New Pipe Maker wants critique

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JustinH
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New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by JustinH »

****this is a long post, just skip to the "details" if you don't want to read my whole life story***

Just started making pipes a month ago. Through lots of googling, watching youtube videos, reading this forum, and trial and error I have a process that is consistently producing pipes that are functional and that I like. Since I spent so much of the last month gleaning information from these forums I thought I would finally join and post my process (and pics soon) to share and also take further critique from the community here in an effort to always be improving and refining my skills. My pipes are not "traditional" and specifically designed for their balance of ease to make (about 2-3 hours) and their functionality, but I think they have some ascetic appeal as well.

Introduction/History: Here is a little about me, feel free to skip this section and get right to the details below.
I'm a 30 year nurse, living in the northwest, before I started working in healthcare I worked in various construction fields particularly carpentry for a contractor who was a fine-woodworker as a hobby who helped inspire my life-long love of woodworking. I first started smoking cigars in my 20s at poker-nights and smoked my first pipe in Malawi in 2006 when I spotted a hand carved pipe from Ebony in one of their street markets. It was all wood, and hard as hell, but the carving and detail was beautiful. I was also impressed that it had been made without the use of power tools (and probably without traditional tools either, they'll using anything they can get their hands on, like nails, to carve with). As my first pipe it was sentimental and functional, and got me thinking about carving my own. Each subsequent trip back to Malawi I've brought back a different hand-carved pipe, including a gargantuan "gandalf" pipe I asked to be made special (only 10,000 kwatcha!).

About a 2 years ago I bought some exotic hardwood cutoffs that were in an unmarked pile in the back corner of a hardware store and tried my hand at hand-carving a pipe. Over the 2 years I produced 2 pipes that were functional but ugly as hell. One was made out of rosewood and the other out of maple. I basically carved them both with a coping saw, rasps, chisels, and drill (only power tool). In both cases i lacked the patience to really refine the shapes or do any sort of reasonable finishing work on them, so they turned out bulky and unfinished. I had enjoyed the process, but came to the conclusion that pipe making wasn't for me.

Then about a month ago I bought a shopsmith off craigslist, something I had wanted for a long time and finally justified the expense by showing my bride youtube videos of all the "cool stuff" you can make on a lathe. And since my shop is pretty small the multi-function aspects of the shopsmith work well for the space. While researching potential projects on youtube I came across a couple videos of pipes being made on the lathe. Which started me on the path that has lead me here today to share with you my finished pipes and the process that got me there.

My pipes are not "traditional" and might break a few pipe making rules but they are very satisfying to make and and I actually have the patience to make them (which is important). After 4 abysmal failures, 3 imperfect "successes", and now 4 consistent, functional, and pretty successful pipes made I'm here to join this community and maybe actually contribute a little. Although I have a lot to learn before I'm able to contribute much, I'm happy to be here, part of this community.

***Here are the details, and thanks in advance for your constructive criticism and advice!
-Design-
Bowl Material: Cherry wood
-In my research this seems to be a very acceptable pipe medium (although not the gold standard of briar) and it is readily available in a variety of cut-off sizes for %50 off the board foot making it both affordable, easily attainable, and perfect for screwing up.
Stem Material: Cherry wood
-This is where my pipes primarily differ from most that I've seen, the stem is entirely cherry, no vulcanite/ebonite/etc mouthpiece. The end of the stem, ostensibly the mouthpiece, is turned down to about a 1/4" sphere making for a relatively comfortable bite. Since I've only ever smoked out of super hard, hand carved, ebony pipes, the bite feels comfortable to me.

--Bowl Dimensions--
-Overall dimension vary some but basically 2.5 inches long and about 1.25-1.5" OD
-Tobacco Chamber: 7/8" diameter by 1.5" deep
-Draught Hole: 5/32" drilled vertically down through chamber 3/4" deep (below chamber) So total length is 2.25 from rim of bowl
-The mortise is drilled through the side wall of the bowl (gasp, no shank?!). 10mm diameter, .25" deep @ a 45 deg angle
-An additional 5/32" draught hole is then drilled through the center of the mortise hole, at 45 deg angle to meet up with the vertical draught hole drilled from the chamber. The depth varies depending on the thickness of the cherry block I start with, but suffice to say I just drill till I meet up with the vertical draught hole.
--Stem Dimensions--
-10" in length, 1/4" OD at the middle, tapers down to 10mm tenon to fit in mortise on one end and tapers down to 1/8" with a 1/4" ball at the end for a "mouthpiece"
-The Bore of the stem is 3/16" through the entire length

--Bowl Construction--
-I start with a block of cherry wood, approx 2inch thick by 3-4 inches (about 1 inch of waste on headstock)
-Everything is pre-drilled on the drill press using the appropriate size bits including a 7/8" cove box router bit for the tobacco chamber making for a nice round bottom to the chamber.
-I check to make sure both draught holes line up and allow for airflow and then place the block of cherry between centers on lathe, placing the live center in the bowl of the block, ostensible "plugging" the bowl (and protecting it from dying later).
-I then turn the piece down to a "pleasing" bowl shape, which varies depending on the mood I'm in, but generally takes on the "normal" pipe shape (minus the Shank)

--Stem Construction--
-Lots of trial and error here, I quickly learned I couldn't drill with a 12" long 3/16th bit through any hard wood for very far before it follows the grain out. I tried slowing the speed way down and plunge drilling very slowly to allow the bit to cool.
-My solution to this was to cut a very shallow channel with the table saw then glue up the stem with the channel in the middle, then drill it out with my 12" long 3/16th bit which followed the channel through the 12" of stem (1" of waste on both tail and headstock).
-I place between centers and turn town to the desired shape, 10mm on one end as the tenon, usually a little thicker in the middle then down to as small as I can go on the other end with a little "ball" at the end to hold onto with your teeth.
-Turning such a long narrow piece takes time and patience, but luckily I have just enough patience to perform this feat.

--Finishing--

-On both the bowl and stem I sand through 150, 220, 400, and 600
-I then rub down with DNA to clean dust off and then hit with a dark Fiebling's Leather dye (typically black)
-Sand it back with 600 grit then dye again with a lighter dye (usually ox blood) for the contrast stain (I learned about on these forums)
-I leave the tip of the stem, the "mouthpiece" unstained since that's the part the goes in your mouth
-I usually let that sit over night and return to add 4-5 coats of thin CA, using accelerator to speed up the process (I'm not very patient, just in case it wasn't clear)
-Then using mineral oil as a lubricant I polish with micromesh starting with 1500 and ending with 25000
-Because all this is done on the lathe I can usually see micro-scratches going against the grain around the bowl and stem so I use Novus 2 to rub these out and end with a nice shiny finish.

---Final Touches---
-I part the stem and bowl of the lathe, fit them together then with a disc sander I sand a flat bottom on the bowl at an opposite angle to the stem so that the bowl has a "foot" allowing it to stand on it's own, with the stem up in the air, when set on a flat surface. I sand the foot with 220 to smooth it out, hit it with Fiebling's black then apply a couple coats of CA by hand. I don't spend too much time making the "foot" pretty since....it's a foot.
-I use compressed air to make sure there isn't anything any any of the draught holes
-I then install a tobacco screen at the bottom of the bowl and it's ready for smoking!


And that's it! Functional, about 4 hours of work, and pretty. No shank to speak of, just a bowl with a stem coming directly out of it at a 45 degree angle.

Please comment and critique. I would love suggestions on how I could improve the process or just tips and tricks that might help me out. I'm a little concerned about the longevity of the wood mouth piece, but I hope as a hard wood as long as people are chomping on them too much they should last a while before getting chewed to a pulp. I just been giving these pipes away to friends, and now am holding on to a few and saving as christmas presents. I have been offered $50 to make one but have declined for right now because I'm not sure if the pipes will last because they are made out of cherry instead of briar and because the mouth piece is wood, and the stem is a glue up.

Will post pictures soon.

Thank you.

Justin

***Edited some measurements I had written incorrectly in my original post and added a warning at the beginning to skip the length intro***
Last edited by JustinH on Thu Oct 22, 2015 10:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
LatakiaLover
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by LatakiaLover »

Did you browse the site before writing all that?

Something tells me no. :?
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WCannoy
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by WCannoy »

JustinH wrote: -I then install a tobacco screen at the bottom of the bowl and it's ready for smoking!
There's no such thing as a "tobacco" screen.
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Sasquatch
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by Sasquatch »

Justin, welcome to the board, please don't be offended by what I am about to say. It sounds like you are making a hobby-level pipe out of hobby-level materials. No one here is going to really critique, analyze, or streamline your product or your process much because what you are doing and how you are doing it is essentially different than the goals and products of about 99% of the people on this board.

Show us some photos, we'll help where we can. There are traditions of 2 piece fruit wood pipes, but I don't know of anyone on this board who makes them with any real regularity, if at all. We are, by and large, a briar/rubber stem crowd. That's what we do, and what we know, mostly.
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
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mightysmurf8201
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by mightysmurf8201 »

Glad you found your way here, Justin. Welcome.
#shellaclivesmatter

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sandahlpipe
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by sandahlpipe »

Welcome to the forum. If you post some pictures of your pipes, I'll be happy to offer whatever critique I can.
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sethile
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by sethile »

Hello Justin,

Wow, I did not read your outline completely, but as Sas mentions, you're making something very different than what most of us are aspiring to do. How do they smoke? Have you compared the experience of smoking them with traditional briar/vulcanite pipes, or the older style traditional cherrywood pipes? If not, that would be my suggestion before proceeding further.

There are many aspects of this that could cause you trouble, mostly having to do with your stem and bit dimensions. I think your concern with the cherrywood stem and especially the bit area is well founded. I would think a 1/16" draft hole in a stem that long would yield a very restricted draw. If that's the case, you might want to play around with using the cherrywood for a shank thick enough to accommodate a larger draft hole (5/32" is pretty standard), and then fitting a vulcanite, acrylic, or plastic stem for the bit area that allows for a better draw, as well as a thinner more comfortable and durable bit area.

I'm not sure the CA finish is a good idea. How does that hold up if you smoke it hot? Does it give off any fumes? Seems like expansion and contraction from changes in the wood as it heats and cools as well as changes in humidity could cause the finish to crack. You might want to try experimenting with shellac as possible alternative.

The screen in the bottom also sounds a little sketchy. I'd experiment with a better solution there having to do with how the chamber and draft hole interact.

Mostly, you and some trusted friends, hopefully with some pipe smoking experience need to smoke a few of these repeatedly and compare them to other more established smoking experiences. See how they smoke, and how they hold up. I think that would be essential before offering them for sale.
Scott E. Thile
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pipedreamer
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by pipedreamer »

Welcome!
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baweaverpipes
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by baweaverpipes »

How to describe a pipe turd in 1707 words.
JustinH
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by JustinH »

Hmmm, not the response I was expecting, but in retrospect probably the response I should have expected. I acknowledged in my original post that my pipes were not traditional and born of a desire to make pipes but with the lack of time and patience to make them properly. I felt like I had made a unique pipe that was both functional and aesthetically pleasing, but these are definitely "hobby level", I don't deny that. But, I think it smokes great, and after 20-30 bowls I haven't had any problems yet, niether have any of my friends. But I'm not an expert or a connoisseur so I likely lack the necessary credentials to have that opinion. Oh well, I guess from your guys' perspective its like someone learning Chop Stix on the piano then trying to "contribute" to a community of conciert pianists... I'm sure I'll continue to glean great information and tips from this site, and maybe someday I'll return after making a pipe the "right" way, and keep my "pipe turd" to myself.
Thanks to those who were kind and honest.

Sasquatch
-Not offended, I think you are absolutely right, and thanks for the welcome.

Sethile
-CA finish has not been a problem yet but I've already anticipated this and will likely switch to shellac for my next pipes. The bore hole is actually 3/16", some of my measurments were from memory since I was posting at work. And the "tobacco screen" is medical grade stainless steel disigned for another purpose I recieved from our biomedical dept (they don't use them) which I applied to my purpose of protecting tobacco from falling into my vertical draught hole.

LatakiaLover
-Yes, extensively, as I mentioned in my post, I knew before posting my pipes weren't "traditional". I just thought there might be a place here for me and my type of pipe making (obviously not). I'm sure I'll continue to browse and glean important information from these forums, but likely won't be contributing anything.


Thanks to everyone else who welcomed me or offered advice!
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sandahlpipe
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by sandahlpipe »

I've seen pipes like this before, typically at trinket stands and such. Yours (from what I can tell in the rather small pictures) look like they have a nicer finish on them than what I've seen.

I think there's a market for that kind of pipe. As for this forum, we know our stuff when it comes to ebonite and acrylic mouthpieces, but aside from a couple of odd guys, we haven't messed around much with wooden mouthpieces, so you're probably going to be flying solo on that. If you want to sell these pipes for any length of time, do a thorough amount of testing to see how they behave in different conditions, making sure nothing breaks or cracks with use. Wooden mouthpieces, from what I understand, have been used in the past for pipes, but they were replaced with acrylic and vulkanite for good reason. If you think the wooden mouthpieces are still worth making, you'll have somewhat of an uphill battle to prove that. And unless you do prove that, people aren't going to be willing to shell out serious money for them.

Now if you do decide to do testing on various aspects of the durability of your mouthpieces versus ebonite or acrylic, I'd be interested in learning your results. There have been several guys who have gotten on here wanting to know about wooden mouthpieces.
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JustinH
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by JustinH »

Thanks for your reply, I'm still in the "testing" phase, as are my friends who I've given pipes to. None of us smoke heavily so it will be a while before I have much "test data". But I'm not really interested in selling them and have no plans to sell them to any large extent in the future. I started making these pipes because I simply wanted to make one for myself and have since given away all of the ones I've made.
I am pretty happy with the finish, although I'm not sure how the CA finish will hold up in the long term with heating and expanding of the wood, but so far it hasn't been an issue. It would be easy to shorten my stem and use it as a shank and then attach a rubber mouthpiece to that. So should the wooden stem not work out long term it would be an easy adjustment to make. For now though, the bottom line is, I like my pipes :)
Sorry the pictures are so small, when attaching them it limited the size, not sure how to post bigger pictures.
JustinH
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by JustinH »

baweaverpipes wrote:How to describe a pipe turd in 1707 words.
Is there an easy way to tell how many words are in a post? Because if you counted all the words in my post by hand....bravo.
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by JustinH »

Here are the pics again a little bigger, limited to 256kb, not great quality though, even at the bigger size. I took the pics with my iphone. I would take a better pic with my Canon but I actually have given away all the pipes pictured! I'll have to make another "turd" and take a better picture of the steaming pile and post it :)
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sethile
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by sethile »

It's great to see the photos, thanks, Justin! They look nice!

Great to hear your bore is 3/16" as opposed to 1/16". That should provide an excellent draw! Also good to hear the CA glue finish seems to be working out OK so far in terms of how they smoke. Sounds like you and your friends have smoked them enough to determine they smoke well, and are holding up. Also good to hear!

Many of the older traditional cherrywood pipes had the entire stem made from cherrywood, somewhat similar to yours, although they were much less refined. Yours should hold up at least as well as those did. As a possible option for you down the road it might appeal to smokers who clench to have a version of it with a more traditional vulconite or lucite stem, maybe about the length of the unfinished part of the stems on these. You could also bend it slightly, which would further facilitate clenching.

Hope you'll continue to keep us posted as to what you're doing with these. Yes, they are very different than what most of us are making, but it's clear you have thought these through, are in the process of testing them out. Looks like you have come up with something unique and interesting.
Scott E. Thile
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WCannoy
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by WCannoy »

JustinH wrote:
baweaverpipes wrote:How to describe a pipe turd in 1707 words.
Is there an easy way to tell how many words are in a post? Because if you counted all the words in my post by hand....bravo.

I like this guy...

I think he'll make it past the initial hazing just fine.
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by Joe Hinkle Pipes »

I counted 1710 words. And Bruce didn't do it by hand. He used his toes too.
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by The Smoking Yeti »

Bruce has been grumpy ever since his "regularity" was compromised. Go eat some fiber Bruce.
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baweaverpipes
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by baweaverpipes »

I use word count, it comes in handy when I do one of my lengthy show reports.
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Re: New Pipe Maker wants critique

Post by LatakiaLover »

baweaverpipes wrote:I use word count, it comes in handy when I do one of my lengthy show reports.
I like this guy...

Truly premium quality smart-assery is getting harder to find every day.
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