pipemakersforum.com

Hi Tom,
Welcome to the Forum
Over here I am DocAitch
Walt Hettinger

The construction and the materials of your pipe are only two factors in the art of pipe smoking. Smoking a bowl of tobacco involves proper loading, tamping, dumping ashes, and on occasion, using a cleaner to move wet tobacco out of the airway. It also depends on what else you do while smoking-if you...

I have never experienced anything like that. It is even difficult to speculate on what would cause that.
The worst I’ve experienced is a piece of grade I briar that just would not take a contrast stain, but it did take my usual final finish and wax.
Following
DocAitch

Hi Jim,
Welcome to the forum.
There is a wealth of information on this site once you learn how to use the Search function.
Post some pipes in the Gallery when you are ready for a critique.
There are several active pipe makers in the Maryland /Pennsylvania area.
DocAitch

Yes. Please read the sticky in the Gallery Forum. We need larger photos with more detail and better light to really see what you have done here. These photos also should be posted in the Gallery. When this is done, it signals to us that you are ready for a critique. But- you should really consider w...

I use denatured alcohol (DNA) to dilute these leather dyes. The first thinning is usually 1:1 equal volumes dye:alcohol. You can then dilute this mix 1:1 ad infinitum. According to some, using multiple applications of thinned dye allows deeper penetration of the pigment, since the alcohol is the car...

You can also use a compass to mark your bowl. I placed a plug in the chamber for the center pin and used a cheap drafting compass. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/1944/CHKFTf.jpg https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/1930/tdvKmA.jpg The advantage of this system over using a template (washer ...

The airway inside most curved pieces is straight. If you are really skilled, you might drill from both ends and have them meet in the middle, as I suspect some of those really curved pieces of bamboo are drilled. There are drills that drill a curve, but I know noothing about them. Robert Telfer uses...

Welcome to the forum, Matus. (Please correct me if this is not the proper form of address). I see a lot that I like on these thumbnail photos, but they are very limited in depicting your work. If I may suggest, go to the “Gallery” and review the sticky by Premal Chheda about how to present your pipe...

I am a dedicated student and advocate Todd’s take on turbulence and this is probably the most controllable aspect of pipe making for the maker.
I would like to point out that one can produce a perfectly engineered airway in a real pipe turd that will probably “smokes well”.
DocAitch

It may help to break down the billiard shape into it’s geometric components. This approach is very helpful to me, especially in the transition area. The billiard is basically two truncated cones joining a portion of a sphere. I have semi facetiously labeled the area where the upper truncated cone of...

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5950/b7Ww3J.jpg This pipe was made with no lathe work on the stummel, but it was perhaps the 30th pipe I made. The answers that you got above were all corrrect. You make a billiard by taking away the wood that is not a billiard. How you get there depends on yo...

Sickle wrote: ↑Tue Nov 16, 2021 6:41 pm Stem types:
https://images.app.goo.gl/Sybos86UrzNpN1yK9

I was actually mistaken about the definition of a “hybrid stem”.
I was thinking of the metal discs incorporated in the barrel.
George’s suggestion does make an improvement, but I wouldn’t have seen it.
DocAitch

I think this is very nice, and would be hard pressed to suggest any changes, except perhaps a small bevel on the chamber rim (mainly to reduce the possibility of ignition while lighting).
That hybrid stem is sweet and beyond my aspirations.
DocAitch

I may be all wet, and I am not a lathe maven either, but won’t the teeth on the jaws that engage with the scroll be curved?
If that is the case, then I don’t think that they will engage very far on the scroll because they will bind as the scroll becomes tighter (shorter radius).
DocAitch

HI Chris, Welcome. I did a quick answer for your lathe question for your other post. There is no short quick course on lathe operations for pipe making. There is a lot to learn about using a lathe and I suggest looking at a few videos on lathe turning to get a general idea and get started. After tha...

Yep. After that initial break in, its up to you to figure out how to use it. When I got my first lathe, I didn’t realize that I had to move the tailstock to accommodate different length materials, or that the tools had to be shimmed or adjusted to make a decent cut.😀 Look at some You Tube videos on ...

OK I sell a few. They all smoke to the bottom of the chamber. I also don’t drill on a lathe. To be clear, yes - perfect drilling is wonderful and desirable, and I probably hit 80-90% of mine on first try, and I can adjust most of those that I don’t hit perfectly. The rest, I smoke or give away. I ju...

These are the sanding cylinders referred to above. These are aluminum but I have them in oak and rod stock would work, (bearing in mind that I use heat to change the paper as needed). You do not have to epoxy the pilots in. They are double ended with the same grit on both faces. The sandpaper is hel...

George,
Placing the stem and mortise piece in a freezer for a day or two might help in freeing up the stem.
I have never tried that with an acrylic/acrylic situation, but it has worked with disparate materials.
I have no suggestion for the stummel end.
DocAitch