Billiard profile reference photos

[LatakiaLover]

For anyone who might be looking for a classic pattern to work with.

The shots were taken w/120mm lens, so there's vanishingly little "wrap around" or "barrel" type distortion happening.

The pipe's only deviation from dead-classic is arguably the shank has a smidge more taper than it should. (i.e. it's acceptable, but at the limit of the range of what's considered acceptable.)

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[brownleafbeardsman]

Thank you, LatakiaLover! This is just what I needed. I have never purchased a classic billiard, as before I wasn't aware of what made "classic". Now that I've received a lot of critiques, I know what I'm looking for. I see side by side what I could've done better. The biggest thing I see is the chin of the pipe as it transitions from bottom of bowl, to front of bowl. Mine is a bit heavy. Thanks!

[Sasquatch]

Technically, super well done on the harder parts, shank to bowl transition is tight but relaxed, cheeks are defined but not overly so. Agree that the shank is a little more tapered and just a hair longer than usual.

The only iffy spot for me is the flattened back and front of the bowl, that curve is not carried very well.

Philosophically, it's everything you want to see in a billiard - it looks solid but not heavy, there's no extra meat hanging off, the lines are tight. It runs just right visually - long enough to not be stubby at all, enough chin taken away so as to present elegantly up front.

[LatakiaLover]

The only iffy spot for me is the flattened back and front of the bowl, that curve is not carried very well.

Agreed.

So I found a morer gooder one.

New guys: technically it's a Lovat, not a billiard, but disregard shank length and the two shapes are the same.

Again, everything was set up as "square" as possible (you can even see the rim's carbon build-up in profile), and with a focal length long enough to "flatten" the image (no pincushion or barrel distortion).

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[wdteipen]

I would say both are nice examples of a Danish style billiard. English style billiards tend to be less rounded with subtly less taper to the rim whereas Danish billiards tend to look a touch more egg-shaped.

[LatakiaLover]

I would say both are nice examples of a Danish style billiard. English style billiards tend to be less rounded with subtly less taper to the rim whereas Danish billiards tend to look a touch more egg-shaped.

The first one is a Barling, and the second is a Dunhill.

[wdteipen]

I would say both are nice examples of a Danish style billiard. English style billiards tend to be less rounded with subtly less taper to the rim whereas Danish billiards tend to look a touch more egg-shaped.

The first one is a Barling, and the second is a Dunhill.

Well what the hell do Dunhill and Barling know about English versus Danish billiards.

[Sasquatch]

Dear Wayne, go home, you're drunk.

Danish billiards almost always have a low center of gravity and straighter walls, in fact I absolutely hate them, they represent a bunch of things I find absolutely critical in billiard shaping, a lightness, and upward lilt, a masculine aggression, by having them missing.

https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/ ... _id=382732 For example.

[Sasquatch]

And the truth is, these are all French shapes in the first place, out of the factories in St Claude etc.

[wdteipen]

Dear Wayne, go home, you're drunk.

Danish billiards almost always have a low center of gravity and straighter walls, in fact I absolutely hate them, they represent a bunch of things I find absolutely critical in billiard shaping, a lightness, and upward lilt, a masculine aggression, by having them missing.

https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/ ... _id=382732 For example.

May be but if you put a different stem on that pipe and you have a damn sexy billiard if you ask me.

[wdteipen]

And it looks eggy to me.

[wdteipen]

English:


Danish:


English:


Danish:

[LatakiaLover]

Those are recent production "English" output. (gag, gak, sputter, choke)

The ones I posted were made in the 1950's, when pipes were still pipes and PROPER LINE was still paid attention to. (Though how they could see it after driving on the wrong side of the road all day is a mystery).

As for the Danes, they still ride windmills. (Or is that Holland? Finland? Doesn't matter... it's all the same up there.)

[Sasquatch]

And this isn't a "personal preference" thing in terms of what LL and I are getting at - it's personal preference if you build a billiard a certain way, or like a pipe of a certain set of proportions.

But when you are talking about "classic" or "English" billiards, go back to the "real deal" examples, and you see a perfection that is lacking in even the modern versions of those (eg a new dunhill often enough).







You might have seen Rich Esserman's quick mention of this set of BBB billiards in June's NASPC:





Well, I own those pipes.

They are in no way bottom heavy.




So Dunhill, Barling, and BBB, presenting for the prosecution.

[wdteipen]

Those are recent production "English" output. (gag, gak, sputter, choke)

The ones I posted were made in the 1950's, when pipes were still pipes and PROPER LINE was still paid attention to. (Though how they could see it after driving on the wrong side of the road all day is a mystery).

As for the Danes, they still ride windmills. (Or is that Holland? Finland? Doesn't matter... it's all the same up there.)

No fair referencing pipes from the Jurassic period when you were born, George!

[LatakiaLover]