First Bulldog, atrocious pictures

[Ocelot55]

Okay folks, here is my first attempt at a bulldog. I have a love hate relationship with this pipe. I like the basic size and idea but there are a lot of flaws: the shank narrows at the bowl a bit, the hand cut rings (I have no lathe) are not even or evenly spaced, the overall shape of the bowl is too oblong, and there is a lack of flow.

Sorry about the crappy picks (making pipes is my hobby, not photography)









As usual, any critique is welcome. Don't be too hard though, I realize this is far from well proportioned and shaped.

[wdteipen]

Not bad at all for a first attempt at the shape. It's a hard one to get right. Looks like you did a good job on the diamond shank. The bowl shape is a touch off but not bad. The rings could be thinner and tighter. The stem could be thinner towards the button. Nice work.

[Ocelot55]

Not bad at all for a first attempt at the shape. It's a hard one to get right. Looks like you did a good job on the diamond shank. The bowl shape is a touch off but not bad. The rings could be thinner and tighter. The stem could be thinner towards the button. Nice work.

Thanks Wayne. I am really trying to get some practice in on this shape if I plan on entering the PITH trade this year. I'm gonna to try to churn out another one before year's end.

[hawky454]

Looks great to me, other than the stuff you already pointed out. Very nice. That appears to be a difficult shape.

[DMI]

Shaping a bulldog by hand takes a lot of practice, of the three I have done one was ok but it was slighlty stylised.

Apart fom the out of round problem the only thing that jumped out at me was the lump on the top of the stem near the mortice, the transition into the taper is a little harder on the top than bottom.

David