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Since Cornell and Diehl's finished products are so good, I wouldn't hesitate a moment to buy their blending tobaccos in bulk. One of the things that I *love* about their tobaccos is that they don't come goopy and moist. I like my tobacco on the dry side, and some tobaccos are just way to wet for my ...

Jeff, Most people who buy a PIMO tool use it until it falls apart. For that reason alone, I would suggest staying away from a used one. Save your pennies for a couple months so that you can afford a new one. As Tyler mentioned, the tool is difficult to use to begin with. A worn tool would be pretty ...

Jeff, I get all my briar from JH Lowe. No good reason, I just happen to like Tim, and he's only about 30 miles from me. Like Tyler, I've found that some briar can be very hit-or-miss even when coming from the same country and supplier. It's not something that can be easily controlled - briar is a pr...

I assume that you could put wax on top of a shellac finish, but I don't think it would gain you anything. The shellac is very smooth and shiny. I don't think a coat of shellac on top of carnuba would work - I'm pretty sure that'd fail pretty soon after application - if not during. So what is the gen...

Jeff, You can use a technique that I use after I use my PIMO tool to get the stems "pretty close". The drawback to the PIMO tenon turner is that it's not indexable - you can't ever adjust it to exactly any given diameter at any point with any hope of repeatability. Tim West (jhlowe.com) se...

Wow. That's very interesting, and...unexpected. Thanks, Tyler!

Kurt

Well, I went to Lowes and Sears, and didn't find a foam-covered backing plate for drills. However, I did find a 7" foam (neoprene, actually) covered backing plate for random orbit sanders. I was -><- this close to buying it until I realized it didn't have an adapter in the box for drill use. Ot...

Stephen,

I don't know why I hadn't thought of that. Keep us posted. This sounds like a good idea for carved and rusticated finishes.

I have a MultiTool attached to a Jet bench grinder: http://www.multitool-usa.com/Item/MT362P8J.htm It didn't cost me anywhere near that price, so don't fall down yet. :) I originally bought it when I though I was going to go into knifemaking. Well, it turns out I kinda suck at knifemaking. The shop ...

Ben, I have a handful of tools that are I find absolutely necessary for stummel work: - belt sander - drill press - hand files - sandpaper - Fuller counterbore on a 5/16" bit - PIMO tennon turner - rounded spade bits (for boring tobacco holes) You can get around a lot of that by going with alte...

Hi Tyler! Great website you've got here. I recently redid my website as well, and considered adding a forum like this - but I think it might be redundant at this point. :) I'm very curious about oil curing, and looking for more info. Unfortunately, it's one of those things that are a closely guarded...

Here's something I haven't been able to find a good answer to: How are rusticated finishes made so shiny? Every time I do a rusticated pipe, I rub a puck of carnuba directly onto the surface of the pipe, then a heat gun to melt the carnuba and spread it out over the surface. It's "okay", b...

I'll second the Guidici stems. They're really substantial, and you can signicifantly modify they're shape. I'm currently looking for good rod, both vulcanite and acrylic. I have a line on plain black acrylic (as well as a number of different colors), and I believe Tim West carries vulcanite rod - bu...

On the back cover of the current issue of Pipes and Tobaccos, there's an ad from RD Field for Radice Pipes. In one corner they show a bunch of stummels sitting in what appears to be a plastic tub of oil. The funny thing is, they look like finished stummels, maybe only needing buffed. I always figure...