Making my First Pipe

[dshpipes]

I'm being overly ambitious and making a pipe completely from scratch, all by hand. I purchased six blocks of Tassili Mini from Pipe Maker's Emporium 2 years ago and started shaping them.

So far, I've cut the block down to a general shape using a coping saw. Drilling entirely by hand, I managed to connect the airway and the chamber on the first go! There's still a lot of chamber to do and it still needs to be shaped and finished, but I'm having a blast working on it.

The main hindrance is that, learning as I go, I keep running into situations where I need a specific tool to continue. For example, I'm working on the chamber right now, but only having gimlets which measure 2, 3, and 5 mm, it's slow going. What I've done so far is drilled a central hole and an expansion hole, starting each at 2mm and working up to 5. I then bridged the gap between them by using the same gimlets. The gap isn't completely together all the way down right now, but that's ok. My current goal is to get the general size of the chamber laid out before I finish it. However, I now realize in order to finish the chamber, I'm going to need a set of versatile rasps and files.

The video on the left is of the pipe I'm currently working on. As a bonus, the video on the right is of the first pipe that I shaped, but haven't drilled yet. Shaping before drilling on my first rodeo... what was I thinking?!:

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Side note: the second video I find to be hilarious because it looks like I'm drunk or tripping. Unable to grab the pipe, eyes locked somewhere in the distance, completely blank face. For those who don't know, that was the first time I'd made a video with my laptop and was trying really hard to keep the pipe in frame and looking good. Hence my "drunken" behavior.

Also, please forgive the video quality. They're like an ultrasound: the image isn't terribly clear but you get the idea that something beautiful is brewing.

I'll update this thread and add videos as the pipe evolves, but so far so good!

 

[dshpipes]

Whoops!

Any moderators who see this thread, could you please move it to the DIY area? Thanks in advance!

 

[Airborne]

I'm very impressed! Keep us updated on your progress! I'm eager to see the finished product!

 

[Harlock999]

Cool stuff Uber!
And I'm not bagging on you in any way, as I've tried my hand at pipe carving as well, but I keep envisioning a day where the carvers outnumber the smokers... 8)

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Neat! No stem? (enable, push, enable) :lol:

 

[dshpipes]

Actually... drilling out a mortise, shaping a tennon, and making them fit sounds a bit daunting for my first time out. As such, I've decided to make the shank and stem one and the same. One question that I've got burning in my mind right now is how to seal the wood towards the bit so it's safe to put in my mouth, safe from absorbing too much moisture from saliva, and also beautiful. The last thing I'd want is for the bit end to get nasty because I didn't take the initiative to protect it from the outset.

I'm working on getting my account at pipemakersforum.com active, but someone seems to be dragging their feet. Any of the pipe making brothers have a tip or two for me concerning making/finishing a briar stem?

Now the one in the video on the right will definitely need a stem. And to do that, I'm going to need some mentorship. Anyone know a good Chicago area pipe maker who wouldn't mind helping out a pipe making infant?

 

[ZeroContent]

Interesting, most people at the beginning of the game will drill the chamber and mortise and fit a stem before moving on to doing the outside of the pipe. Drilling them post shaping give the advantage of being able to work around flaws first but you run the risk of screwing up the pipe after you put in all your hard work.

 

[tyler]

I'm working on getting my account at pipemakersforum.com active, but someone seems to be dragging their feet.

Give me your username for pipemakersforum.com, and I'll activate it.

 

[dshpipes]

PM sent.

Thanks a lot, tyler! I really appreciate you're hopping in to help me out. :cheers:

 

[Mozjo33]

Great thread Uber! I look forward to seeing some of your finished work.
Thanks again for your help yesterday.
Mo

 

[RDPipes]

Uber, My eye's aren't what they use to be and its hard for me to really be sure of what I see in the first video. Am I right to say that somehow you drilled the air-hole right on through the other side of the bowl on that one?
If so, My condolences, it looked like it was going to be a nice look'en pipe.

 

[dshpipes]

Uber, My eye's aren't what they use to be and its hard for me to really be sure of what I see in the first video. Am I right to say that somehow you drilled the air-hole right on through the other side of the bowl on that one?
If so, My condolences, it looked like it was going to be a nice look'en pipe.

No, actually. Quite the opposite! When I drilled the airway in the shank then drilled the pilot hole for the chamber, I lined them up on the first shot. That pipe is still on its way to being a smoke machine. :cheers:

I do realize how poor the quality of those videos is. I'll try to remember to take some photos of both infants and post them here.

Mozjo, my pleasure! Let me know how things go!

 

[RDPipes]

Oh, I think I figured it out now. That's the top of the bowl the sawdust was blown through. With my poor vision and color blindness it can be hard for me to really see things accurately unless there in person and even then.......

 

[dshpipes]

As promised, albeit a little late, here are some close up photos of the pipes that I'm working on.

Here's the one I'm currently drilling. As you can see, the chamber isn't quite done yet :

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Loving the shape so far!

I dunno, maybe you could go with a really narrow-gauge tobacco chamber, only for the most masterful breath smokers... :lol:

 

[Mozjo33]

Thanks for the pictoral update Uber. It's cool to see your progression. I look forward to the finished product.

 

[dshpipes]

Loving the shape so far!

Thanks, Kyle!

I dunno, maybe you could go with a really narrow-gauge tobacco chamber, only for the most masterful breath smokers... :lol:

I was thinking the same thing... but then I got my initiative back!

Here's a photo update:

It's far from perfect, but it's definitely a pipe now!

With this update I have to admit that the pipe is no longer completely hand made. I had to go to my dremel to actually cut the chamber.

That being said, I did cut the chamber freehand, if that counts for anything. It's got a nice taper to it, but the walls and the shape of the chamber will need further finessing. You'll also notice that the draft hole is a good deal off center. I'm considering taking a lot of the taper out in order to center the draft hole... but we'll see.

More to come as things progress!

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Tapered bowls can make for funky smoking...I have a Nording with a very "V" shaped bowl, and it gets a little hot toward the bottom as the ash starts to compete for air space and all that... I'd shoot for a more evenly-chambered bowl, if you ask me. Granted, all of my carvers have been kits and pre-drilled in that regard.

"Freehand" definitions vary according to some carvers, I've learned, and provided you're using hand tools, and finishing and shaping by hand, you should be fine as far as its "purity." :lol: I think so long as you are doing the work and the tool is just rotating, you're "freehand."

What are you using to drill the chamber? What do you plan to use to drill the air hole and mortise?

 

[dshpipes]

Tapered bowls can make for funky smoking...I have a Nording with a very "V" shaped bowl, and it gets a little hot toward the bottom as the ash starts to compete for air space and all that... I'd shoot for a more evenly-chambered bowl, if you ask me. Granted, all of my carvers have been kits and pre-drilled in that regard.

"Freehand" definitions vary according to some carvers, I've learned, and provided you're using hand tools, and finishing and shaping by had, you should be fine as far as its "purity." :lol: I think so long as you are doing the work and the tool is just rotating, you're "freehand."

Good point! Let's forget I said anything. This pipe is completely hand made!... 8)

What are you using to drill the chamber? What do you plan to use to drill the air hole and mortise?

I cut the chamber by first drilling 3 5mm holes right next to each other. I used gimlets to do this. Then I bridged the holes by... well... by cutting through the walls of each hole with a Gerber. At that point, I could fit the smallest sanding attachment on my Dremel into the infant chamber and used it for everything else up to now.

The airway is already drilled, thank God. I drilled the airway with a 2mm and then a 3mm gimlet. Jury's still out on whether I'm going to add a prefab stem or not. Drilling a mortise and fitting a tenon to it freehand seems a bit daunting. As such, I've been looking into simply carving the stem out of the latter part of the shank and sealing the "stem" end with a black, consumption safe shellac to differentiate. We'll see what happens....

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Normally the drilling is via spoon bit or some other "one-pass" drilling, probably because it'd be easier for cake to build up evenly on an even surface. Plus, later on down the road, reaming will be much easier.

If that's the case, you should be easily able to drill a mortise and add a pre-fab "freehand" type stem--a good set of calipers would be handy in that case, I've heard making the stem's tenon about 0.2mm wider than the mortise (or if it's pre-fab, simply measuring to that end, and drilling 0.2mm less than the tenon's width) and you could have a stunning piece. If your goal is an all-wood pipe, I guess that'd work, just as long as you're happy with it. I tend to be light on the shellac I've used, as I'm not carving top-end pipes, but want to give a little shine to my rusticated finishes. It can bubble and get a little weird under high-heat conditions, and taking a smoke directly off heated wood and a shellac'ed surface may prove... interesting. Just a thought. There's obviously reasons why added lucite/vulcanite stems have been used for so long, and I'm pretty used to this setup, so I will stick with it for my projects.

Again, not criticism, or stepping on your creative idea, but you seem so close to such a neat pipe!