Two questions about freehand drilling.

[brownleafbeardsman]

I've made 11 pipes so far, 3 of them billiards. I'm on my 12th one now, which is also a billiard. I am taking everyones advice to heart and my personal goal that I'm working on, is getting a billiard posted here and it be given a solid review by you guys.

With that being said, one of the pipes that I've made has been a freehand drilled pipe. And the drilling by hand process and shaping before drilling was just so enjoyable, I'd like to throw one of these into the mix every now and then.

Anyways, my first question is; when freehand drilling, is there a specific method that works very well for keeping the air hole perfectly centered through the shank when drilling? Same question for the tobacco chamber.
I am using the lines drawn on the stummel and using the quill on my lathe to advance it while drilling.
I'm asking if there is anything I'm missing that I can add while doing this, it is very hard to do accurately. I'm thinking it might just be something where a huge amount of practice will solve the accuracy issues, but still wanted to ask anyway.

Second question; As of this moment I have a JAlan 11/16 parabolic spoon bit, and I have a 19mm Yu Xuanjie Freehand spoon bit. Why are there so many different shaped spoon bits? My first thought would be, you use the different shapes to match up with the bowl shape that you are making, that way the bowl walls are even all around? And that definitely makes sense to me. Just wanted to ask and confirm if there were any further reasons for these.

Thanks you for reading. - Josh

[brownleafbeardsman]

Disregard this. I was reading over a few posts and have decided I will work on learning to crawl before walking. I will inquire again when I am. Who knows, maybe by that time I will have figured this out on my own!

[LatakiaLover]

10-4 on having bigger fish to fry at the moment. Drilling after shaping is its own "thing"---an artform, almost---but also 100% unnecessary UNLESS you want to specifically go there. It's primarily a technique to reduce wood loss from flaws. Wonderful for carvers who love smooth, inventive shapes, but accomplishes nothing you can't do by drilling first if you're willing to accept a higher block count to "achieve" the shape.

[brownleafbeardsman]

I hadn't thought about it that way, thank you, LatakiaLover. I guess that makes total sense, I saw a video where a pipe maker was describe shaping before drilling and it was said that it was to try and work with the grain while shaping and to avoid flaws. I will try some normal drilling and shaping into a curvy danish inspired pipe after to see how that works out. Thanks again for your input, it means a lot.

[DocAitch]

I will agree that getting down the basics for lathe drilling is your priority for now.
I will comment that shaping before drilling can be a broad expansion of your ability to approach certain shapes (blowfish anyone?)
It is also certainly a way to reduce wastage, and is an excellent way to optimize the figure pattern in a block.
And if you are operating with a tiny lathe, turning a stummel in the traditional way is not an option.
You can do this free hand

And you can do this in a lathe OR freehand (this was done freehand).

DocAitch

[brownleafbeardsman]

I have a Jet 10x15 Wood lathe, variable speed. Thank you Doc, for your input. I will keep working on the basics. I must admit, I'd love to be able to make those danish style and blowfish type pipes, but I'll keep on with the classics for now.
Those pipes look great! Thanks for your input.