"Poor Man" Tools
"Poor Man" Tools
I find in pipe making, ingenuity is a must, not only in how you make pipes, but in how you build or find tools to do the job. I love finding tools that work well, and that are CHEAP!
I found this drill bit today that has a more "pipe-like" profile, it cuts excellent, and it was only $10 bucks at Lowes. It's 3/4 size. I haven't looked to see if they have other diameters yet, but check it out.
Do you think this profile is too steep?
Here's the link to it at Lowes: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/crown-bolt ... K1WbWl24ls
It's the WingIts Apache200. It's rated for 200 holes in ceramic, so I imagine it will make a lot of briar holes. It cuts very smoothly, just seemed to peel the briar off.
What do you think?
Brian.
I found this drill bit today that has a more "pipe-like" profile, it cuts excellent, and it was only $10 bucks at Lowes. It's 3/4 size. I haven't looked to see if they have other diameters yet, but check it out.
Do you think this profile is too steep?
Here's the link to it at Lowes: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/crown-bolt ... K1WbWl24ls
It's the WingIts Apache200. It's rated for 200 holes in ceramic, so I imagine it will make a lot of briar holes. It cuts very smoothly, just seemed to peel the briar off.
What do you think?
Brian.
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Re: "Poor Man" Tools
Burn the data.
Rule #1 of pipemaking... Expensive is better. All affordable solutions MUST be abandoned.
Rule #1 of pipemaking... Expensive is better. All affordable solutions MUST be abandoned.
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
For most applications I think it's too steep. I do think this is mostly just a preference thing though. Nothing keeping you from drilling to the draft hole then using something else to round out the bottom.
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
I love brian, cause he is cheap
rev
rev
"but rev, isn't smoking a sin?"
well I suppose if one were to smoke to excess it would be a sin
"but what would be smoking to excess?"
Why smoking two pipes at once of course
well I suppose if one were to smoke to excess it would be a sin
"but what would be smoking to excess?"
Why smoking two pipes at once of course
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
I agree with Ernie but I think, as he said, it's a preference thing. On another note: I found it interesting that your link to Lowe's took me to HomeDepot.
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
Ooops. I think I like Lowes a bit better and subliminally just added them in.wdteipen wrote:I agree with Ernie but I think, as he said, it's a preference thing. On another note: I found it interesting that your link to Lowe's took me to HomeDepot.
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
I think the profile looks great. I wish they had more than two sizes.
Rad
Rad
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
I didn't see the second size...1 1/4. That'd be a big 'ol bowl. If you like the profile, you should pick one up. I'm really pleased with how it cuts, and you just can't beat $10 bucks...you know, unless you can get it for $9 or something.RadDavis wrote:I think the profile looks great. I wish they had more than two sizes.
Rad
Oh, check this out...I just found this on Amazon. Looks like you can get one more size that would work - 1 Inch. Still a big bowl, but might work for some pipes.
http://www.amazon.com/WingIts-WA2005PCS ... its+apache
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
Clearly too pointy, which brings out the bacon flavor in English Mixtures (though not so much in flake).
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
PS I'm not convinced that ceramic is harder than briar.
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
UPDATE:
I just used this bit on a pipe and wanted to give a more in depth review. I cut about an 1.5" deep hole and it cut the chamber very smoothly. The one drawback for this style bit, is that after you get past about an inch, you have to clear your chamber quite a bit more often than a standard bit. It doesn't seem to have the ability to move out the wood very well past that first inch.
I ended up just finishing the last .5" by moving the tailstock and out loosly and by hand, meaning not by crank, but by pushing it in and out.
I just used this bit on a pipe and wanted to give a more in depth review. I cut about an 1.5" deep hole and it cut the chamber very smoothly. The one drawback for this style bit, is that after you get past about an inch, you have to clear your chamber quite a bit more often than a standard bit. It doesn't seem to have the ability to move out the wood very well past that first inch.
I ended up just finishing the last .5" by moving the tailstock and out loosly and by hand, meaning not by crank, but by pushing it in and out.
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Re: "Poor Man" Tools
just bought one. had to go get a set of spade bits and a long drill for the stem anyway so i figured i'd try it. good post! thanks for the info.
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
Interesting, always on the look out for new chamber bits. Bet I can't find them here in the UK though, haha.
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
chris
you are entirely correct, they only sell it in the good ol' us of a
though they are politely apologetic about it
regards
dave
you are entirely correct, they only sell it in the good ol' us of a
though they are politely apologetic about it
regards
dave
"Omne ignotum pro magnifico" - everything becomes common place by explanation :- sherlock holmes
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
I'm going somewhere with this... stay with me
Speaking of "poor man tools", I took advantage of Black Friday to pick up a cheap Chinese benchtop wood lathe, chuck not included. I have a buddy who works in a machine shop who said "Don't buy a chuck! I've got a few sitting around the shop, I could probably give you one". Well, turns out that the smallest chuck he had was suitable for turning telephone poles! I didn't even know they made 'em that big! So he offered to fabricate a two jaw briar holding chuck to fit my machine (now, understand, we've been friends since elementary school), and told me that when it's done, if I felt like tossing him a couple of twenty's for his effort, or not, whatever... it's all good.
Back to the original post: He warned that his co-workers in the shop would be interested in seeing what this was for, so I came armed with a couple of pipes to show. One of the co-workers, after examining the tobacco chamber of one pipe, dissapeared into a back room for a minute...
He returned with a "drill bit" that he fabricated for drilling a three-inch diameter hole with a rounded bottom.
It was literally a large, thick flat washer, welded to a steel rod, and sharpened on the edges.
He chucked it up in a giant drill press and proceded to drill a three-inch bowl out of a scrap block of aluminum to demonstrate!
I was left speechless!
Speaking of "poor man tools", I took advantage of Black Friday to pick up a cheap Chinese benchtop wood lathe, chuck not included. I have a buddy who works in a machine shop who said "Don't buy a chuck! I've got a few sitting around the shop, I could probably give you one". Well, turns out that the smallest chuck he had was suitable for turning telephone poles! I didn't even know they made 'em that big! So he offered to fabricate a two jaw briar holding chuck to fit my machine (now, understand, we've been friends since elementary school), and told me that when it's done, if I felt like tossing him a couple of twenty's for his effort, or not, whatever... it's all good.
Back to the original post: He warned that his co-workers in the shop would be interested in seeing what this was for, so I came armed with a couple of pipes to show. One of the co-workers, after examining the tobacco chamber of one pipe, dissapeared into a back room for a minute...
He returned with a "drill bit" that he fabricated for drilling a three-inch diameter hole with a rounded bottom.
It was literally a large, thick flat washer, welded to a steel rod, and sharpened on the edges.
He chucked it up in a giant drill press and proceded to drill a three-inch bowl out of a scrap block of aluminum to demonstrate!
I was left speechless!
Cheers!
-Walt
http://waltcannoy.com
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"I have no idea what's going on here. " - Ernie Markle
-Walt
http://waltcannoy.com
http://www.facebook.com/WaltCannoyPipes
http://www.youtube.com/user/wcannoy
http://instagram.com/waltcannoy
http://twitter.com/WCannoy
"I have no idea what's going on here. " - Ernie Markle
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Re: "Poor Man" Tools
What a waste of good aluminum. LOL Just kidding!
Interesting, I'll have to do some experimenting when I get back from this work trip to NC.
Interesting, I'll have to do some experimenting when I get back from this work trip to NC.
Pipe Maker in the Making!
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
would a sharper profile make it easier to get the draft hole at the very bottom of the chamber? you know the direct center of the bottom? or is it acceptable for the draft hole to be centered but more on the stummel side of the chamber
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
One thing you might consider which I never seem to see mentioned here is to use more than 1 drill bit. If you have a good drill bit that cuts really well but is a bit too pointy, and 1 drill bit that cuts badly/slowly but has a nice profile at the bottom, the use both to create the perfect chamber. I have a large range of homemade chamber bits of various shapes and sizes, many times i will use a combination of them to get the chamber I want. If you have a metal lathe you can do even better as you can make up boring bars for shaping the chamber.
Re: "Poor Man" Tools
Thanks for the tip on this bit. Bought it, used it and got good results.
FWIW, my local HD did not have this bit in the drill bit section; it was over in the tile tools.
FWIW, my local HD did not have this bit in the drill bit section; it was over in the tile tools.