Carving with handtools only

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MartinH

MartinH

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I am taking my time working on my next piece of briar from Mark Tinsky. BTW, he offers incredible pipe kits. :)

After using the Dremmel, a power disk sander attached to a grinder, I have decided to take the slow and steady route for my next project. Today, I already shaped the stummel a little with the coarsed wood rasp I could find, and I have to say, I'm amazed at how much control it gives me. When using power tools, I always felt that I was kind of "working in the dark" because I really couldn't tell how much wood the machines was taking off. Now, with the rasps, I can see, bit-by-bit what I'm removing and how things are turning out.

I also made some detailed and full-sized measured drawings, which I think will help.

Whenever I get it done, which might take me months, I'll post it here.

Martin
 
I had a lot of trouble using the belt sanders. I screwed up more than one by taking off too much material. Almost need to build a jig to hold the pipe square when filing though. Speaking of hand tools for carving. I watched Alex Florov use an X-Acto knife to do most of the carving on one. He likes the #11 blade. He has an amazing touch with that knife.
 
I made my first from a kit using files and sandpaper. Took about 40 hours. Before i started I was scared to mess that kit up, but like you said, you have a great sense of control with the files/rasps. I turned out a decent pipe that way, and pipe making avalanched on my from there (In a good way).

Have fun!
 
on my newest ones, all wood nosewarmers, start off with saw, then knife, moving to rasp and sandpaper soon. I use a drill press for drilling though
 
Martin,
Could you post pics of the tools you are using? I have been interested in making my own pipes for some time now.

Thanks!
 
One carver told me that tools just make the job go faster, not necessarily more precise or "correct." Good luck with the hand-tools-only... heck my first pipe was all "off the grid," and it turned out okay. 8) A bit more, time, blood, blisters and cursing than is good for a man, but all in all... :lol:
 
Hey Everyone,

Well, I'm on my fourth/fifth, heck I don't know, I'm on my next pipe. What I've learned from this process is to, as someone said previously, take it slow. The tools really only make a difference with the speed at which you work.

The latest piece is also my first piece of plateaux, and I have to say that the grain is simply amazing. I got really lucky with it, as the flame grain is at the very front of the pipe bowl. The pipe is in still in very much in it's rough form, but so far I'm mostly happy with it. Emphasis, on "mostly."

As for the tools I use, it's just use tools I've cobbled together as I really don't have any money to throw at this, beyond the purchase of briar and the occasional craiglist tool. I did purchase a power tool at Harbor Freight Tools, and as I thought, they are fairly inferior. I found good deals on rasps and sand paper, and they even have jeweler's buffing compound!

But, beyond the hand tools, a set of carving knives which I'm struggling with, and a wheel-grinder, I use a dremel on occasion. I'm scared by the dremel now, because it is too powerful, and the "screw up" factor is extreme, at least for me. It is so high-speed that I have very little control over the tool when I apply it to the briar.

The tool I use the most, at least to help me rough out the shape, is the wheel-grinder. I removed the grinding wheels, and use it as a sander and buffer. I bought some buffing disks to attach, and it does a fantastic job of removing large amounts of excess wood.

When I started this thread, I really had intended to only to use hand rasps, hand saws and sandpaper. However, as I got into the briar, it was incredibly difficult and time consuming to begin trimming the wood this way. I decided to go back on my decision and use the wheel-grinder (with sanding attachment) to round the edges. When I first started I made the mistake of using the wheel sander to actually try and give the briar it's finaly shape. Big mistake. This made every pipe a screw up. Mostly, I ended up making the bowls too thin, and the two pipes I still have left from these initial experiments, can't be smoked, because they get almost dangerously hot. One even burned through the wall and scorched my finger. That pipe is now just sitting there, or what's left of it, and looking at me mockingly.

I decided to work on the final shaping using the roughest file I have. The rasp is so coarse that it can actually scratch the wood so deeply that it leaves large gouges. It is still fairly easy to be imprecise and errors in carving, but they seem to lesson as I do more things by hand. But I seem to get easily impatient, as the work can be tiring. Now I take plenty of libations to the shop, so I have the chance to relax and take a break.

I also take a good amount of time between carving sessions, just to sit and study what I've accomplished thus far. I have to say that I really don't know what I'm doing, and I've love to see some videos from actual, skilled pipe makers.

At any rate, that's all I have so far.
 
Remember, there's no such thing as a completely handmade pipe (no machines used) as there's no such thing as a completely machine made pipe (no hand work involved). Each one uses a bit of both !

Good luck with your pipe !
 
MartinH":ewuctcwm said:
I have to say that I really don't know what I'm doing, and I've love to see some videos from actual, skilled pipe makers.
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Fun, isn't it? :D

What exactly are you wanting to see in videos? I know of quite a few, but if I knew what you wanted I could aim you more accurately. (IOW, if you want videos with any type of equipment used, or ones with lathes, or ones with no lathe, or ones with just a Dremel.)

 
I have never made a pipe, but have made lots of other woodworking projects until I retired. I believe a small, very sharp hand plane would be useful for pipe making. The secret to making a plane work for you is sharpness. If the cutter is sharp enough to shave the hair on your arm it is almost sharp enough. A plane also limits the amount of wood you can remove in one pass.
Stan
 
What hand tools are you using for this project, Martin?

I ask because I've been giving a lot of thought to getting a kit and working slow and steady by hand. I've actually been giving this more and more thought lately, but don't really know what I'm in for. I have no power tools to work with (unless an electric hedge trimmer or a chainsaw would come in handy), but have plenty of hand tools at my disposal. The idea of taking a lot of time to work on one pipe is incredibly appealing to me...if nothing else, it gives me something to tinker with and a perfect excuse to retreat to the smoking room!
 
idbowman":luyg2zmc said:
What hand tools are you using for this project, Martin?

I ask because I've been giving a lot of thought to getting a kit and working slow and steady by hand. I've actually been giving this more and more thought lately, but don't really know what I'm in for. I have no power tools to work with (unless an electric hedge trimmer or a chainsaw would come in handy), but have plenty of hand tools at my disposal. The idea of taking a lot of time to work on one pipe is incredibly appealing to me...if nothing else, it gives me something to tinker with and a perfect excuse to retreat to the smoking room!
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Hey - I have been thinking of posting some pics of my make-shift shop. :) I have a cheap coping saw which I use to cut the block a little. I basically, very roughly, outline the shank of the briar. The area of the bowl will stay completely as it is. (You can get a coping saw for like $5)

The tool I still use mostly for roughing in the basic shape, is a converted grinder. I bought the grinder off Craigslist for $20 bucks, but Harborfreight tools has them for about $40 bucks or so, if I'm correct. I took the grinding stones off the machine and cut off all the metal that was there to protect you from grinding debris. It just gets in the way. All I have now is the motor with the metal stud or screw protruding on the sides. I've attached a flat sanding disk and then put 80grit sandpaper on the disk. It works quick, sometimes too quick.

While doing this the first couple of times, my poor shop turned into Tatooine. Needless to say, I took an old diaper box we had laying around, and a crap load of duct tape and create a contraption to fit around the grinder housing. This allows me to stick my shop vac in the back of it to vaccum up the sand dust, and I have enough room in front to see what I'm doing. When I start shaping the briar I go slow, as slow as I can. Sometimes it gets frustrating because it's hard to keep everything proportional, especially the bowl.

I also purchased, only recently, some calipers http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/specialty-measuring/6-piece-technical-measuring-set-94447.html

I use these to help me stay on target as I'm sanding with the grinder.

After I have my 2nd stage rough shape, I use the rasps.

http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/files/12-piece-file-and-rasp-set-97070.html

I then spent a lot of elbow grease getting the thing in it's final shape. A method I used eventually, was to place the rasp tip on the table. However, between the table and the raps I had an old towel. This kept the vibration and noise down. I then moved the briar across the rasp, as little or as much as I thought it needed.

Once I had all of this done, the final shape was almost complete. However, I now needed to use something else to bring the shape even on all sides of the pipe, especially the bowl.


My newest discovery this time around, was using a palm sander. For christmas I received a $30 palm sander, also from Harborfreight tools (man I'm sounding like a friggin commercial for that outfit)

http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/sanders/5-inch-random-orbital-palm-sander-93431.html

When I first started on my pipe making experiment, I went out and bought the cheapest, attachable vise. The vise is screwed into one of my workshop tables. I then secured the palm sander, upside down, and used the 100 grit sand paper to give the pipe it's first smooth sanding. It was really easy, and gentle to remove any gouges I made with the rasps.

I moved the briar across the sander, using as little or much force as I thought best. I inspected the briar dozens upon dozens of times, just to see how it was going. I used the calipers to try and figure out if I was doing an even job. I suck at using the calipers, and will need to learn more there.

However, after I ran the entire thing through the 100 and 120 grit on the palm sander, it began looking really nice.

That's where I am now. The next step is to gently re-sand it with 150 or 200 grit sand paper, get it completely smooth with not rough or jagged edges, and then work by hand to sand it with 500.

Then I will stain the thing.

After that I will change out the sanding wheel on the grinder, and mount the buffing wheel. I have the Pimo buffing wheels and they are amazing. My plan of attack is to use the tripoli I have, then 1200 high gloss compound, and finally the carnuba wax.

I will try to make some sort of pictorial at some point, if that would help.

Martin
 
jogilli":31w6vquf said:
The best videos on the net are Tylers.. Kurt Huhns.. and several located here http://www.alpascia.com/galleries.asp?list=14274 as it shows many many many examples

james
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Thanks for the videos. I'll check them out! What I really need, is for someone to show me how to properly plan-out and draw a pipe. I have no idea what I'm doing at the initial stages. :)

 
MartinH":h8y42t2j said:
While doing this the first couple of times, my poor shop turned into Tatooine. Needless to say, I took an old diaper box we had laying around, and a crap load of duct tape and create a contraption to fit around the grinder housing. This allows me to stick my shop vac in the back of it to vaccum up the sand dust, and I have enough room in front to see what I'm doing.
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Brilliant.

Also,
MartinH":h8y42t2j said:
I will try to make some sort of pictorial at some point, if that would help.
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Yes, please!



The whole thing sounds like great fun (trying at times, I'm sure). If I were to follow your plan of attack, I'm pretty sure I have everything on hand until it comes time to stain and polish. I may end up scratching this itch sooner than I'd thought!
 
Oh, in terms of stains, and sanding, I'd recommend the following. The folks over at Pimo are great, and they have a great little book.

http://www.pimopipecraft.com/

I bought my first kit there, as well as my first lot of sandpaper and stain. The stain comes in a little envelope and you have to mix it with denatured alcohol, which is one other things you'll need to pick up anyway.

I'd give them a shot, just to see if you like this pipe making thing. You can buy everything you need for relatively cheap, including your tripoli and carnuba. I still have some of that left, and it lasted for four pipes. The stain didn't. It's only a little, but very, very cheap.

I then went to Pipe Makers Emporium, and purchased sandpaper, carnuba wax, tripoli, and high gloss polish in bulk, aka. enough to last me the rest of my life, I think. But the coolest thing they have is premixed, liquid stain! :)



http://www.pipemakers.org/finishing_products.html

If you get these couple of things from them, you'll be set.

As for the briar blocks, I found the first one I bought over at Pimo excellent. I can't really explain it, but I really love Mark Tinsky's briars now. I think it really just boils down to the luck I've had with them. Also, he always selects great lucite stems, and his large blocks, are huge! Also, I just love his pipes, so I guess I'm hoping a little something will rub off on my. Mark Tinsky's site is www.amsmoke.com

Best of luck! It will be a while before I'm really able to put together a pictorial as I only have limited time to carve, but as I get time, I will.

Later!
 
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