Ok, so I can't make pipes yet but I'm hoping to get there! Turn away now if you aren't comfortable with a drink in hand as this is an epic post about nothing. I'm a jack of all and master of none and I'm far from a photographer! These were taken on my mobile phones sadly.
Here are a few of the knives I've made in the past as a hobby mostly, mainly out of O1 and 1095 carbon. I use an angle grinder to rough shape flat stock and a drill press for holes in the tang and scales but the rest is done by hand with files, rasps, sandpaper, blood sweat and tears! Oh, and a couple buffing wheels to polish, that's a machine too I guess. I mess around on a home made forge on occasion too but not as often as I'd like to. I'm no leatherworker but I do my own sheaths. As a result of doing every process by hand with a file these take me anywhere from 20 hours to 65 hours depending on what people want and materials chosen...I really should invest in a linisher!
A crook knife with antler tine, stainless, buffalo horn and some red fibre liner;
A carving knife for my Uncle's 70th birthday;
A quick woodspirit I did to check the above carver was up to scratch;
Etching a buffalo onto my personal bushcrafting knife I made;
The finished etching;
The whole thing;
Some filework done by eye;
A quick razor re-scale;
My version of a nessmuk and my first attempt at some leather carving;
A full flat I had to make a bevel jig for(these bevels took ages by hand!);
A stick tang carver from an old file with a traditional Scandi style sheath;
My pride and joy bike, a one of a kind flatlander lovingly built over 8 years;
This is a taste of the sort of thing I'm into, when I find a new hobby I tend to go a bit overboard for a couple years, burn out a bit, then settle back into it a bit more relaxed and thoroughly. I love to get a rough idea of something, spend as little time as possible thinking about it, do a quick drawing then go to work and watch it come to life as I get busy and change it along the way. I'm not one for scale drawings and putting thought into something before I start and my work probably shows that. I really don't see how that would be an advantage with making pipes! Chances are I'll fall on my face due to my lack of preperation and planning. With knives and things I'm not too keen on perfection as in my mind that would look sterile and any flaws add to the character. That way of thinking will surely be my downfall when I try to make a pipe, fortunately they'll just be for me. The work I've seen you guys share is the epitome of perfection as it should be on high end bespoke custom pipes.
My pipe making has yet to begin but I'm really enjoying reading up and looking at pictures and hearing the nuggets you guys drop to help people out. Thanks for having me! Just to amuse anyone that's actually made it this far I'll share what I did on my lunch break with a piece of pine, a folding saw, 4 drill bits and a victorinox Swiss Army knife;
A waste of time yes, I just wanted to see if I could drill the bowl and everything in the right places with a hand drill. Terrible yes but I didn't want to destroy the piece of cherry I have ready for my first real attempt as it would mean cutting another piece off the seasoned log and I'm a lazy man sometimes! Go easy on me as I only had an hour with a pen knife and didn't finish shaping it. It won't be finished as it's just an experiment, it'll go in the next fire.
I have no intention to make pipes for anybody at any stage, if I can turn out a few that smoke well for myself I'll be over the moon! If one of them looks halfway decent at some stage that'll be a huge bonus. I guess I'm a pipe making Walter Mitty of sorts as I just want to do this for myself and nobody else.
Thanks for looking, you deserve another drink if you've made it this far.
