My eleventh pipe, another shot at a billiard.

[brownleafbeardsman]

Hello all, I wanted to share my eleventh completed pipe with you. This is my 3rd attempt at a billiard.
I went for a handmade ebonite saddle bit stem, I am pleased with the results!
I kept focused on what has been recommended before, getting a slight forward cant, getting a cylindrical shank instead of a reverse taper, and keeping the bottom of the tobacco chamber at the level established by the bottom of the shank.
I used a very light cut of shellac after the staining process, following rawkrafted's video on YouTube, and then cleaning up the excess with a few drops of shellac in some denatured alcohol, which worked very well and came out exceptionally smooth.

I do feel like the bowl came out a bit large, tall maybe, I'm not sure.
I think this is my best pipe yet, and I'm excited to continue the learning process.

I'm appreciative of all of you for continued support and advice, it is an incredible help.
As always, any critique or advice is welcomed and appreciated.

[brownleafbeardsman]

P.S. I have enjoyed making pipes so much, and I do plan on continuing. The natural flaws of the briar can definitely be beautiful, but I think I will be investing in a sandblast cabinet soon to give me some more options while pipe making! This pipes flaws along the bowl can be overcome I think, but the one along the shank is a very deep sandpit, a fatal flaw. I really only continued this pipe because I know that it will provide me the same learning experience as if it was flawless. I have been reading on as many previous posts that I can to gain information on this and they are definitely a wealth of information.

[wdteipen]

Nice progress. Keep working on crisp lines and symmetry and they will generally get better with each successive one.

[Sasquatch]

That really is terrible wood.

I don't mind the bowl for tall, but it's a bit square and a bit "jowly", the weight is low. Think about your hand if you make a fist vs offering someone an apple. This one's more "fist".

[LatakiaLover]

The two main things that jump out at me are the taper of the blade is too steep (otherwise not bad at all for an early rodstock stem), and the bowl profile is too square.

(pssst... Sas loves decayed-looking wood, and will soon be offering you $100 a block for your stash. Hold out for at least $150.)

[brownleafbeardsman]

Wdteipen, thank you for your kind words, I will keep practicing.

Sasquatch, yes the wood was definitely bad lol. I'll keep trying to get that graceful shape. Just to clarify, when you make that reference to the hand with an apple, you mean the shape of the bowl? Or the cant of the bowl? Or do you just mean that it needs to be more graceful?

LatakiaLover, Thank you, when I use a saddle stem I will work on getting it thinner all the way across so that taper is not so steep. I can see how it would look much better that way.
I'll make sure to get 150$ at least!

Thanks guys!

[wdteipen]

To remedy what Sas is referring to, think of the lower third of the bowl as half of a sphere and the upper two thirds of the bowl as a slightly tapered cylinder or, more accurately, a very tall, skinny cone. The widest portion of the sphere is generally going to be roughly at the top of the shank. The height of the bowl of a standard, traditional billiard is generally going to be roughly three times the width of your shank where it meets the bowl. Shoot for those proportions and you will be in the right ballpark.

[wdteipen]

Here's a CAD drawing I did of a proportionate billiard to hopefully help those struggling with the shape. Don't mind the stem taper. The taper shouldn't start right at the shank but it's too much work to draw it right. What I wanted to illustrate is the geometric connections between all the parts and how the proportions of each part of the pipe is connected to other parts of the pipe.

Hope this helps.

[brownleafbeardsman]

That is extremely helpful! Thank you so much, wdteipen. I will take this to heart. I am working on a billiard now, and I think it is my best one yet in terms of the technical aspects. My stem taper does start very near the shank, so I guess I will have to work on that a lot in my next one, but I think my stummel is pretty close to the proportions it should be, hopefully you will agree! I'll post that in the next day or two! Thanks again!