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Taking advice from the group I've attempted a billiard. It is patterned after a Savinelli 128. This is my first ever stem from scratch. Sorry that the photos are not great. Criticism of any type welcomed and needed. (The marks on the slot are not scratches or tool marks but lint from a pipe cleaner....

The British were not the only ones making crappy cars in the late 70's. Almost everyone was.

George

LL, I meant stem, not shank.

What do you cut the threads in the shank with? I have a tap and die set and considered making a threaded deer horn shank extension just for kicks.....but over tighten something like that once and the shank is toast.

For a hobby this has been pretty inexpensive for me. Compared to photography/printing or sports car track days it is downright cheap. And for now i want to keep it that way. And I want to keep it fun. If I can keep it fun and relatively cheap and continue to improve I'll stick with it. With a number...

Rationalizing: Most of the tooling I've bought I can use for other stuff......except for the tenon cutter. I'm probably in for over $500 already including tools and materials. I've made about 10 briar pipes in two months. But I guess the thing is that I'm still having fun so far. And I'm enjoying a ...

That would be so much fun to turkey hunt with. The silver metal would stand out but even blued metal shines. My dedicated turkey gun is bead blasted with a dull finish. The choke tubes are cool. Would be interesting to see how it patterns a load of #2s at 30 yards with the full choke. I bet you have...

I have a related question on this topic. I have purchased some sheet vulcanite to make spacer rings for a ring of different wood from briar on a briar shank. In other words it would be briar shank-to-vulcanite spacer-to-alternate wood and stem would plug into alternate wood on the end of the shank. ...

LL, great videos. The problem is, you're correct, those carving bits are hard to find. But I did find them here: http://www.sugarpinewoodcarving.com/index.php/cPath/51_1804_2804 Ouch! $20 for a 1/16 bit. I might have to fail a few times doing it other ways before I buy one.....but it doesn't take bu...

The original Gorilla glue does expand and will even push apart things that are not clamped. As per the instructions you wet one surface, apply glue and clamp. I find Gorilla glue to be exceptionally strong with quite a few materials including wood. But if you can't clamp adequately it is a no go. It...

I see in videos some pipe makers starting the slot with a Dremel type cut-off wheel. Anyone do this and if so, what diameter wheel do you use?

Wayne, what size/number of teeth on the jigsaw blade tool? As fine as you can get I guess?

George

Does epoxy, like T-88, expand as it cures?

Thanks guys. Trying to keep it under $45 so may go for the first one but I do think a smooth would be better for copying as Kurt mentioned above.

George

I don't care for billiards pipes and I don't really want to make billiards pipes but I understand the collective wisdom of doing so. I've got some medium sized inexpensive grade 3 briar blocks in the mff shape and I'm planning on making some billiards as part of the learning process. I've only made ...

What's happening? It's a subconscious process similar to confirmation bias. Your eyes are tired, your hands are tired, you're eager to be finished for both $ reasons and to feel that magic of accomplishment sensation... You nailed it. I've noticed, and even my wife has noticed, that when I think I'...

Thanks, good info. I recently got access to a sand blaster so that is now an option other than rustication if I get an imperfect block. Will likely order a few blocks and see what I get.

George

[ For that I actually have a 12ga frontstuffer! :) I should post pics of that one too. It's similar to this one, but the barrel is left in the white with a satin polish, and all the hardware is nickel or nickel plated. It's a life altering experience when it touches off! :shock: Would love to see i...

Agreed. I have never understood the idea of "primitive" hunting using primitive designs with hundreds if not thousands of dollars of space age technology applied to them. Seems to defeat the point. Not moralizing. To each his own. But after many years of hunting and many deer and hogs kill...

I should have caught that and corrected it while I was still working on it. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures before I began the rustication while the stummel was still more or less smooth. Apologies for the hijack, and I'd be glad to start a new thread if need be, but this brings up a poin...

Is there anything about the Grecian briar that makes it less desirable and less expensive or is VF’s Makis just less expensive because it is ungraded and more of a crap shoot?