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Hello friends. Once again, I tried to do a billiard. You can't tell in the pictures but it has a Cumberland stem (first time using that smelly stuff.) Again, I'm posting these pictures so I can use the critique to make a better pipe next time. I tired to apply all of the good advice you peeps gave me from my last few attempts. I wish I could get the pics a bit brighter so ya can see more of the details, or lack there of. Thanks for looking.





This has been proven to be a lot more difficult to make a proper billiard than I had imagined. I hope to someday succeed. Thanks for your time.

Dave

Great billiard Hawky. Dimensions look close to me. Shape looks nice. The only thing I see on the 3rd pic is that it looks like it has a sort of waist where the stem and shank come together, and to follow that analogy maybe hips further down the stem. Straighten that out so the taper is more uniform and I think you'd be pretty good!

Also, and I could be WAY off here, but the back side of your bowl (the side nearest you mouth) seems to sort of "reach" up. To me it doesn't just look like the kant (SP?) of your bowl but more that it actually looks longer. Probably wrong on that one though

Nice work.

Wow, that's quite lovely, Hawky. Much better than your last post. It's too bad we can't see the cumberland so well. The only thing that bugs me about the pipe is the top of the bowl. In my view, regardless of the true cant of the bowl the top should be very close to parallel with the shank with only enough angle to be noticeable if you look for it. Look at some Dunhill billiards. That's what I think of when I think of classic shapes. Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing. Very nice.

Thanks guys.

Not enough pipes under my belt to critique but suggestion on the picture brightness. Use a more neutral background. Most modern digital cameras use a auto brightness, kind of like auto focus, to adjust the whiteness setting and by using a darker background, less white, objects become brighter. An alternative to this is to auto focus on an object the same distance away the the object your wanting the picture of but is on a darker background and then pointing the camera at the intended object to take the picture. The main reason cameras have the two stage button. I hope that is half way clear.

That's a pretty nice looking billiard. A couple of minor adjustments and you're there. The forward cant isn't inappropriate although a couple degrees farther than is typical. I think that might be why the rim angle seems off. It's probably not but I see what Growley is seeing with the "back" of the bowl (Ernie would be so proud of me) appearing taller. The other thing I see is that the back of the bowl looks to have a bit of a beer gut so to speak. When matching the bowl shape on the front of the bowl gradually slope into the shank as opposed to bringing it back in if that makes sense. Lastly, your stem could still stand to be thinned down towards the bit end. This is an issue that I've been working on too with my own pipes. They look good to my eye but then when I take photos I can see that I could have gone thinner. Nice job.

wdteipen wrote:That's a pretty nice looking billiard. A couple of minor adjustments and you're there. The forward cant isn't inappropriate although a couple degrees farther than is typical. I think that might be why the rim angle seems off. It's probably not but I see what Growley is seeing with the "back" of the bowl (Ernie would be so proud of me) appearing taller. The other thing I see is that the back of the bowl looks to have a bit of a beer gut so to speak. When matching the bowl shape on the front of the bowl gradually slope into the shank as opposed to bringing it back in if that makes sense. Lastly, your stem could still stand to be thinned down towards the bit end. This is an issue that I've been working on too with my own pipes. They look good to my eye but then when I take photos I can see that I could have gone thinner. Nice job.

Wayne, thanks for the feedback, it's helping me out a lot. I"m having a hard time understanding what you mean when you describe how to clean up the beer gut? I agree I think I am over doing it with the cant as well.

Duckman, Thanks for the advice. I'll be getting a new camera this Christmas. The one I'm using is very old.

hawky454 wrote: Wayne, thanks for the feedback, it's helping me out a lot. I"m having a hard time understanding what you mean when you describe how to clean up the beer gut?

The widest part of the bowl is occurring too low. More material can come off the front/bottom curve, making it curvier, and making the pipe have a more mid-height balanced shape.

hawky454 wrote:

wdteipen wrote:That's a pretty nice looking billiard. A couple of minor adjustments and you're there. The forward cant isn't inappropriate although a couple degrees farther than is typical. I think that might be why the rim angle seems off. It's probably not but I see what Growley is seeing with the "back" of the bowl (Ernie would be so proud of me) appearing taller. The other thing I see is that the back of the bowl looks to have a bit of a beer gut so to speak. When matching the bowl shape on the front of the bowl gradually slope into the shank as opposed to bringing it back in if that makes sense. Lastly, your stem could still stand to be thinned down towards the bit end. This is an issue that I've been working on too with my own pipes. They look good to my eye but then when I take photos I can see that I could have gone thinner. Nice job.

Wayne, thanks for the feedback, it's helping me out a lot. I"m having a hard time understanding what you mean when you describe how to clean up the beer gut? I agree I think I am over doing it with the cant as well.

Duckman, Thanks for the advice. I'll be getting a new camera this Christmas. The one I'm using is very old.

Those picture explanations are really helpful in seeing the point being made!

Excellent! Thank your taking the time to point that out!