Shape preferences.

[Adui]

As I delve into this hobby, reading, trying and learning. I am discovering that most of the unconventional shapes really dont appeal to me. I must be getting old because the pipes I find truly beautiful to me are conventional shapes. Even the Dublins, which are a classic shape, are not as pretty to me as a good old Billiard, Bulldog / Rhodesian, or bent egg (?).

Am I odd?

[UnderShade]

I love classic shapes. There is a reason why they are considered, well, classic. Tried and true.

[n80]

Initially I had no interest in making classic shapes even though that is what I smoked. They seemed boring and there is so much fussiness about what is just the right line, etc etc. I enjoy making more freehand type pipes and being creative.

But, since I agree with the principle that it is best to learn to make classic shapes first and have started doing so, I am enjoying it. Also, some of these elegant looking free hands, though beautiful, are not what I would chose to smoke day-to-day. The last Dublin freehand I carved is an example. It is one of my favorite pipes so far, little flaws an all, and I like to look at it and hold it. But with all that weight out on the end it is not a clincher, not even for a second or two. Likewise with a horn I made recently.

So I'm finding that the classic shapes are more suited to my own smoking needs. And now I've kind of gotten interested in making smaller, lighter classic shaped pipes.

I am also developing a taste for the classic shapes in regard to appreciating some of their subtlety. I like the shape of Savinelli and Dunhill billiards (even though they are different) and I distinctly dislike the Castello billiard aesthetic even though they are undoubtedly well made, high end pipes.

I'll continue to make so fanciful pipes that show off the briar but I am now more focused on the classics. Making a bent billiard now patterned after a Dunhill.

George

[KurtHuhn]

I used to like bent pipes, but now I smoke almost nothing but straight pipes in all shapes, but light and thin-shanked. Not sure why - it might be the situations in which I smoke them, which tends to be in the shop while working.

[Adui]

Well Im glad Im not too odd.. (Well maybe...) I do intend to make mostly classic shapes till I've mastered this art to my satisfaction.

[DocAitch]

IMHO the billiard is the ultimate pipe shape for smoking. The bowl is designed to put enough briar around the fire to maintain temperature and there is no excess weight, and the shank can vary from straight to full bent.
To utilize the beautiful grain of briar, a Dublin is probably the best of several classic shapes, and perhaps a volcano, but the relation of tobacco chamber and wall thickness is not as ideal as that of the billiard.
As i review my own pipe making, I see that my shapes in general tend to be either billiard variants or Dublin variants with the occasional foray into the wild with blowfish and other stuff.
If I won’t smoke it, I won’t make it.
DocAitch

[wdteipen]

Not odd at all.

I enjoy making freehand pipes and getting creative every now and then but the classics are also very enjoyable to make. For those that intend to make any profit in this hobby, classics sell. Freehand's sell slowly. Most people smoke classics mostly so the market for them is much larger. There are a relatively small group of collectors that collect more sculptural/artistic pipes but the market for them is very small.

My collection of pipes that I smoke are mostly billiards and mostly straight with a smattering of bents and bulldogs and a couple Rhodesians and Dublins. I have a couple "artistic" pieces but never smoke them.