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Disclaimer that I've been at this for about 2 1/2 years and have made zero horns, but the two things that jump out at me are that it looks a little too meaty and the stem/shank junction looks jarring from the top view - I think you would have been better off starting with a wider diameter piece of e...

I'd skip the tripoli, sand 600/800/1000, top coat of yellow, oil for ~20 min on/wipe off every day for maybe 5 days, let it set up a couple days and then gentle touch with white followed by carnauba.

Hahaha yessir. My buffing/sanding/shaping motor is my drill press laid on its side 😂 Home Depot sells little mandrels (?) that one can attach a grinding disc/french wheel/buffing wheel to and then chuck in the press. I believe both Scottie and Sas use wood lathes exclusively (or primarily), and thei...

I cut that slot while it's still round and use that as the reference for where the tape goes. That way there's so such thing as it being crooked unless I really fuck up somewhere - cut the slot, orient so it's level, and have at it. By the radius at the shoulder, I mean where the barrel of the stem ...

It also helps to cut your slot first, then cut the ends that will become the button parallel to the slot so that you can keep the blade of the stem oriented while filing. You may be able to see that in the photo above. DocAitch This times about a thousand, the tape works great but that slot needs t...

Dome it if you're going Danish-ish, bevel it hard if it's thick walled, I guess leave flat if you want but I think that looks boring, usually. There should be a crisp line delineating the rim in any case, even if you dome it.

Getting the drilling right is much harder than it looks. I was able to get functional results with a hand drill. But if you do it that way prepare for failures and/or off-center/ugly drilling. A drill press makes a big difference but can still be dicey (at least on my 90 year old drill press). If y...

Thank you all, keep the advice coming! I plan to make a billiard next. To compound the challenge it will almost assuredly be the first time I drill the block myself... I am also going to make the inspired shape I had in mind, and either a Rhodesian or a Bulldog from the blocks I'm getting (Assuming...

Do a straight billiard. I smoked for 20 years and didn't like them either until I started trying to learn how to carve one, but when they come together right, they're just sublime. I've done 11 billiard attempts at this point and still haven't gotten one totally right, but I can see direct ways that...

Yup. That being said, it does seem to have cut down a lot on the "HEY HERE'S MY FIRST PIPE MY MOM SAYS IT'S GREAT" posters who swing through and then never come back, or worse the "I meant to do that" early posts from people whose second pipe is clearly the best pipe ever made an...

I've had some luck with wiping it off with alcohol, but it's not perfect. Also curious.

Having spent a few hours over the last couple of days roughing out an acrylic rod and then botching the slot, I'm about ready to go back to pre-made stems and modifying them for some basic improvements (narrower button, deeper funnel where needed, thinner bit area etc). My "clients" would...

Rick: 50 or 100 - I'd be living in a card board box under a bridge because my wife would have kicked me out. Lots of card board boxes for all my equipment. :thumbsup: Small Greek ebauchons and Japanese ebonite are your friend. It may not take 50 but there was a huge degree of improvement between my...

shikano53 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2019 4:44 pm Thanks for the advice. I will do that. I told someone once that I had made a 'billiard'. That individual said good; Now make five more.
I will try and replicate what I have.

That, but like 50 or 100

Doug535 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 19, 2019 3:24 pm Guess I should have said, this is how I do it.

Well then I'll give it a shot for sure next time. Thanks buddy!

Hey Rick, I'm gonna give this a shot. Go ahead and prep your bite zone, polish to make sure no waves, dips etc. Then bend and correct lines while blending into the bite zone. I'm sure George will correct me if I'm wrong Seems like a reasonable approach - definitely one I'd considered but wasn't sur...

Wow. Any special technique for bending a stem that thick? It's an entirely different process than normal. There's a third step: shape, bend, then shape some more. Because the length of the top line is longer than the bottom line, the first shape shouldn't be (can't be if you want a good result) sym...

IAWC. I think it's an interesting texture but needs a bit more done to it - I can't discern if there are parts of the original surface poking through from the pictures, but whether I can tell or not is irrelevant if it looks as though some are. "Leave no surface un-mangled."

This is a pretty great first billiard. I was about to take you to task for the duckbilled stem, but it looks like that's how the Savinellis are carved as well. Biggest thing that jumps out at me is the back of the bowl - start transitioning that so that it's cutting toward straight down about halfwa...

Way too thick a coat and way too thick a cut. I'd honestly dilute what you're using to about 25% in more DNA. I've never had much luck with the "wipe it on fast and then wipe it off" method unless it's very diluted, putting it on very very thinly seems to give a bit more wiggle room before...