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I added brass rings and maple band. Is that right? What's the difference between a ring and a band? Handmade ebonite stem. I noticed in the pictures I still had spots of compound on it. Can someone suggest an easy way to get those off? I cleaned with water, which also removed the shine.
Anyway, your comments will be appreciated. Have fun, I have thick skin.
Last edited by AlfaDog on Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I think that's a great pipe to try and copy, but I'm afraid you missed. That's fine, though. I doubt I could recreate that pipe either!
I have yet to create a decent billiard, so I'll abstain from detailed critique. The best tip I can offer is to take a much more detailed look at Eltang's pipe before you try again and refer to the photo often while you're working. The more time you spend getting it right, the closer you'll get.
With regard to the compound, unfortunately your best bet would have been not to load the wheel up so much. If you're not achieving a good result after polishing, it's likely because you need to sand more extensively with the higher grits (320-600), not because you're not buffing it correctly. A very light touch to a wheel loaded with just a slight amount of your compound should do the trick if you go about it methodically.
I agree with the above comment in that you didn't really capture the Eltang pipe, and who can blame you because that Eltang billiard is magnificent, you just made a billiard. Some suggestions I have for your next billiard would be to leave a little more body on the bowl, avoid rounding out the edges on the top so much, and be very careful when buffing (again, light touch), because it looks like you took off quite a bit of color at the junction of the shank and bowl.
By more body, do you mean leave more wood? You are right about the compound, I must be overloading the wheel. It's been cold in the shop and the compound blocks are hard as rocks. i've been holding them on the wheel a long time hoping the friction would soften them up enough to get some on the wheel. I think I should bring them in the house and then use a lighter touch with the warm blocks. Thank you. Very helpful.
Yes I mean leave more wood on the bowl. I think a more formidably sized bowl would have been more appropriate here; all the more tobacco that can be stuffed inside of it.
Thank you for your reply. I agree with you 100%, however, being a newb I ordered med. sized blocks that I am finally running out of. I just placed an order with vermont Freehand for some large plateau and large ebauchons. Finally I won't be quite so resticted by bock size. Your response did trigger another question. If I increase the bowl size should I also increase chamber from from 3/4" to 7/8"?
