Billiard #8 Oval shank

[Bniesen]

In preparation for this years PITH I have decided to begin working on the oval shank, this has been labeled number 8 I have had several failure since my last posting and this is the first pipe in a while that I have felt good enough to number and post (I try to produce 3-4/week with the hope the intense practice will more quickly hone my skills). Its a nice challenge, and a nice bit of variety to the style. I appreciate any feedback, there are still some lingering issues but I will leave it to the forums impressions to help me decide what needs changed for the next iteration.
The dot is carbon fiber when planning this pipe I was going to go triple black, but when the Briar finally revealed itself I decided I really liked the grain and didn't want to put a whole lot of dye on it, though this would have helped cover the multitude of little sand pits. In hindsight I do not think the carbon fiber on vulcanite is something I will spend a lot of time on, the material is difficult to work and dulls tools very rapidly, I did not get the specific contrast I was looking for, and it is too difficult to see in anything but the best lighting conditions. It also doesn't photograph particularly well. I am very pleased with the gloss and uniformity of the finish. Thanks in advance for your help and critique.

For some reason I cannot seem to post the top and bottom. Ill have to reshoot them and try again.

[Bniesen]

Got them to work. I also added a close up of the stem to better show the carbon.

[Jthompson1995]

Quite nice overall, finish looks good and bowl shape is nice and symmetrical. To my eye, you need to remove some more meat from:

- the shank/bowl junction. The shank flares just before it meets the bowl and you lose the straight line, especially on the top of the shank.

- the stem near where it meets the shank. The stem doesn't follow the taper of the shank an it breaks the continuous line that would otherwise continue from the bowl, down the shank and all the way to the button. It's evident on the top and side views so removing all around the stem is needed.

The one place not to remove any more is the mortise end of the shank. Your mortise wall is uneven top and bottom and I'm afraid you're already too thin here and likely to have the shank crack at the mortise. In the future you may want to go with a thinner tenon/mortise when making oval shank pipes.

[Bniesen]

Your right on, thank you for taking the time to reply I appreciate the insight. The mortise wall is even around, I need to pay more attention to the angle at which I am photographing, it really looks off in the photos... the camera is not my preferred tool. The curve on the shank was due to a lack of confidence and direction. I wasn't certain what implications thinning the shank at the bowl junction would have. This week representation shows that. I have had to study this project and the chain of work that went into it in hindsight to understand what thinning that junction means to the overall form. There was a pretty steep learning curve on the oval shank, I hope the next one will turn out better.

[DocAitch]

I have run into a similar problems with my three oval shanks that I am working on for PITH. The line of the stem and shank was off by several degrees up and down, but I had enough material to adjust the lines. It is still anxiety provoking to work within the limits imposed.
I did use 1/4" Delrin for the tenons, and am very thankful for that decision. The 1/4" size gives that extra bit of material for tweaking the oval shape and the Delrin is stronger than an integral tenon.
Frequent 180 degree rotation of the stem during shank work is the other key for me.
With thes two techniques, it looks like at least one of these will come to fruition without shaming me.
DocAitch

[Bniesen]

I think ordering some 1/4" delrin will be on my to do list for the week, I only have 5/16 and the wood lathe is too difficult to accurately turn tenons on.

[RickB]

Frequent 180 degree rotation of the stem during shank work is the other key for me.

I'd remembered reading your recommendation to do this on circular shanks (but with 90 degrees, or even less), and man does that help a ton in cleaning things up.