Illustrative Bent

5" long, 2" tall, .800" bore and 1.6" stroke. 64g. Handcut Cumberland vulcanite stem. Rusticated with red/black shell finish.
 
This pipe is the companion piece to this week's blog post, The Bends. I don't normally make pipes this deeply bent on spec, but for purposes of illustrating my narrative I ran every parameter to what I perceive as the limit of my (admittedly conservative) pipe design. The mortise is oversized and shortened to permit a sharper drilling angle, which encroaches slightly on both the mortise face and wall. The airway is massaged to pass a pipe cleaner — a regular passes effortlessly, an extra fluffy may take a quarter twist at the bottom. The tenon seats flush to the mortise floor. The angle between airway and bowl is not terribly acute but it's as much as I'll do without instructions, and the bowl is slightly canted forward. 
 
There are more deeply bent pipes out there. Everything could have been done more, but, as the blog post discusses at some length, there is a point beyond which it has to be the customer's idea.
 
As Abraham Lincoln said, "People who like that sort of thing will find it to be exactly the sort of thing they like." I actually quite like it, and maybe someone who has been looking at the endless parade of staight and eighth- and quarter-bent pipes and saying "Meh" will look at this one and say, "Finally."
 
FWIW: I make the buttons on my pipes relatively prominent because I, and some others, like them that way. For some, my buttons are too tall. The good news is, I can easily convert the former button to the latter, it's the work of a moment and I don't mind at all. The reverse, not so much. So, if you like less prominent buttons, let me know, and the pipe will so arrive.