Beautiful pipe, though not a swans neck. The angle of the shank is too acute and not enough curve.
Terrific blast!
Swan Neck/ LC shape
- Thread starter Sankt Pöltener
- Start date
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Terrific blast!
I feel the same. This pipe was Bruce Weaver’s interpretation of an LC. Given the title of the thread I thought it was fair game to include.
Let's just identify what makes the "swan neck" on a pipe. It's not the stem so much as the shank. Go back to the early LC and similar pipes, what we see is a lot of curve in the shank, much more than a typical bent billiard (which is essentially a straigh-line shank at an angle).
Here's two pipes on the bench, (one stem not bent yet) from years ago, but the top pipe has a much straighter shank, the bottom pipe much more curve, more "swan neck", even though they are approximately the same angle, a 1/2 bent pipe.
If you build this thing chubbier but carry the curve, you get into a "Peterson" esque aesthetic. They have a lot of heavy shanks, and a lot of nicely curved shapes (like the Professor).
If you go the other way and make it as thin as possible (to the point of needing curved drilling perhaps, as those old French pipes did have pretty often), you get the true elegance of the LC shape proper.
Here's two pipes on the bench, (one stem not bent yet) from years ago, but the top pipe has a much straighter shank, the bottom pipe much more curve, more "swan neck", even though they are approximately the same angle, a 1/2 bent pipe.
If you build this thing chubbier but carry the curve, you get into a "Peterson" esque aesthetic. They have a lot of heavy shanks, and a lot of nicely curved shapes (like the Professor).
If you go the other way and make it as thin as possible (to the point of needing curved drilling perhaps, as those old French pipes did have pretty often), you get the true elegance of the LC shape proper.
And that pipe is right at the limit of a curved shank and a straight airway.
Right before he died, Shin-Ichi Kuwahara made a gorgeous one:
You'll see very few attempts better than this.
Right before he died, Shin-Ichi Kuwahara made a gorgeous one:
You'll see very few attempts better than this.
Here was my first attempt at the Swan.
One of my very favorite pipes, and one that nails the shape to my eye:
I'm not a doctor, but if you have something nailed to your eye.... that can't be good.
Nope, I made that one.
Gustavo (Martelo Pipes) makes lots of swans too, one of the only other guys who has taken a serious run at the shape, but he generally uses a thicker shank web (where the shank hits the bowl). So his pipes have a slightly different vibe, a little more "modern" or something.
Gustavo (Martelo Pipes) makes lots of swans too, one of the only other guys who has taken a serious run at the shape, but he generally uses a thicker shank web (where the shank hits the bowl). So his pipes have a slightly different vibe, a little more "modern" or something.
One of the design elements in a swans neck that I love is the appearance that the bowl is perched at the end of the “S” curve formed by the shank and stem, a frozen moment of balance.
Awesome! Great work man. Looked at your website a few times. You have the customary hallmark of a great pipe maker…..nothing available. Hahaha.
LOL yeah I guess in a way that's true. I think the last few years a lot of guys have been buying more pipes again, stuck at home doing nothing. There's always a lineup of buyers and tire kickers, instagram and platforms like that allow a real direct customer-over-your-shoulder sort of business model. If you post a picture of a half done pipe you get 3 emails about it. Just a few years back a lot of pipe makers were having much thinner margins - people were hoarding tobacco like crazy and buying less in the way of pipes. So it's nice to see the market come back.
Yup, like an egg carried on a ladle.
Indeed. Speaking of pipe makers taking a stab at the swan, in addition to Gustavo, IRRC Michael Parks has made a few that caught my eye from time to time. His protege Nate Rose (rosepipes) has a fondness for the shape and has been playing around with it for a while as well.
Not the best photo, but if we're showing off swan necks, I think this Pietenpauw is pretty good.
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Thought I remembered something like this - he did a pretty cool comparison with a Dunhill: Icon LC-120 – Pietenpauw - http://pietenpauw.co.za/product/icon-lc-120/
