Hi Kurt
and thanks you are so particular and exact
KurtHuhn wrote:I really think that the one with plateaux on the bottom is the best of the bunch. The only thing I would suggest for that one is to refine the stem slightly. The saddle portion is a bit strange to my eye. I think an abrupt transition from round to flat sections would bring i all together. Also, the stem seems to get a little thick in the middle - though that my be a trick of the photography.
Actually i refine the stem after the shots of this pipe. It was sold less then 24 hours after i finish it to a guy who asks to refine the stem and to re-bend it. So when I start re-bending i refine it and you are perfectly correct it was a little tick in the middle. About the saddle portion - the transition cannot be made abrupt because there is a Teflon cone in the stem etc. But now i have a lathe (will post pictures soon) and now I van make such things better. Next pipe maybe...
KurtHuhn wrote:For the billiard, I would refine the bottom of the bowl and make sure that you don't have any odd humps down there. A rounded area in front of the shank can be disruptive to the flow of the eye. Also, the bowl/shank junction could use a little thinning out. I don't think it needs to be a razor sharp transition, but at the same time, I do think that it should be well defined.
This is actually my first Billiard I can show

and it was made without any lathe help - all by hand, drillings etc. I do not succeed with making of the rounder of the shank area, it is a little bit oval. The bottom is oval actually but maybe it can be more refine too, the pipe is here yet and actually I can do this …. this will make the pipe lighter.
One thing is not clear for me. The stem is not as comfortable as I wanted to be. Maybe the beveling should be different or more flowing. What do you think?
George