What's needed to begin pipe making?

[friar_jay]

I'm interested in trying my hand at pipe making. That said, you that are pipe makers what essentials are necessary to get started?

 

[BigCasino]

well right now I have a 10" bench top drill press, it is small but most blocks can be drilled on it, altho I cant use the table that is attached when drilling the airway, then I have a 4inch wide table top belt sander and a 1" wide belt sander I rough in the stummel and shank with, and then it is rasps and files and sand paper the rest of the way, I have a wood lathe which I don't have a proper chuck or rest to use, and I have a 9" x 19" metal lathe I use to work on stems but you can do stems with a belt sander and files too or even just a file

Someday I hope to get the proper tooling to be able to turn the briar on my lathe, but just don't have the extra cash right now to afford it

 

[Ocelot55]

All you need is a pre-drilled kit, some rasps, and some sandpaper.

A lot of guys rush out and buy everything but the kitchen sink thinking they're going to be the next Rad Davis only to give up after their attention span runs out or they realize how hard it is to excel.

Start off slow. I made 5 kits before I bought a drill press, and then I used that drill press for a year before seriously considering getting a lathe.

 

[JParker]

I have a Dremel , a corded drill ( doubles as a buffer and various other functions ), a belt/disk sander combo, and a scroll saw. I'm slowly acquiring more tools but setting up a shop is pretty expensive. Until recently I did all my work on the steps of my back porch. With all the heat and rain and other variables I decided to clean out the small storage room in the car port and now I have a work closet lol. Its too small to call a shop.

 

[the rev]

it is literally impossible to make a pipe without a precision matthews 11x27 metal lathe, and 3,000 dollars worth of lathe accessories, three variable speed motors, a buffing system, a drill press, a band saw, a 3 hp dust collection unit custom files and chisels and stuff



or maybe what those guys said

rev

in my opinion make at least six pipes from kits

 

[jogilli]

agreed.. but I started with a drill press and one modified dual bench grinder (buffing and sanding) as I didn't want to work off of predrilled kits...

Make sure you really want to do it... it takes a while to get good at it... jump over to pipemakersforum and start reading...and reading and reading... tyler's videos on youtube are a great place to start as are Trevor Talbots old blog posts... and if I didn't already mention it.. read read read to get an understanding of what you actually want to do first

the drill press can do it all.. lay it on its side and its a sanding/buffing machine


james

 

[JParker]

I found my first pipe kit in the back yard. :lol:

 

[Briar Spirit]

As suggested, buy kits to start with, you'll need as good a small handsaw as you can afford to cut away the bulk of the Briar you need removing, the saw you will find invaluable over a very short period of time, a bench vice bolted to a work surface to hold the Briar safely during sawing, at least a 6" half round rasp, a 6" Bastard Cut half round file and a 6" 2nd cut flat file, you'll also need sand paper, I would recommend a multi pack of differing grades of wet and dry to get you started. Until you can afford to buy a buffer of any sort I recommend using Renaissance Micro Crystalline Wax to finish the pipes off, use it very sparingly, too much will give a very bad finish.

 

[Wayne_Teipen]

I made my first pipe from a pre-drilled kit with a Dremel, rasps, Nicholson files, chainsaw file, and sandpaper. It wasn't very good but it's a good place to start to see if you have what it takes and/or enjoy the process.

To speed up shaping, a cheap disk sander will work. I stripped down a Delta belt/disk sander combo. I still use it but modified it by stripping all the frame off, adding an arbor from Kurt Huhn, and using different hook and loop disks. The minimum you will want to drill your own blocks is a floor model drill press, modified spade bits for drilling the chamber, long 5/32" (or whatever size you want your airway), and a drill press vice. Milling vises are even better. You'll also need tools to turn tenons which can be done on a drill press with some ingenuity and the right tools. You can do some drilling with a benchtop drill press but you will find out it's limitations very quickly. You can also use a regular drill clamped down in a vise or homemade device too but you'll likely get pretty frustrated with the difficulty and poor results.

Or, you can skip a lot of frustration and buy a lathe from the start.

 

[Growley]

I found my first pipe kit in the back yard. :lol:

Man, if you're smoking that thing do yourself a favor and check the toxicity of the wood! Briar wood is use for a lot of good reasons, one of which is that it won't inherently poison you with it's own toxins.

...Just lookin' out for ya  

 

[Growley]

These guys have already given you the advice I'd offer. I didn't start with a kit. I started with a block of briar, a drill bit, some saws, sand paper and a stem I got from another pipe. And my first pipe pretty much sucked, but it smoked!

If you get into it, get over to pipemakersforum and you'll pick up all kinds of tips. Beware, it will suck you in if you have any success at all with your first one! :twisted: 

Good luck!

 

[dshpipes]

All these guys are spot on. I made my first pipe from an undrilled block using a rasp & file, a dremel to cut the chamber and mortise, and I borrowed a hand drill to turn the tenon on a pre-form stem.

 

[friar_jay]

Thanks for all the advice! I really appreciate it.  

 

[JParker]

The log pipe was just goofing around I pretty much stick to briar, cherry, osage orange, and the occasional black walnut.