You are a bright, talented guy and obviously care about making good pipes. You also obviously read a lot. As in, the Internet a lot.sandahlpipe wrote:This is why I was saying that a two-axis mortise/airway is acceptable on a bent pipe (And why, when I do make a bent pipe, I apply said methodology.) I just think that straight pipes with a single axis from the bottom of the chamber through the end of the mouthpiece will have better (if only marginally) smoking characteristics.LatakiaLover wrote: There is one excellent reason: If the mortise is not co-axial with the shank, the stem will have an "elbow" at the shank/stem joint. Though the angle can be removed externally when shaping so the profile looks good, the visible line on the outside of the pipe made by the shank/stem joint will forever be cockeyed. This looks like absolute, utter, complete, and total shit.
The reason I even brought this up is that I've heard a few fans of Will Purdy's pipes say that they achieve a greater level of smoking quality even among artisians. I want to say I read it on Neill's blog, but I can't seem to find the article. So I read as much as I could about Will to see what might be different that could make his pipes stand out to collectors as superb smoking instruments. The only thing I could find was the single-axis drilling. I intend to ask him more at the show, but this is the only thing that makes sense to me so far.
The Internet is a wondrous thing for too many reasons to list. It also has downsides. One of them is its ridiculous efficiency at exploiting one of Mankind's fundamental weaknesses---his reflex to believe The Loudest Message.
All the old timers here---the pros---know how "Internet Logic" works when it comes to making pipes, and most of them have given up trying to fight it. It's been that way for a while now, and is why many of them don't come around anymore. (Lots of heat gets generated but little light when such things are discussed, and in the meantime there are pipes to be made.)
I think you'll find the best way to figure out what actually IS, as opposed to something just being the Loudest Message, is to simply make more pipes, tweaking things here and there and experimenting along the way. After a while you will have first-hand experience with all of it, and will know. (Notice I didn't say, "you can then decide for yourself", because there are no decisions to be made. Things either are, or they aren't.)