smooth blowfish

[Josh B.]

i had fun making this one, this is my 8th pipe and only my second pipe of this style and the first one was god aweful i think i did a bit better with this one. The drilling is a bit off but i would love to hear some critique on how i did

[Josh B.]

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[sandahlpipe]

I think you can find comments about blowfish in the post "open letter to new pipe makers". The blowfish is a difficult shape to pull off. Sixten Ivarsson spent 12 years making repairs and classic shapes before he started making freehands. Not that everyone needs to spend 12 years, but if you want to make good looking pipes, you should really at least understand the ins and outs of the classics.

This is not a blowfish.

Make sure you can properly engineer a pipe before you start going crazy with shapes. A pipe isn't really a pipe until it's properly drilled. Don't sell a pipe like this, and it's best if it, or pictures of it never leave your shop. Sure, you can smoke this, but if you respect your reputation, you won't show it.

This is all personal experience here. I've made these mistakes before and this is what I've learned.

Now go make another and make sure you drill it properly.

[Josh B.]

i agree with you here. i didn't really try for a blowfish i just did something i thought would look nice. it didnt turn out like i wanted it, and with the drilling this one was destined to be a shop pipe or given to a friend. i usually do make more traditional shapes but i like to play around with crazy shapes to break up the monotony of making the same pipes again and again. and thanks for an honest input.

[WCannoy]

Yup. What Jeremiah said. Get those holes to line up, then we can worry about the shape.

[Josh B.]

i made another today and posted it up. i got the drilling just right but then messed up the stem/shank.