Pipe #13. Billiard.

[brownleafbeardsman]

Hey, everyone. I have completed another Billiard. This time, I tried to get the shank pretty thin, and it ended up exploding when I was facing it on the lathe. I will make sure to advance the quill very slowly and at a low rpm from now on.
I took this as an opportunity to try and make a tenon and mortise in a piece of faux ivory, and got a very solid fit.

Going off of the critiques I have received;
I've tried to get this bowl to be shaped a little better, not so blocky, more rounded.
I tried to get the bowl height from shank, pretty close to shank length from bowl to stem.
I have also tried my best to get this stem taper right, and tried to get a nice looking/feeling button.
I have tried to get the side lines of stem, parallel and not widening after the shank. I did this by using LatakiaLover's recommendation of using a thin tape around shank when I was going up through the grits.


I am starting to love making billiards, and smoking them as well. I am inspired to keep going until there is nothing to get right.
Once again, thank you all so much for your critiques, and help.

Any further critiques or comments are welcomed and appreciated.

[seamonster]

You are definitely dialing into knit-picky territory.

I think the bowl is a bit large for it's height, but you are running out of meat in the chamber walls. What is the size of the chamber? In fact, what at the overall dimensions? I would shoot for a little taller and a little narrower, this will take a narrower chamber drill...

How did you go about attaching the ivory? Two flush faces, or is there a mortise and tenon involved? Usually, an accent like that is part of the stem, and not attached to the shank, but I understand your situation.... there are quite a few posts here about shank extensions of you want to do dinner more research.

The shape of your button looks quite nice, is like to see the slot?

And if I were a betting man, I'd put money on George jumping on here talking about 'gleam lines'....

Nice progress, pal! Keep at it.

Jeremy.

PS funny, I too developed quite a fondness for smoking billiards after making a bunch... and I'm pretty much a bent guy

Sent from my bloopty-bloop using hooty-hoo.

[brownleafbeardsman]

Thank you for your input, seamonster! I'm working hard to get these billiards down.
I will go about ordering a new chamber drill. You are spot on; I couldn't go much thinner without compromising the thickness of the walls.
The dimensions are:
Length - 5"
Bowl height - 1.5"
Chamber depth - 1.25"
Chamber ID - .75"
Chamber OD - 1.25"
Wall thickness - .25" bottom 2/3 of tobacco chamber, top 1/3 rim is about .19". I wasn't sure how to measure this to be honest.

The band is attached to the shank, via a mortise in the ivory, and a tenon in the shank.
I know this is probably not the most common, but after fitting it and drilling the regular mortise, I made a delrin tenon, and it seemed to fit perfectly. No light gaps, and it fits tight, but not too tight.
Thank you for the compliment on the button, here is a picture of the slot.

The slot does look like it is very large, when it is just the stem that is not very wide.
I wasn't sure how to make the stem on a thin-shanked billiard, I wasn't sure if it should flare out at all.

[LatakiaLover]

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=12500

[brownleafbeardsman]

Thank you! I'll take a look now.

[Sasquatch]

It's an attractive pipe, and goes to show how nice a straight pipe can be and still not quite be a billiard!

The bowl is a little chubby and a little square or chinnish. And the shank length.... well here's the fun part - that adornment, is it shank or not? Visually, it very much alters the balance of the pipe. Yes, you hit the mathematical element correctly (calling that adornment shank), but visually it alters the pipe maybe, and you need to make real subtle changes because of it. I'ma go play with the photo for a few minutes....

[Sasquatch]

So, just horsing around with the pipe... I blot out a bunch of the adornment and add "shank color" instead, and the mathematical proportions are pretty close.... but I don't love the pipe yet, as a billiard.




What needs to change? If I tighten up that bowl shape, make it proportionately skinnier, the bowl looks better. BUT this means the shank is too long (I've "added" shank by removing bowl). So I shorten the whole pipe, and it's starting to hit more of those markers I think.

[brownleafbeardsman]

I see exactly what you mean, Sas. Thank you for taking the time to do that! I hadn't even thought of how an adornment might change the visual weight. I was just focused on the mathematical part, as you said.
On my next billiard, I am really gonna try and focus on what you guys have critiqued on. I'm inspired to make it my best one yet, as classic-looking as possible! I really would like to nail the bowl/chin shape, I feel like that is what is lacking.
Thank you for your critique and the knowledge you've shared!