very subtle bit of curvature at the top of the bowl - you have a bit of angle, allowing for the expanded waist, but I think just a really subtle continuation of the curve looks "right".




On a heavy pipe, that curve can be really really flat, but I think it's still a curve in all places on the bowl.

[Doug535]

Thanks for the input guys. So a little more curvature on the top 1/3 of the bowl?

[DocAitch]

If that is your pipe above (I still have to move to another computer to see your images), I think your saddle bit is a little blimpy. Look at the bit on Sas’ Dunhill. It has a very subtle concave line on the flat of the bit, while yours has a subtle convexity.
DocAitch

[Doug535]

If that is your pipe above (I still have to move to another computer to see your images), I think your saddle bit is a little blimpy. Look at the bit on Sas’ Dunhill. It has a very subtle concave line on the flat of the bit, while yours has a subtle convexity.
DocAitch

Doc, I haven't made a stem for this one yet. Both pics are Sas'

[LatakiaLover]

Oh, snap

[Sasquatch]

Second pipe is mine - I find the Dunhill actually right at the edge of too round, like it's okay, but if it got any fatter anywhere, it would be pushing away from billiard. My pipe is proportionately bigger, but cut a little less round on the bowl.

As for the stem, fuck you, Hettinger.

[Sasquatch]

Here's a better picture of the stem.

[LatakiaLover]

[wdteipen]

I agree that the bowl shaping is by far the best yet. I think you've zeroed in on it. Congrats. Nice job.

[Sasquatch]

LOL George you find good shit.

[DocAitch]

Sorry Sas, ......NOT!
DocAitch

[Doug535]

[LatakiaLover]

No worries... Sas is 6'4", 260lbs, and Lifts Lots Of Heavy Shit as part of his day job. People only get smartassy with him from a great distance.

[Sasquatch]

Well this is almost worthy of a thread in and of itself - how dare I to a) give advice on pipe making and b) sell such an obviously defective piece?

The answer is simple - mostly, no one gives a shit about this stuff except guys buying 900 dollar pipes. That's not to say we shouldn't learn it or know it, or apply it as best we can on any given day, but if your price point, (or business model) is NOT 900 dollar pipes, you have to ask yourself.... why not? Why is this not a 900 dollar pipe? And it's little shit like my .5 mm bulge that are the answer. (No roundover on the barrel of that sucker though, bitches!).

So I'm perfectly happy to be taken to pieces on this forum - I can sell that pipe all day for 300 bucks, cuz that's exactly what it is - a 300 dollar pipe, because it has 300 dollars worth of "that's done well" but not 500 dollars worth.

[LatakiaLover]

That's all 100% true, O Massive Furry One, but it's information that's relevant only after the fact.

Meaning the overall purpose/point of critiques---indeed, arguably the entire forum---is to have perfection as the baseline, and the ruler be infinitely sensitive.

That way pipe makers have the full picture of what's possible. Only then, and after they personally discover the law of diminishing returns expressed as dollars-per-hour in their OWN shop, can they make an informed decision about what price point to strive for. (Or, if a hobbyist, what percentage of perfection they're satisfied with)

[RickB]

Okay someone explain this barrel roundover thing to me because I've seen it pop up a couple times lately and don't know what you're talking about... which means I'm almost certainly doing it.

[sandahlpipe]

Whenever that thread about what level of perfection to strive for gets started, I'll just say that if someone made a 100% perfect pipe (absolute symmetry, fit and finish, etc.) it loses that little bit of life that makes it relatable as art. It certainly is a noble goal to strive for, but I think a very limited market. It's the small, insignificant imperfections that make each pipe a one-of-a-kind that sells.

But at the same time, I think it's better to achieve a certain level of "perfection" so you know where it is. So I do kinda agree with George on a theoretical/learning standpoint, but then I recognize it's maybe a hindrance when it comes to actual pipe sales. I've seen new $2000 pipes with a light gap between shank and stem. I haven't seen any noticeable difference in perfection between a $400 and a $4000 pipe. It's a matter of allowing the kinds of imperfections that collectors will find endearing and having zero tolerance for other flaws.