My First Pipe: In Process

[Ocelot55]

I've done it too. It sucks. It always seems to happen to nice blocks of briar too.

If you want, the bottom can be built up with putty and smoked anyway. I did this to one of mine and smoked the dickens out of it for several days to see if it would hold up. It performed pretty well. After dying it black and slapping on a coat of shellac you couldn't even tell. Can't sell it but it still looks okay.

Don't get discouraged. It happens. You learned a valuable lesson. Keep chugging along.

[d.huber]

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

Now what is this putty you speak of?

Also, to make myself feel better, I bored the airway and the pilot for the chamber of another stummel that I've almost fully shaped. With a 2mm bore, I connected on the first try! Talk about a way to make me feel better!

I'll try to make a quick video to show the airway connection. This will be the pipe that I'll be working on from here out:

http://www.youtube.com/v/ZbeMnD3NbRQ

[d.huber]

Airways touch! Booya!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpUfQPyk ... e=youtu.be

BTW, any tips on how to make the youtube embedding work?

[Leus]

Anyone else ever done this? I've sunk about 13 to 14 hours into this thing at this point. This feels awful.

I'll just say, wait until you start stamping your pipes. <b>Then</b> you will know grief.

Other than that, keep going, as it is the only way to learn. This thread is most entertaining.

[Ocelot55]

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

Now what is this putty you speak of?

Also, to make myself feel better, I bored the airway and the pilot for the chamber of another stummel that I've almost fully shaped. With a 2mm bore, I connected on the first try! Talk about a way to make me feel better!

I'll try to make a quick video to show the airway connection. This will be the pipe that I'll be working on from here out:

http://www.youtube.com/v/ZbeMnD3NbRQ

I used a nontoxic wood putty. I've heard of a lot of guys using cigar ash and a little water. That stuff sets up pretty well. You just need to make sure you run a pipe cleaner into the bowl when you place the putty so you don't plug the draft hole.

[d.huber]

Oh man, Uber, I'm so sorry... I didn't even have to read the explanation, I just saw the daylight through the pipe bowl in the picture and my heart SANK...

...well, live and learn, eh?

SO--a tip dear Daniel (tNd) suggested so that might not happen again... after the airway hole is drilled at the shank, at the right angle, at the right length (measured by tip of shank to where you'd like the middle of the bowl to be), THEN you drill the bowl/tobacco chamber. The trick: put a piece of thick copper (or other soft) wire in the airway hole. As you drill, you'll know when you've hit the wire and not go through the bottom, and the soft metal won't decimate your drill bit. Mind you, you're using some funky way to get a tobacco chamber drilled out with multiple holes, and this is specifically for a spoon or other drill bit that makes the chamber in one pass.

I haven't employed this idea yet, but when I get to drillin', you betcha I will be.

Great vids, and good luck! Great shape on the intact pipe, too!!!

[d.huber]

Oh man, Uber, I'm so sorry... I didn't even have to read the picture, I just saw the daylight through the pipe bowl and my heart SANK...

...well, live and learn, eh?

SO--a tip dear Daniel (tNd) suggested so that might not happen again... after the airway hole is drilled at the shank, at the right angle, at the right length (measured by tip of shank to where you'd like the middle of the bowl to be), THEN you drill the bowl/tobacco chamber. The trick: put a piece of thick copper (or other soft) wire in the airway hole. As you drill, you'll know when you've hit the wire and not go through the bottom, and the soft metal won't decimate your drill bit. Mind you, you're using some funky way to get a tobacco chamber drilled out with multiple holes, and this is specifically for a spoon or other drill bit that makes the chamber in one pass.

I haven't employed this idea yet, but when I get to drillin', you betcha I will be.

Great vids, and good luck! Great shape on the intact pipe, too!!!

Thanks for the tip, Kyle! Drilling freehand does make employing that a little tough, but perhaps one day I'll have some power tools that can accommodate a spoon bit. When that happens, you bet I'll be trying this out!

Before the sun went down, I snapped some pictures of my progress today.

I spent about 4 hours boring and working the chamber on this one and, thankfully, did not drill low this time nor did I drill through the bottom!

In fact, the chamber is almost finished and is looking good. I drilled one hole for the chamber this time then did the rest of the work freehand with my dremel. Check it out:




I also did some work on the stem. I took Kurt's advice, but since I only have a 3mm tool like his, the stem is extremely open. I'll see how that works out, but if it doesn't I've got other stems to work with. My apologies for the blurry photo.



There's still a lot of work to be done, but I feel pretty good about the progress made today. More updates to come!

[d.huber]

I used a nontoxic wood putty. I've heard of a lot of guys using cigar ash and a little water. That stuff sets up pretty well. You just need to make sure you run a pipe cleaner into the bowl when you place the putty so you don't plug the draft hole.

I never thought that pipe mud would work to cover holes. I will definitely give this a try. I'll look into the wood putty too as that sounds more sturdy to me. Thanks a lot!

[d.huber]

I have a $30 Black and Decker drill clamped to a guitar case--all I need is the spoon bits. If you get something even similar, flexible, rotary "sticky pad" type sanding wheels that fit it and a the same drill/spoon bits, you'll do just fine. Working with my Dremel is almost too small, but I find it handy for finishing work on the pipes.

Geez, this is making me want to start carving something... hmmm...

[d.huber]

For fear of jumping and sounding like the Cliff Claven of pipe making....

Spoon bits, in the context of pipe making, are very strange, particular bits custom made to drill a tobacco chamber on a lathe with the bowl already shaped and in your hand. I don't think that's what you guys are meaning by your use of the term. You guys just need some bits that are ground into a tobacco chamber shape. Most commonly these are SPADE bits that are ground to that shape, and I think the similarity in name causes confusion sometimes.

Anyhoo, sorry. I just thought it would be helpful for you guys to know for future discussion so your weren't misunderstanding or being misunderstood.

Clif--er-- Tyler

[d.huber]

Cool! Thanks for informing us!

[d.huber]

Found this:



The spoon bit in this picture is the the fat, 3-dimensional one in the middle. Most of the rest of them are ground spade bits.

[d.huber]

Why is a spoon bit better than a spade bit while freehand boring the tobacco chamber?

Are spade bits mainly used in drill presses?

[d.huber]

Spoon bit, spade bit... I guess whatever will get the job done. The tobacco chamber just needs that nice U shaped cup at the bottom...since I have a drill, again, clamped to a guitar case, the freehand "spoon bit" is what I was really referring to. I don't have a drill press, nor do I intend to spend the money on one. I suppose a spade bit would do the job nicely too.

[KurtHuhn]

It happens to everyone when first learning their way around a block of wood. I bet you won't make that same mistake any time soon.

Not that the above helps you feel better right now. All you can really do is get back up, get back into it, and try again.

[d.huber]

It happens to everyone when first learning their way around a block of wood. I bet you won't make that same mistake any time soon.

Not that the above helps you feel better right now. All you can really do is get back up, get back into it, and try again.

Thanks a lot for the words of encouragement! I've made some substantial progress on the second pipe and I'm feeling good about it. I'll post new info here shortly.

[d.huber]

Why is a spoon bit better than a spade bit while freehand boring the tobacco chamber?

Are spade bits mainly used in drill presses?

The spoon bit is basically a steel rod turned to the shape and size of the tobacco chamber, then half of it is removed along the vertical axis. The reason it works well for freehand drilling is the half-round shape slides around in the hole being drilled and prevents chatter and "catching." If you freehand drill this way with a spade bit you have to be careful not to rip a finger off.

The spade bits are used with any form of "traditional" drilling where the wood is clamped by something other than your hand. I use spade bits all the time to drill with my lathe, but a drill press or hand drill can use a spade bit too.

[d.huber]

Spoon bit, spade bit... I guess whatever will get the job done. The tobacco chamber just needs that nice U shaped cup at the bottom...since I have a drill, again, clamped to a guitar case, the freehand "spoon bit" is what I was really referring to. I don't have a drill press, nor do I intend to spend the money on one. I suppose a spade bit would do the job nicely too.

Well, OK.

FWIW, one spoon bit will cost you as much as a drill press, so good luck with that.

[d.huber]

Why is a spoon bit better than a spade bit while freehand boring the tobacco chamber?

Are spade bits mainly used in drill presses?

The spoon bit is basically a steel rod turned to the shape and size of the tobacco chamber, then half of it is removed along the vertical axis. The reason it works well for freehand drilling is the half-round shape slides around in the hole being drilled and prevents chatter and "catching." If your freehand drill this way with a spade bit you have to be careful not to rip a finger off.

The spade bits are used with any form of "traditional" drilling where the wood is clamped by something other than your hand. I use spade bits all the time to drill with my lathe, but a drill press or hand drill can use a spade bit too.

Thanks for the info! I'm learning so much during this process and largely thanks to you and Kurt. And the gentleman who goes without saying: Kyle. I am loving every minute of this.

So no photo update this evening. I spent about 5 hours working the mortise, tenon, and stem today so not a whole lot of new visual updates to share. I did discover that I need to use a larger stem from my inventory (of 9 stems), or else I'd have to reshape the pipe to accommodate the small size of the stem, and that ain't happenin'!

As such, there'll be a lot more stem work being done on a different stem tomorrow. Hopefully by the end of Wednesday I'll finally have a stem in my stummel!

...Is it just me, or was that last comment slightly dirty?

[d.huber]

As such, there'll be a lot more stem work being done on a different stem tomorrow. Hopefully by the end of Wednesday I'll finally have a stem in my stummel!

You pig!

Also - you're making me want to carve a pipe. This is not another slope I want to jump off.