pipemakersforum.com

this year I did four pipes for the PITH.
This an oval shanked billiard that I think is technically the best. Yes, I do know that the shank is not exactly the same length as the height of the bowl.

I like your bowl shape and your basic design. That's probably more cant than you'd find on an English/French factory shape, and to my eye, the fishtail on the stem is too wide, it's very heavy looking indeed. One of the things I fight on billiards is the stem treatment, and it depends very largely on the diameter of the shank - wider than a 1/2" or so, I won't flare it at all, or if I want to, I might put a little "waste" in the stem, a la Castello. The flare you have here is perfect on a thin shank and in fact visually balances a skinnier pipe back out. Here it just gets to be a bit much and the grace inherent in the shape is a little overshadowed.

Thanks, I get a bit fixated on a certain detail and tend to attempt to carry it on to the bitter end without considering the gestalt.
I do see your point, but I am not going change this one. I will try to take it into account for the next couple of standard shapes in the works.
DocAitch