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Hey, all. I wanted to share with you a very very think shanked billiard that I have made.
To tell the truth; after drilling and rough shaping stem on my lathe, I made the mistake of unchucking it, and then chucking it back off. I lost my concentricity and it deviated from the normal axis of the shank. So, when I twist it around in the mortise, it doesn't stay aligned properly.
It was very demotivating, but I definitely won't make the mistake again!

I do like how this pipe came out, but there is something funny about the stummel that I cant put my finger on. I do know the transition from shank to tobacco chamber looks a bit off, I think I should've taken off more material on the bowl, at that junction.

I do have a billiard that I'm almost finished with that I will be posting tomorrow.
Any feedback is very appreciated!

I am certainly no expert but a rule of thumb I try to go by that Doc told me is that the front of the stummel should essentially match the back. In the case of your pipe I would have removed material from the shank stummel junction to match the curve on the back. Something that has stuck with me is he said to view a billiard as two separate pieces joining together. It really helps visualize how the shape should be. He has a diagram of the example floating around here somewhere that is great. Hopefully that makes sense.

Other than that great looking pipe.

luttrell31 wrote:I am certainly no expert but a rule of thumb I try to go by that Doc told me is that the front of the stummel should essentially match the back. In the case of your pipe I would have removed material from the shank stummel junction to match the curve on the back. Something that has stuck with me is he said to view a billiard as two separate pieces joining together. It really helps visualize how the shape should be. He has a diagram of the example floating around here somewhere that is great. Hopefully that makes sense.

Other than that great looking pipe.

Thank you, Luttrell. I appreciate your input. I will try to keep those two looking the same, it’s something I have struggled with! And I’ll look for that post, thanks!


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One thing that I've found that helps is to use a 3 or 4mm round file to cut that transition in, right where you want it. Then shape the bowl down to the transition, and the shank in. Sent from my bloopty-bloop using hooty-hoo.

seamonster wrote:One thing that I've found that helps is to use a 3 or 4mm round file to cut that transition in, right where you want it. Then shape the bowl down to the transition, and the shank in.

anderson_billy.jpg

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Thanks, Seamonster! I will do that on my next pipe!


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This the diagram to which Steve refers.
Basically, the billiard shape can be broken down into 3 geometrical components- 2 truncated cones and part of a sphere.
Once you understand that, you can see what you have to do to achieve the shape.


DocAitch

For what it's worth, I don't think this is a "thin" shank. It looks aesthetically accurate for the pipe. If the shank were longer, then I think you might should have gone a bit thicker with a greater taper, but given the shorter length of the shank, I think it looks well balanced.