Pipes: A Different Kind of Woodworking

[Bibliophile 13]

I've just started making tobacco pipes again after taking about a year off from it.  Pipes are quite a challenge to make.  For one, they have to be drilled very precisely, but with a good drill press that's actually the easy part.  The briar burl from which good pipes are made can be a challenge to work with.  It's beautiful wood (and it resists burning, hence its being good for pipes), but it's fairly brittle and requires careful sanding to a high grit in order to really bring out the beauty of the wood.  It has to be stained with contrasting colors at several stages of the sanding process to really bring out the contrast of the grain.

Here are a couple of pipes I've made in the last couple weeks.  They're both "churchwarden" pipes (that means a long stem), which have been popular ever since the Lord of the Rings movies came out.  







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And another:






Both these pipes are pretty unconventional in shape, but I enjoy the challenge of making something unique. 

I think that the biggest challenge in pipe making is that it requires really close attention to minute detail.  After sawing out the bulk of the waste, it's mostly rasp-and-file work followed by a lot of sanding.  But one slip of the rasp, and you have to re-think the whole shape.  But the end result is (usually) satisfying.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/23tGrEX]

[chips ahoy]

WOW,those are beautiful.Where do you get the Briar Burl and are they carved and sanded? Also where do you get the stems?

Mel

[Timberwolf]

WOW,those are beautiful.Where do you get the Briar Burl and are they carved and sanded? Also where do you get the stems?

Mel

..............
Here's a pretty good website Mel...I made a briar pipe about 50 yrs ago when I smoked a pipe but my favorite was the Sherlock Holmes style {calabash Gourd} with a Meerschaum bowl..There are several places on the web where you can buy all the needed supplies.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Materials_and_Construction

[chips ahoy]

..............
Here's a pretty good website Mel...I made a briar pipe about 50 yrs ago when I smoked a pipe but my favorite was the Sherlock Holmes style {calabash Gourd} with a Meerschaum bowl..There are several places on the web where you can buy all the needed supplies.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Materials_and_Construction

Thanks Jack,muchly appreciated.

Mel

[badwhiskey]

Really cool.

[atgcpaul]

Very nice. How much does that big one weigh?

So you drill out the long stem and then how do you bend it? It's the same wood for the bowl and stem?

[Bibliophile 13]

WOW,those are beautiful.Where do you get the Briar Burl and are they carved and sanded? Also where do you get the stems?

Mel

Thanks!

I order the burl and the stems from suppliers online.  I get some from a guy named Steve Norse at Vermont Freehand, and others from Mark Tinsky at American Pipe.  Both have really good products.  (If you're thinking of doing one yourself, I'd recommend starting with a pipe kit from one of these guys.  All the really tricky work of boring the holes and fitting the stems has been done.  You just shape, sand, and finish.) 

The shaping is done in stages.  It's not really carving.  I saw out the rough shape, either with handsaws or with the bandsaw.  But the bulk of the shaping is done with rasps and files.  Sanding comes after that.

[chips ahoy]

Thanks!

I order the burl and the stems from suppliers online.  I get some from a guy named Steve Norse at Vermont Freehand, and others from Mark Tinsky at American Pipe.  Both have really good products.  (If you're thinking of doing one yourself, I'd recommend starting with a pipe kit from one of these guys.  All the really tricky work of boring the holes and fitting the stems has been done.  You just shape, sand, and finish.) 

The shaping is done in stages.  It's not really carving.  I saw out the rough shape, either with handsaws or with the bandsaw.  But the bulk of the shaping is done with rasps and files.  Sanding comes after that.

Thanks Steve,appreciate the advice.

Mel

[Bibliophile 13]

Very nice.  How much does that big one weigh?

So you drill out the long stem and then how do you bend it?  It's the same wood for the bowl and stem?

The weight varies, obviously, but they usually run 2-4 oz. 

The stem is already drilled out--thank heaven!  The hard rubber stands up very well, but it's a bit brittle when you start drilling it.  Most pipe makers will drill and shape their own regular stems, but I don't know many people who drill out their own churchwarden stems.  I bend them by applying heat.  A boiling-water bath for about 5 minutes makes them nice and pliable.  Then I bend them against a form and run them under cold water to set the bend.  It's one of the more entertaining parts of pipe making.  Sometimes I have to try two or three times to get the bend exactly right.

[Arlin Eastman]

I should have posted mine as well a year ago.  I got my stems from EBay and they have 6 different styles and also 3 brier's and make 3 corncob pipes as well.

I really enjoyed making all of them and in the corncob I lined it with plaster to help with the heat.

I got 3 long stems like yours and 3 small curved stems and 3 short stems which is how they were sold so I still have some left.

I sold all of them and the corncob were really liked.