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Pipe Shape Preference

OutdoorsSmoke_21191OutdoorsSmoke_21191 Posts: 2,778 ✭✭✭✭✭
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Don’t ask me why, but I have become obsessed with the acorn and egg shapes, what parameters constitutes each shape and the overlapping design overtures. Leaning more to an acorn hawkbill, rusticated and lightly sandblasted.

It’s amazing how what I thought (shape, feel, weight, texture, dimensions, coloration, innuendo, etc) I would enjoy in a pipe has changed drastically from where I started. Being a woodworker I was drawn to big freehand shapes. Cool looking but heavy and large bowls. Yes they have their place in the pipe universe.

Then I was drawn to pokers, Canadian and lovat shapes. Still drawn to poker style. Then I bought a big round bodied pipe and that changed everything. I loved the simple roundness of the poker but it felt insufficiently robust. Now I looked for bigger, fatter bodied pipes.

Thus, ushered in the Rhodesians and bulldogs. This is when I began my affair with rusticating, sandblasts and subtle nuances to how the pipe felt in my hand. I’m not a clencher so overall weight isn’t high on my radar. I will do my best to explain ’feel’.

So with the big round bodies, the Rhodesian’s and bulldogs, they all have there largest radius near the middle of the body and slight tapers in both directions from there. I tend to enjoy my middle finger at the largest portion with my ring finger and pinky below. Sometimes my index is involved sometimes not. Thumb is there to lightly support the opposite radius

This feeling I described is where I began to notice the shape of the acorn and egg. I began to visualize how that shape would feel in my preferred smoking hand position. Then I imagine it definitely is incorporated into hawkbill design. A must! Not sure if I want hawkbill originating directly from the bottom of acorn or just a little north to expose the bottom nub of the acorn????

There is a still a lot more design to figure out before I finally commission this pipe. I’ve found a couple designs that have come close to my desired vision. However, extremely expensive (four figures!!) and way more than I would spend. I did find one in the $250 range that I may entertain to draw inspiration for the future commission.

If you’ve read this far, thanks for obliging my ramblings. Lastly, if you have commission pipe maker suggestions, I’m all ears.

A good cigar and whiskey solve most problems.

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