Billiard Contest

[EBK]

I'm in. Cool idea!

[Growley]

I'm in! I've only made like 4 pipes, but now that I'm getting into it I find I'm rushing through them and not spending as much time on the details as I should. A competition would force me to consider every detail. I was planning on making a billiard be my next attempt anyway.

I hope enough people join.

Brian.

[jogilli]

That would be a helluva 2nd place prize lol. Just for clarification you can bugger off on a free pipe

ahh man .. now that ain't play'n too nice....

[Massis]

I stand no chance of winning, am not elegible for a prize (European here) and can't commit yet as I still don't have any mouthpiece material (planning to buy between now and november), but...

COUNT me in!

This looks like a good way for me to get critique and compare my work to other upcoming pipemakers.

PS: I love making smooth pipes, but for now I'm not willing/able to invest in super high quality briar, so I'm making my pipes out of cheaper ebauchons from Jaume Hom.
My question is: if you judge by finish & sanding, will you overlook sandpits? (if not, I'll have to do at least a partial rustication as all of my blocks have sandpits in them...)

[oklahoma red]

I'll give it a shot.
Chas.

[LAH]

Great idea and sounds like fun, I'm in.

Abe

[andrew]

Alright. I'm in.

[e Markle]

I will make a suggestion here that I think is fairly important - the submissions should go to eGarble who will then post them in an official sort of thread ANONYMOUSLY - that is, I think that each pipe should be judged just "as is", not with a name behind it it. Make it dead objective, or as objective as possible.

OK, that's fine with me. My thought was to actually send pics to whoever will agree to judge so that there will automatically be some level of anonymity, but your suggestion makes sense. I'll update the initial post to reflect this.

My question is: if you judge by finish & sanding, will you overlook sandpits? (if not, I'll have to do at least a partial rustication as all of my blocks have sandpits in them...)

The short answer is yes I'd overlook this. I want this to be focused on the factors that the maker has control over. For example the grain might not be nice and tight, but did you shape the bowl to complement whatever grain orientation there is? Same would be true for flaws... however if you make a smooth, but you can fit a roll of quarters into the side of your flaw the obvious question is why didn't you rusticate.

[e Markle]

One more thing: I think we have enough people for this to work and be both interesting and helpful. That being said, if anyone else wants to join please just say so in this thread.

If there's nothing else, I'll look forward to hearing from you all before 12/1. Thanks!

[billiard]

May I be a "probably in"?

I will probably only have time to make one or two pipes between now and the deadline, and one pipe needs made first. So if I can find time I will enter a pipe, if that's ok.

[e Markle]

May I be a "probably in"?

I will probably only have time to make one or two pipes between now and the deadline, and one pipe needs made first. So if I can find time I will enter a pipe, if that's ok.

Of course. I just want to have a feel for who all is joining so I can estimate how much time this will require. Welcome!

[caskwith]

Happy to help with some judging if needed. Not that my opinion is worth much but it's got to be better than the "fastest milkman in the west"

[KurtHuhn]

Not that my opinion matters more than a fart in a stiff breeze, but I'm happy to participate in judging and critique.

[Walle]

Well, I was considering quite a while, but: Yes, I'm proud to lead the jury.
Thanks for the kind offer.

Cheerio!
Walle

[archaggelosmichail]

Great idea, I'm in.

Billard is my favorite shape -most pipes I smoke are billards- simple,balanced,straight.

[Wallaby]

I'm in!



How exactly does a pipemaker make a pipe? He just does!!


Wallaby

[eric]

I'm in.

[Charl]

Damn! Why the hell do I live in South Africa again?

[Sasquatch]

Arright, as we have a reasonably high participation number, I am officiciially dropping out of this as a "contest". The fact is, I've made and sold probably 30 billiards, and really this is supposed to be newer guys working on mastering something that they haven't mastered before.

So what I'm gonna do is twofold. First, I'm gonna make a billiard and post it here. A dead ordinary billiard, no frills, no bangles. And I'm gonna critique it and draw all over it and give a sort of "standard" for the newer guys to work toward or to deviate from. And we can talk about what's good an bad about it.

I'm also gonna enter a slightly less standard version as my "entry" in order to show that certain things on the standard billiard can be tinkered with successfully. However, I am not entering the contest with it, won't accept Ernie's shitty briar, and basically feel like I'm miles above you all. From up here, you all look like little ants!

[buster]

Sasquatch,

Your last sentence almost made me choke on my coffee. Very funny. Nothing like a good cup of coffee with your favorite tobacco and a good laugh. Thank you.