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i have never carved my own pipe, i am a pipe smoker for a litle while in comparison to how long i have ben a cigarete smoker. so it is deep in my brain that i want to carve my own pipe from start to finish. i have decided as wood on chery or wallnut. a friend told me he has some 7yrold wallnut wood. and wemmet tomorow fro a beer and to c if i can get him to give me a slice . since i want to make my pipe from startto finish ... i was thinking .. what would be the best wood for the stem? waht is it usualy used? and what could i use (i will use the stem form an old pipe only if i will totaly suck at this)
i guess the wood should be dense. or perhaps there is a treatment i could aply to it? like boiling it in resins or smthing ... there would be the pbm of ..what kind of resins .. i''d hate to smoke some chery tobaco in my wallnut pipe and it would smell like a xmas tree.. :-s
hopefuly some wide found wood ... i live in romania
10x a lot Comma White

I would get a plastic stem. You can get molded stems at a number of different web sites, and the shape them to your desired shape. Mark Tinsky at American pipes company will even finish the tenon off for you, usually to 9/32 but i bet you could ask for a particular size if you like. Pimo of J.H. Lowe sells stems too.

I've seen stems made out of horn and amber too. Horn may be an option if you have a nice craft shop nearby. Both are more brittle than the vulcanite or lucite that is usually used.

i really want it from wood i guess, so i can make it myself. i don't want to make pipes to sell i just want to make a pipe for myself and then perhaps one for a friend and more for myself. the botom line would be cheap. nothing gets cheap while shipped to romania so i want to find a local replacement for everything and smthing that won't need too much machinery.

If you can find a craft store, or a wood trurning store that caters to pen turners, take a look at the stabilized woods. The stabilized woods are impregnated with acrylics or epoxies and can take on quite a shine. They also resist moisture very well - always a bonus with stuff that's going to be put in your mouth.

snds great. but i want to make a bent stem, it will be hard to bend it if made of treated wood no? i was thinking more like driling, bending, treating with acrylics.. any cheap way oftreating wood to become water proof? boiling it in wax? that would put some shine on it ... i wonder how it would feel in ur mouth ...i'll definetely try the wax bid ... yet my wood is late.... and i got all this sandpaper ready :-s

I was just about to suggest stabilized woods as well. Bending I have no idea about.