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Ordered some briar on eBay (Alexander Zavvos). I got five ebauchons for $41, so if I mess one or two up I won't regret my purchase. I have some prior woodworking and metalworking experience (lathe, mill, drill press, all sorts of sanders, and the rest of the standard tools are pretty familiar to me). Unfortunately I don't have a lathe, so I will be relying on a Dremel, belt sander, and files/sandpaper by hand.

Here are some designs that I have drawn up - they aren't in scale with each other just to note and I also think I want to remove a bit more material off the billiard. Any opinions, suggestions, or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Do the billiard!
Don't try a Cutty until you have the skill set.
Once you've made a proper billiard, feel proud.
FYI, a billiard has a forward cant of approximately 2 degrees, or just slightly more.

Your on the right path!

This has been pretty interesting so far - I like it!

Not sure how well I am doing, but this is how I progressed after ~30 minutes (including drawing on the block). This is my rough outline. I am going to shorten the bowl some I think - opinions on that?

Need to pick up a spade bit to grind for the tobacco chamber (drilled a pilot hole already). I also need to pick up a couple sanding belts, a bit for the air hole, a counter-bore for the mortise, a stem, and some finishing materials.

Well. I finished up the stummel today. What do you guys think? I ground the bit using a bench grinder and a 3/4" spade bit (here is a picture: http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq32 ... 121410.jpg . It worked really well and is actually more round than the picture shows. It cut through the briar surprisingly well.

Rough shaping (belt/disc sander):



Rough sanding (150 grit hand sand paper and an assortment of small files):



Final sanding (150, 320, and then 600 grit hand sand paper) - I had just wiped it with water to remove the dust, so that is why the grain is so visible:





So, what do you guys think? Any shaping suggestions?

I need finishing materials and stem stock faster than I thought.

Bring in the cheeks, they need to mimic the chin. This is the most difficult part of the process.

Need to get a stem on there too - once you do I think you'll see that the shank needs some work - it's almost impossible to tell what angle the mortise is at without a stem in it. So you may be surprised when you get one in there.

Better as far as the bowl goes? Still working on sourcing a stem (I think I may get a preform and modify it to my needs for this one). I haven't really messed with the shank any further - don't want to go too far on it before the stem gets put on.

You could still define the cheeks.
Here's what I'm talking about:

I knew something didn't look right! I misunderstood what you meant by cheeks earlier.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll probably take the Dremel to it, since hand sanding that would take forever.

Better? I know it still needs some shaping and sanding, but is the general concept looking better?



Remember I haven't messed with the shank yet - I know it isn't quite round or straight, but I will fix it don't worry. You can also see my crooked air hole here! Actually, the air hole was straight, but the tobacco chamber bit wandered and I had to rotate where the pipe was so that it wouldn't look funky.

I suppose this is as good a place as any to ask this question: assuming you have the pipe in your mouth, I'm guessing the chin is the forwardmost bottom of the pipe where the line of the shank transitions to the bowl. Then the cheeks are the right and left sides of the bowl; is there then a name for the rear part of the bowl? What then is the name of the area where the top of the shank meets the bowl? And if all of those parts have anatomical equivalents, what the hell is this part I'm sucking on?

what the hell is this part I'm sucking on?

I think Sas calls it "The Joystick".

is there then a name for the rear part of the bowl?

That is known variously as "The Front" or "The Back" of the bowl, depending on whether or not you are crazy (and possibly Communist).

the area where the top of the shank meets the bowl?

The Shank/Bowl Junction, but it really should have a fancier name than that. I'll start calling it "The Elbow".