Some walnut pipes

flix · Post by **flix** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 7:51 pm

Thought I should post the last two pipes I've made, both of walnut scavanged from the badlands of Sunol, Ca.

Let me know what you think. They're in my gallery, anixihartz pipes/Walnut Pipes

Post by **Tyler** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:08 am

Flix,

Let me help you out here. I saw your comment in another thread that no one had commented on your work, and you concluded that no one liked it. I have no idea if that is true or not, but I can say you be helped by making it easier to see your work. I opened your thread, saw no link and no pictures, and moved on. Making it easy to review your pipes will get you more reviews.

Here are Flix's pipes:

achduliebe · Post by **achduliebe** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 11:37 am

Hello Flix,

I really like the shape of the first pipe, but seems to my eye that either the outside diameter of the bowl needs to be greater or the width of the shank needs to be smaller. With respect to this I am talking about the picture of the top view of the pipe. I also think the 'heel', so to speak, is to sharp. That is the transition from the bottom of the tobacco chamber to the front side of the tobacco chamber. Almost like a sharp 90 degrees there. I would make that more subtle. This is best seen in the side shot of the pipe. I do however like the shape overall. The shank, just past the shank/stem junction, appears to have a slight hump. Once again, I really like the shape of that pipe.

As for the poker, I really like that pipe and the only thing I see on that one is the stem/shank junction. Looks a little rounded on the shank side.

Overall, nice work. I have never worked with Walnut and I like the dark spots in it. Gives a very nice earthy natural feel to the pipes.

flix · Post by **flix** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 1:25 pm

Tyler wrote:Flix,

Let me help you out here. I saw your comment in another thread that no one had commented on your work, and you concluded that no one liked it. I have no idea if that is true or not, but I can say you be helped by making it easier to see your work. I opened your thread, saw no link and no pictures, and moved on. Making it easy to review your pipes will get you more reviews.

Thanks for the tip, Tyler. I was just kidding around, actually. I was going to link the pics later, but, got sidetracked by life.

Thank you for putting the pics up!
--Michael

flix · Post by **flix** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 1:47 pm

achduliebe wrote:Hello Flix,

I really like the shape of the first pipe, but seems to my eye that either the outside diameter of the bowl needs to be greater or the width of the shank needs to be smaller. With respect to this I am talking about the picture of the top view of the pipe. I also think the 'heel', so to speak, is to sharp. That is the transition from the bottom of the tobacco chamber to the front side of the tobacco chamber. Almost like a sharp 90 degrees there. I would make that more subtle. This is best seen in the side shot of the pipe. I do however like the shape overall. The shank, just past the shank/stem junction, appears to have a slight hump. Once again, I really like the shape of that pipe.

As for the poker, I really like that pipe and the only thing I see on that one is the stem/shank junction. Looks a little rounded on the shank side.

Overall, nice work. I have never worked with Walnut and I like the dark spots in it. Gives a very nice earthy natural feel to the pipes.

Hi Bryan,

Thank you so much for your comments!

I see what you mean about the stem needing to be more narrow. I mistakenly thought that the flow of the stem and shank should taper. The bowl is narrow because I miscalculated when I roughed in the shape with my belt sander (oops!). I'll have to be a lot more conservative with the bandsaw from now on, leaving more room to maneuver. The heel was because of a series of flaws that caused me to have to dig deeper and sharper.

The hump is a little distracting also. I was trying to make it a Hawksbill, and this is the best I could do. I didn't think it was a huge issue, so I will need again to be more conservative with the bandsaw.

The stems I'm producing, from premolds, are not up to snuff. The Pimo tenon tool is not very good. I think I will have to cut my own stems, as soon as I can afford a lathe. Thanks for noticing that.

I'm not sure what you mean about the shank on the poker being rounded. Do you mean that the top is a little off? or are you saying that the bottom is also. I do detect the slightest dip in the top of the shank, near the bowl. I guess that would again be taken care of with the use of a lathe.

I suppose my work will look amatuer until I get the correct tooling.

I do like the bark features also. They are kind of a unique stamp of earthiness on the pieces. I will try to include something like it on walnut pipes in the future, if it works well. Too much of a good thing, though, isn't good...

Thanks Bryan,

--Michael

achduliebe · Post by **achduliebe** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:08 pm

Hello Michael,

The rounding that I was referring too was at the stem/shank junction. It looks a little like the stem is rounding down as it meets the shank. Which makes the junction there not be quite as clean, it breaks up that line. This rounding usually happens when you buff the stem when it is detached from the stummel. This could also be a result of the pre-molded stems. Other than that everything looks good to me. I think the shape of the stem on that pipe looks very good.

flix · Post by **flix** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:22 pm

Hi Bryan,
Ok, I think I understand what you're referring to. The stem is a premade, that I've modified. They are just to get me by until I can get the rest of my tools.
Thanks for the feedback!
--Michael

ckr · Post by **ckr** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 2:20 am

Normally don't care for pokers but the wood and it seem to go together well.

Couple of questions. Did you cure the wood and how does it smoke compared to a briar pipe?

flix · Post by **flix** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:44 pm

ckr wrote:Normally don't care for pokers but the wood and it seem to go together well.

Couple of questions. Did you cure the wood and how does it smoke compared to a briar pipe?

No, I didn't cure the wood, just let it sit in my basement for a while. How do you think one should cure black walnut? I'm stumped as to how (why?) ...

I've smoked a few of my walnuts. They seem to smoke pretty well. I've not heard of many carvers using it though. I've heard far more using cherry, mesquite, wild olive, and one that escapes me for the moment (used for fence posts somewhere, some exotic name).

Thanks for the comments. I really like how the wood came alive between the time it was roughed in and finished. I'm working on a freehand in walnut as we speak. It drilled nearly perfectly and I've got high hopes for it.

--Michael

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:51 pm

flix wrote:I've smoked a few of my walnuts. They seem to smoke pretty well. I've not heard of many carvers using it though. I've heard far more using cherry, mesquite, wild olive, and one that escapes me for the moment (used for fence posts somewhere, some exotic name).

Popular hardwoods are Cherry, Olive, and Osage Orange. In addition, Johan Slabbert uses African Blackwood, Mopane, and Hookthorn. I have made a few out of Maple and Ash with all wooden stems, which work incredibly well for the SCA crowd that are primarily looking for display pieces or occasional smokers.

Just for the record, Red Oak isn't good for pipes. It does make a decent stem though.

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 11:50 pm

one that escapes me for the moment (used for fence posts somewhere, some exotic name).

That's "Bois d'arc", or osage orange, which Kurt mentioned.

I think they pronunciate it "Bo Dark" down in Texas.

Tyler may be able to help out here.

There's a line in a song by James McMurtry (Larry's son) by the title of "Choctaw Bingo" that has an interesting reference to "Bo Dark".

You should google it.

Rad

flix · Post by **flix** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:00 am

RadDavis wrote:
one that escapes me for the moment (used for fence posts somewhere, some exotic name).
That's "Bois d'arc", or osage orange, which Kurt mentioned.

snip

Rad

You the man, Rad! Boy, is it me, or does everyone here over 50 have problems remembering anything! Man, is it irritating...

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:15 am

I'll be 57 at the end of this month.

Rad

Post by **Tyler** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:26 pm

RadDavis wrote:
one that escapes me for the moment (used for fence posts somewhere, some exotic name).
That's "Bois d'arc", or osage orange, which Kurt mentioned.

I think they pronunciate it "Bo Dark" down in Texas.

Tyler may be able to help out here.

There's a line in a song by James McMurtry (Larry's son) by the title of "Choctaw Bingo" that has an interesting reference to "Bo Dark".

You should google it.

Rad

No, Rad, we don't call it "Bo Dark."

We call it "boat ark."

Sheesh.

Tyler

ckr · Post by **ckr** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 2:15 pm

Someone mention Bo Derek?

How do you think one should cure black walnut? I'm stumped as to how (why?) ...

just boil for hours so the resin and sap exude from the wood, then dry it out slowly for months or longer.

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 2:34 pm

No, Rad, we don't call it "Bo Dark."

We call it "boat ark."

Sorry Tyler, I was spelling it pnonetically. I didn't know it was spelled "boat Ark".

Did Noah make his boat ark from osage orange?

Rad

Post by **Tyler** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:16 pm

RadDavis wrote:
No, Rad, we don't call it "Bo Dark."

We call it "boat ark."
Sorry Tyler, I was spelling it pnonetically. I didn't know it was spelled "boat Ark".

Did Noah make his boat ark from osage orange?

Rad

pnonetically? In Texas we spell that "phonetically." :dunno:

Man, I really need to get out more. I never realized all the things we do incorrectly here in Texas.

:thumb:

As for Noah, he used gopher wood. Is an osage a gopher?

Tyler

ckr · Post by **ckr** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:38 pm

Tyler,

Hmm, I think that is a fairly common misenterpetation of scripture. I think that Noah was always saying "Go fer wood" and it was just misconstrued. Recent coptic writings have clarified this fact.

Post by **Tyler** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:00 pm

ckr wrote:Tyler,

Hmm, I think that is a fairly common misenterpetation of scripture. I think that Noah was always saying "Go fer wood" and it was just misconstrued. Recent coptic writings have clarified this fact.

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 7:44 pm

pnonetically? In Texas we spell that "phonetically."

Won litle misspelling and you hav tu junp all ovre me!

I'm outtaa hear!

Rad