laying out a billiard

[scotties22]

So, I am going to start my first attempt at a billiard. I have my block all picked out and squared. My chamber, airway, mortise and shank are drawn on the block......and for the life of me I can't seem to get the bowl right. I have a couple of pictures I have printed out sitting here for reference and I just keep getting it wrong. Short of shrinking one of the pictures down and copying it onto the block I am at a loss . Maybe it's just late and I need to put it away until tomorrow. Are billiards just this hard? Or is it just me?

[Sasquatch]

Yeah they are, actually. Far easier to make them ugly/wrong than right. Seek for grace, seek for clarity and sparseness, but keep it flowing. Easy as pie!!

I sometimes draw pipes until I'm happy with one, then cut it out and trace the shape onto the block.

We did a billiard contest before you showed up Scottie - have a read here. One really famous maker even sort of did a pictorial run through.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=6341&hilit=billiard+contest

[baweaverpipes]

To make a well executed billiard is difficult. That's why I tell aspiring pipemakers to make a billiard first. Once one can make a billiard well all shapes follow.
I spent a couple of years until I felt comfortable at the shape.
The cheeks need to mimic the chin. Work the cheeks to the center point of the bowls heel (center).
Every new pipe maker should start will the billiard and master the shape before anything else. This is my opinion and other pipe makers might feel contrary. Fortunately I don't care. I firmly believe the classic shapes are the starting point.
I believe that guy that rarely agrees with me(the one that walks with a staff), Sassafras, Rod Davies, Eremarkable and even that Thad Johnston feller might agree with me. If not..................I'm moving to New Zealand.
Bubba

Bubba don't care if this helps.

[Ocelot55]

Not that I know anything about pipemaking, because I really don't, but I agree with Bruce. I think the classic shapes are the most simple yet most challenging shapes. I love classics and intend on sticking with them for a while.

The billiard contest was awesome to watch. You will definitely want to catch up on that thread.

[wdteipen]

I think drawing a good billiard is even harder than making one out of briar. Line up your drillings and just go for it.

[Tyler]

It's not that billiards are particularly hard to make, it's that everyone knows if you pulled it off or not. If you make something "artsy" you can hide behind the balderdash of subjectivism, claims of intent, and eye-of-the-beholder nonsense.

When you make a billiard there's not a pile of crap to hide behind.

That's essentially the reason that making billiards is recommended for rookies. It saves time for the old guard when it comes critiquing pipes. If you offer up a billiard, the old guys don't need to say much more than, "Really?" Then you can go back and do it again. When it looks like a Dunhill, you're set.

[scotties22]

Thanks guys. I was just really having a rough go of it last night. I had the pipe in my head, but couldn't get it on the block. Today is a new day...and hopefully I am a better drawer this morning . I had a guy ask me to make him a billiard with a black saddle bit. He is gonna pay for the wood and stem, other than that I don't feel right charging him anything yet. I just want to make sure I'm doing it right and within the specs of the style.

[taharris]

Here is one little hint from an engineer, not an artist.

The wides part of the bowl should be aobut a 1/3 of the bowl height from the bottom.

Todd

[scotties22]

Okay, I read the billiard contest thread. Great stuff there. I have one final question. Should the bowl height match the shank length (I'm going traditional, not a canadian)? It feels like thats how it should end up and that is what looks right when drawn. Boring billiard is what I've been asked to make, so that is what I'm shooting for.

[Sasquatch]

Bowl height (from top of shank) = shank length.

Stem length = total length of stummel (bowl + shank).

Shank diameter should be about 1/4 or a little more of the entire bowl height. Notice that a skinnier shank makes the bowl height (to shank) measurement relatively greater than a fat shank.

Get those right, and take enough off the bowl, and you'll have a Dunhill.

[scotties22]

Thanks Sas. That's what I thought and pretty much what I have drawn.

[scotties22]

So this is what I came up with. I still need to tighten a few things up. I'm not quite finished shaping. I think I am headed in the right direction. Anything I need to adjust?











Scottie

[Ocelot55]

Scottie, first of all good job. A billiard is a tough shape to do and you've avoided several rookie mistakes.

To me, that pipe looks more like a pot shape not a billiard. The walls of the bowl look pretty thick so you could shave off some meat all the way around, however that may make your shank too long. I'd just finish it as a pot and try a billiard again later. Another think to watch is the stem. Right now it appears to bend slightly upward.

You're doing very well so far. I can't wait to see the finished product.

[scotties22]

The stem is tapered a bit more on the bottom than the top...I haven't evened it out yet. I am making this for a guy who asked for a billiard specifically. I have another block laying here, maybe I will start another one to send to him. Is it that the walls are too think, or not enough off the bottom of the bowl that pushes this towards a pot?

[KurtHuhn]

The thing that makes it a pot is the overall proportions. Primarily it's the height of the bowl that determines this though. If you pulled the top of the bowl in a bit and made it more round, you'd have an apple. Make the bowl even shorter, pull in the top and bottom to have a squashed apple, then thin out the shank and stem and you have a prince. Small changes make all the difference.

I would focus on the side of the bowl near the stem (what I call the back, and Tyler calls the front ) and be sure you've got the "cheeks" shaped to compliment the side of the bowl furthest from the stem. Also, pay attention to the stem there, I can't tell if it's parallax from the wide camera angle or not, but it does appear to bend up a little.

Other than that, it's coming along nicely. All you really have is some fine tuning to do and it'll be good to go!

[ToddJohnson]

That is both "not bad," and simultaneously "not a billiard." The bowl is too short and too fat to be a billiard, but the shape overall is nice. You need to match the cheeks to the chin in order to make it "work," though.

TJ

[mightysmurf8201]

Scottie, first of all good job. A billiard is a tough shape to do and you've avoided several rookie mistakes.

Just out of curiosity, what are a few of the most common rookie mistakes on a billiard? I ask just so that I, and other rookies may try to avoid them when we do attempt a billiard.

[Sasquatch]

Having the fattest part of the bowl well below center is probably the biggest nono, and the shaping on the bottom part of the bowl, the real round, smooth curve flowing into the shank is hard to do. Terrifying for a new maker. "Gonna hit the chamber. Gonna hit the chamber."

[scotties22]

Getting into the chamber isn't what I'm worried about as much as having a thin spot in the bowl that will be hot to hold. Think I'm gonna finish this one as is....it looks nice and I'd hate to wreck it now . Then I will start another billiard...see if I can get it right this time!

[Sasquatch]

Scottie there's guys on this board who have sold 100 pipes and can't make a billiard, so don't feel bad.

I actually had better success doing really really fine "Bing Crosby" type billiards, where it forced a guy to use a really small amount of wood and the pipe had to be really delicately shaped. My first "bing":




It's still a graceless pipe, but trying to make something light and small is a good challenge.

Moving after about a dozen attempts to a much more "billiardy" (=less pottish, less a small, long shanked fist, and more of an upward gesture on the pipe, more curve and yet also more rigidity in the shaping, if that makes sense).



It's a lovely shape to play with and learn on. Then you can upsize and keep those same basic proportions and shaping ideas. "Good" billiards sell faster than you can make them. And more than that, the ideas you develop when you finally understand the sparse tight beauty of the billiard allow you to make better pipes all the way along. It's a magic tonic.