My fourth Billiard/Canadian - Critiques Wellcome

[yachtexplorer]

This one is 6.25" long, 2" tall, the stem is 2" long, walls are 5/16" at rim, 3?4" chamber, 5/32 drilling53 grams the briar is not stained but was oiled prior to polish and wax. The stem is acrylic with integrated tenon. The inset dot is abalone.

[LatakiaLover]

Welcome, Richard.

Rule #1 on the gallery board: Be sure you really want what you're asking for.

Rule #2: Stop using crap wood like that.

[yachtexplorer]

Welcome, Richard.

Rule #1 on the gallery board: Be sure you really want what you're asking for.

Rule #2: Stop using crap wood like that.

RE #1 Go for it George. I am kind of proud of this one but I do want the next one to be better. I have thicker skin than you may think...and I really do want to learn.

Re #2 Look closely...there are a few black spots.

[The Smoking Yeti]

Richard it's great to see you here!

Firstly, that's some damn nice briar- where are you getting it from? Most new pipemakers don't use such beautiful wood!

You've done a lot very well here, a good shank to stem transition, good slot work, and your finished polish works pretty decently. Also- the top down symmetry on the bowl is well done.

Some big things to focus on, the lines are a teensy bit off. I think the bowl would look more elegant if it were tapered in a bit more towards the top. The lines on your shape- especially the top line needs some work. If you really look at it, you can see it isn't consistent. To get a crisper line, take some extra time with a file. The same can be said for the stem taper- it is inconsistent, and feels like it bulges out towards the mid-point of the stem before coming back in to the button. For this design, a perfect straight line from shank to button is what you want. You never want stems to feel like they bulge in the middle.

All in all though- you're doing some great work for the amount of time you've spent making pipes. I look forward to seeing more of your work!

Cheers!

Yeti

[d.huber]

Welcome Richard!

As you know, billiards are not my forte, but I'll take a stab at it for ya.

That's a very decent industry conforming button.

For me, that briar should be sandblasted or darkly contrast stained. Those flaws hurt.

The lines of your shank when viewed from above and below appear to curve inwards. This may be an optical illusion, but I'm not convinced it is. As you know, those lines should taper slightly from the bowl to the stem and on to the button (if you so choose). When viewed from the side, the top line of the shank is not a straight line, but has lumps and curves, particularly near the bowl. These should be smoothed so that, to the eye, this tapered line is continuous.

The oval shank is a gutsy move and well done. Kudos!

Shaping on the bowl is really pretty nice. It's a little wobbly when viewed from above, but you're getting closer to a nice concentric bowl. Good progress there! The bowl in profile looks pretty good but a few tweaks would make it excellent. The front line (back line to Tyler) of the bowl looks very nice, but the back line (front line to Tyler) doesn't match, placing the widest point of the bowl too high. The cant on top of the bowl appears to be a bit too severe. Creating a gentler cant on the top of the bowl will really help to make the shape pop.

My notes on the stem are mostly stylistic. As we've discussed and seen discussed, the arch in the stem from shank to button is a very Dunhill move. You executed this stylistic choice well, but I'm not sure it's for me. I prefer a bit more of a straight line from the button to where the stem meets the shank face, but that's more of a Danish move.

That's a lot of info for a pipe that, on the whole is pretty well executed. Keep up the good work, Richard! It's great to see you posting here.

[Sasquatch]

As we've discussed and seen discussed, the arch in the stem from shank to button is a very Dunhill move. .

Sorry, what?

The arch is, to my eye, exactly what Dunhill never did.
Show me an example, someone.

If we look at the arch or "blimp" shape of the stem, as opposed to a wedge, or a duckbill



The wedge is basically the dunhill signature and the "correct" shape on an English pipe. Duckbill is your pre-mold - comfortable and ugly!


For the pipe (and welcome to the crucible Richard) I see what David sees here - slight eccentricities in shaping, wobbles in the lines.

I put a thin black line on the back of the bowl and the top of the shank - you can see the deviations sticking out where they come together. The stem blimp has been mentioned, and I threw a couple of "measuring stick" lines on there. The shorter red line is the length of the bowl height (top of shank to top of bowl). Ordinarily on a billiard this is the half-way point. The longer red line shows this length plus the length of the entire bowl diamter, and shows that the pipe, compared to a "regular" billiard is a little short overall, for the bowl size. There is some play here, but I'd say the pipe is slightly bowl-heavy.



Great orientation on the block, nice mechanics on all the mechanical type stuff - fit is nice, left-right symmetry pretty good.

[Sasquatch]

Actually lemme rephrase that:

Huber you silly fucker what are you doing trying to talk about English pipes?

[yachtexplorer]

I am curious what people think about the smoke passage placement. If you look at the fifth photo down (the mortise and tenon shot) Looking down the shank to the tobacco chamber you can see that the top half of the drill bit penetrated through to the chamber leaving a line in the middle of the drilling which is the floor of the chamber. This got the hole in the bottom of the tobacco chamber out into the bottom center of the bowl instead of emerging closer to the wall of the bowl. In the fourth shot down you can see that there is a step down into the smoke passage. It seems most pipes the bottom of the smoke chamber is on the same plane as the bottom of the bowl rather than being half the 5/32 drill bit width below the bowl as in this one. I think this should theoretically pull air around the bowl more evenly but it may present a cleaning problem. A pipe cleaner does sometimes stop at the far end of the step but a half twirl always let it easily push past that.

[yachtexplorer]

Here is a 1950 LB shell with original stem. To my eye this has a slight "blimp/arch" to it. Not showing this to justify my choice here as I do not consider any factory made pipe as a rigid cannon to which I must pay obeisance.

[LatakiaLover]

Here is a 1950 LB shell with original stem. To my eye this has a slight "blimp/arch" to it. Not showing this to justify my choice here as I do not consider any factory made pipe as a rigid cannon to which I must pay obeisance.

I'd love to see that LB's stem in hand. It doesn't look original to me.

[Sasquatch]

I am curious what people think about the smoke passage placement.

Every German pipe I've had was drilled like this, almost like a throwback to porcelain pipe bowls.

I don't prefer it because I've had a few crumbs get in there and render a horrible smoking experience, so I work the other strategy you mentioned - bottom of chamber hits bottom of airway.

[LatakiaLover]

Here's a 1954 Dunnie with a stem & button that's typical for the period:

[PremalChheda]

I am curious what people think about the smoke passage placement. If you look at the fifth photo down (the mortise and tenon shot) Looking down the shank to the tobacco chamber you can see that the top half of the drill bit penetrated through to the chamber leaving a line in the middle of the drilling which is the floor of the chamber. This got the hole in the bottom of the tobacco chamber out into the bottom center of the bowl instead of emerging closer to the wall of the bowl. In the fourth shot down you can see that there is a step down into the smoke passage. It seems most pipes the bottom of the smoke chamber is on the same plane as the bottom of the bowl rather than being half the 5/32 drill bit width below the bowl as in this one. I think this should theoretically pull air around the bowl more evenly but it may present a cleaning problem. A pipe cleaner does sometimes stop at the far end of the step but a half twirl always let it easily push past that.

A reason for having the bottom of the draft hole meet with the bottom of the chamber is that moisture/tar/tobacco particles will not clog the draft as easily if the bottom of the draft is lower than the bottom of the chamber. In the pipes I have smoked over the years the even chamber/draft tends to smoke better too. I never smoke a pipe all the way to the bottom unless it is first few bowlfuls, so the even chamber/draft is superior due to that for me.

[LatakiaLover]

I am curious what people think about the smoke passage placement.

Every German pipe I've had was drilled like this, almost like a throwback to porcelain pipe bowls.

Those, or one of those made-in-Turkey meers. Which is not a favorable impression to elicit when trying to compete with uber-grade carvers.

I don't prefer it because I've had a few crumbs get in there and render a horrible smoking experience, so I work the other strategy you mentioned - bottom of chamber hits bottom of airway.

Never had to deal with that, but it seems the sort of thing that would happen occasionally. Especially with dry tobacco.

Barbi used to channel the bottom of his bowls deliberately, then sculpt all the angles to a liquid-y smoothness, though (presumably to make it clear that the low drilling wasn't a mistake), because he thought a "trench" gave a better smoke.

[Yak]

Once more, with feeling :



It's a subtle touch, but a sweet one. IMO

When the lines are dead straight, they can look like a traffic accident at the intersection of Stem & Shank.

[LatakiaLover]

When the lines are dead straight, they can look like a traffic accident at the intersection of Stem & Shank.

There's always a slight "roll over" radius at that point for both aesthetic and technical reasons. Not having it looks wrong and is difficult to execute.

Blimpiness is distinctively different. It is material rising above a geometric line. (And yes, that Parks has a touch of it.)

[Sasquatch]

IS that a coral Jac?

[The Smoking Yeti]

When the lines are dead straight, they can look like a traffic accident at the intersection of Stem & Shank.

There's always a slight "roll over" radius at that point for both aesthetic and technical reasons. Not having it looks wrong and is difficult to execute.

Blimpiness is distinctively different. It is material rising above a geometric line. (And yes, that Parks has a touch of it.)

Look at what you started Richard!!!!


Just make a saddle stem next time

[wdteipen]

Looks like everything has been covered here. Welcome to PMF, Richard. It's great to see you here posting your pipes. I shoot for the bottom of the airway being even with the bottom of the chamber. I'm curious which you drill first; the airway or the chamber. Drilling the airway first and chamber second allows for more leeway in getting the two aligned just right, IMHO.

[yachtexplorer]

Looks like everything has been covered here. Welcome to PMF, Richard. It's great to see you here posting your pipes. I shoot for the bottom of the airway being even with the bottom of the chamber. I'm curious which you drill first; the airway or the chamber. Drilling the airway first and chamber second allows for more leeway in getting the two aligned just right, IMHO.

That is how I do it too Wayne. I just chose not to take the chamber quite as low this time.

It would be easy to go another 1/6th deeper with the chamber with a couple more gentle turns of the spoon bit to render the floors at the same level. but I think I will try to smooth out the edges of the trench and try it like it is. At 1 3/4 deep already, I don't think any of my foredom bits are long enough to probe around down there. Must come up with plan B.