pipemakersforum.com

Hi, again...
I bought Pimo's book, i read a lot of pipe making articles, i watched videos on net...and now what? I want tools! What do you reccoment for my first tools?? Maybe an an electric hand drill, a hacksaw or coping saw and a vise...What else?

I use a dremel tool a lot

rev

Depends on your budget. If your serious about this hobby, you'll probably want a metal lathe. It can do basically everything you want. If you aren't sure if your willing to spend that much money, you can get a drill press and a cross slide vise. You'll also need either a motor to attach your buffing wheels to. If you want to start out the way I did with NO money and NO tools, all you really need is a hand drill and some files.

I would spring for the drill press as it can do about 80% of everything you need it too and it is also useful in other shop applications as well.

What do you think about a turret lathe?

I second Ocelot's recommendations.

I made my first pipe with a rasp and file(4-in-1 I got from Lowe's), a set of 5 gimlets, a dremel, and 2 years of my life.

If you'd like to make a pipe faster than me, and odds are you will even if you went with the above mentioned methods, get a drill press. If you're very serious about getting deep into this, get a metal lathe, get a motor to mount an arbor and backing pad (for disk sanding), and buy a lot of little hand tools. Oh, remember to buy stain. Oh, don't forget to order briar. Oh! Don't forget to order ebonite rod. Oh, oh! Definitely don't forget...

I always tell people the first power tool they should buy is a smallish second hand drill press. It can be used to drill blocks/stems etc or laid on its side and used to buff and sand. When you outgrow the drill press and move to a lathe, either metal or wood, you will still find plenty of uses for the drill press both in pipemaking and other DIY projects. If you really don't need it you can sell it and probably make most of your money back or you can chop it up for parts to make a sander/buffer since most drill presses cost about the same as the motor that is in them.

caskwith wrote:I always tell people the first power tool they should buy is a smallish second hand drill press. It can be used to drill blocks/stems etc or laid on its side and used to buff and sand. When you outgrow the drill press and move to a lathe, either metal or wood, you will still find plenty of uses for the drill press both in pipemaking and other DIY projects. If you really don't need it you can sell it and probably make most of your money back or you can chop it up for parts to make a sander/buffer since most drill presses cost about the same as the motor that is in them.

True, all true. I just purchased a little Taig for stems. I wonder how that will turn out!