Three for Review

[DocAitch]

Here are some pipes that I've been working on this summer. These were started in June and were sidetracked by the PITH.
Since starting these, I have begun to try and finish the shank face and the tenon face better earlier in the process. These were my first group with the oxidation/ebonization process for under stain.
#1 Collared Brandy- although I like the collar, it is a large PIA and I probably won't do any more.





I could have cleaned the inside if the slot which is actually quite crisp.

I can see a slight curve in the center line, which I think is a consequence of that collar- another reason to eliminate it.
#2 Billiard- still some issues with staining/buffing/waxing




#3 Prince- I'm not sure about the color combination.




Fire away,
DocAitch

[mightysmurf8201]

I'll comment on the billiard. Try canting the bowl forward a few more degrees. I do about 2-3 degrees on mine. Shorten the shank a bit. The distance from the top line of the shank to the top of the bowl should be equal to distance from the back of the bowl to the shank face. Also, put a slight taper on your shank, widest part near the bowl. It should be subtle, but noticeable. Try sanding the stain/wax/finish out of the chamber completely. It will give it a more finished look. Hope this helps.

[DocAitch]

Thanks Smurf.
I tend to leave shanks as long as possible, this is probably a hangover from the days when I erroneously thought that a longer shank cooled the smoke. I am trying to conceptualize whether your shank recommendation is a "standard" or an aesthetic point.
I will look into canting the bowl on my next billiard. This has been mentioned before by Sasquatch. To tell you the truth, I frequently don't know what shape I am going to make until I get to the stage of drilling. Cross grain pipes all look like pokers at this stage and I will go in several directions depending on whatever whim strikes. In fact, the prince above was the only shape that I "planned" to do when I started about 5 pipes in this group.
I am mildly distressed by the appearance of the inside of the tobacco chambers, I will work tomorrow on tools to sand the bowl. I have a set of "fingers" to use in my hand drill and they need a tad bit more refinement so that I don't foul up the bevel. I will post some photos when I do that.
DocAitch

[mightysmurf8201]

I tend to leave shanks as long as possible, this is probably a hangover from the days when I erroneously thought that a longer shank cooled the smoke. I am trying to conceptualize whether your shank recommendation is a "standard" or an aesthetic point.
DocAitch

I'm not going to declare absolutely that the shank proportions are the end all/be all, because as with everything, there are exceptions, but they are THE widely accepted standard in the business. Just keep in mind that symmetry is what the eye naturally finds beautiful.

[LatakiaLover]

With the Prince and billiard it looks like you stopped shaping at about the 97% mark. About 93% with the swoopy one. Slightly too much material left pretty much everywhere (but more in some areas than others). One of the old Scandinavian masters (I can't remember which) used to say, "There's a nice pipe still inside this one" when encountering this situation.

If I had hard copy photos in front of me it would be simple to draw an "overlay profile" on them. Trying to describe such a thing with words is effectively impossible, though.

Quite a few of your lines don't "hold", either. They're only slightly off, but that's the difference between what reads as "another good amateur pipe" and a professional pipe.

All that said, you have come far in a short time, Doc. These three are an order of magnitude more difficult to pull off than the 70's-style stick-bit freehands you grew up on. You definitely aren't screwing around. It is clear that you are determined to make some truly good stuff. (And I think you will get there)

Here's an exercise: Pretend that each of those pipes was sold to someone, and they brought them back to you with a request. That they'd pay you the new price again to shave 5 grams of weight off Swoopy, and 2 grams off each of the others. (LIke because their teeth hurt or something. Doesn't matter.) Or, imagine they are made of some shaveable clay-like substance, and you and ten other carvers have been given exact duplicates to reduce in weight by some predetermined amount, and the winner of the contest gets a million dollars.

[DocAitch]

Thanks George. I am going to try to print some photos and mark them with the areas that I think you refer to. I agree that verbal descriptions often fail to carry the concepts of spatial relationships. Would it be OK if I PM'd you those photos after I do them or should I publish them here?

Smurf, I do see some proportional problems with the shank/stem, but I am thinking that they may be improved with a mm or so of slimming of the shank and a 1-2 cm longer stem. I notice that Sas' stems are proportionately longer on his billiards. What do you think?
DocAitch

[mightysmurf8201]

Smurf, I do see some proportional problems with the shank/stem, but I am thinking that they may be improved with a mm or so of slimming of the shank and a 1-2 cm longer stem. I notice that Sas' stems are proportionately longer on his billiards. What do you think?
DocAitch

Hahaha! Here we go. We're getting into the territory where different people are going to have slight variations in their size/shaping/proportions/terminology, you name it. These variations are successful only after having mastered the basics, and then finding a style that works for that individual. In the case of Todd(Sas), the dude's got probably hundreds of billiards under his belt, and to his credit, he has a superior grasp of almost every, if not every, traditional shape. It doesn't have to take several dozen billiards under your belt to find your groove and what tweaks might work for you, but when you've done as many billiards as Todd has and have groupies around the globe and pipe groups dedicated to you, songs written about you, and churches erected in your honor, you can bet that any variations to traditional rules are well thought out and based on experience. I'll stop there because I don't want Todd to start thinking too highly of himself.

[LatakiaLover]

Sas has groupies?

[LatakiaLover]

Would it be OK if I PM'd you those photos after I do them or should I publish them here?

The more heads in the game the better. That's what boards like this do best, I think.

[Sasquatch]

My groupie is under my desk, begging for the cheese slices I am currently eating on crackers. The vet said I shouldn't feed him so much cheese but then, when you are an 11 year old Boston terrier with no teeth, what the fuck ya sposed ta eat?

Billiard math is easy - hitting it is hard. Bowl height = shank length. Stem length = stummel length. Do this, and hit about 300 other little details just so, and you get a nice crisp Dunhill.

The pipe in question, I would say the bowl is fairly heavy, drifting into LB territory. So with that, a slightly thicker shank treatment would work but really the issue here is that the shank is just a hair too long, and if you want to do that, cool, but pairing it with a fuller bowl shape is REAL difficult. So to me that's what doesn't quite jive on this one.

I like the bottom line of the stem better than the slightly duck-billed top line. And the shank could use a hair more taper I think.. visually that stem/shank transition is just a little bulgy - visually. Probably measures fine, but we don't care about that.


The swoopy pipe I like a lot, I see a neat mix of Preben Holmesque stuff and some more modern ideas. Your eye is developing Doc. The stem doesn't work at all, it's way fat after the saddle, making the whole thing look really heavy - after all the scroll-like carving on the stummel, the stem is a disappointment - more curves, more material removed, and that thing would look a lot more balanced.

The prince.....well, the purple's ugly. But hey. Go look at a dunhill - one thing a prince is really really hard about is the bowl shape. They look better a little more appley than brandy on the bowl. This one's a bit bottom heavy and the proportion of the top of the bowl to the shank thickness makes it look even more off balance. This is VERY fine stuff to control. But try carving a prince that has the fattest part of the bowl right at the midline and you'll see a totally different look.

[DocAitch]

If I measure (roughly with a pipe cleaner) the gleam line on the shank, it is almost exactly the bowl height. Am I measuring the wrong line?
DocAitch

[Sasquatch]

Bowl height from top of shank should equal shank length from back side of bowl, so I think you are getting a long measurement and taking it to the total bowl.

I can't save your pics for some reason, so I'll find another with some lines on it.

[Sasquatch]

[JMG]

On the first pipe, I think a very slight bit more bend in the stem would be nice and if you stained the shank face.
Second one...?
Third one: I'm not a huge fan of the combination of the stem color and stummel. I like them both separately, but not together. The proportions are just right IMO though.

[DocAitch]

Got it, thanks.
I measured the top of bowl bowl to chin. I am going to recut this one a bit, but will leave the shank length alone. Will repost.
As for the purple stem, I purchased a " sampling" of rod from Steve Norse and this was the last of the purple. It won't be on my list next go around.
DocAitch

[mightysmurf8201]

Don't listen to them. I like the purple, but I'm weird like that. But if you're seriously hell bent on not using it again and you have a usable amount left, pm me and I'll buy it from you.

[DocAitch]

Smurf,
I used the last of that purple on the prince. I don't want to see any more.
Contact Steve Norse at Vermont Freehand for more, I believe that it was Japanese rod. I purchased a grab bag of rod from him a few months ago. The purple doesn't do it for me, and the yellow requires a much slower surface speed to polish but looks interesting.
DocAitch

[DocAitch]

Smurf, PM sent.
DocAitch

[DocAitch]

I recut the billiard. I reduced the shank and tapered it, then cut a new stem which equaled the length of the stummel. I wasn't going to shorten the shank, or touch the bowl. I think that the short stem was the most egregious departure from the billiard standard measure, and that it looks much better.


I also sanded the bowl.


I also recut the brandy. I took a lot of material off the stem, defined the shank/bowl transition, took some material off the bottom, and slimmed the shank.


I also sanded this bowl and stained the shank face (actually ebonized it)



The shank face would look better with some polish and my waxing fu is not yet developed, but I think they look better.
DocAitch