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So I have an idea for a pipe but because of the curve and angle of the shank I think I'd need to drill the airway from the bottom of the stummel out to the mortise, then drill the tobacco chamber down to meet it. That'd leave me with a hole that I'd need to plug, which means there'd be wood glue in the bottom of the tobacco chamber/airway. I'd put a concave scoop on the plug, then clean up the high end and chip out the extra glue to make everything smooth and normal. I'd also put a cigar ash/water bowl coating in the tobacco chamber, which would probably help. I was just wondering if any of you Bigtime Fammus Pipemakers know if the heat from smoking the pipe would do anything to that glue and plug. Make the stummel split open, set off a nuke, make the tobacco taste like bananas... you know, any of that normal bad stuff that could happen to a pipe.

Oh, I'd also rusticate the holy heck outta that bowl so nobody could see the plug... it's just the plug/glue I'm worried about and I have religious conflicts about knowingly ruining pieces of briar.

SchmidtN wrote:So I have an idea for a pipe but because of the curve and angle of the shank I think I'd need to drill the airway from the bottom of the stummel out to the mortise, then drill the tobacco chamber down to meet it. That'd leave me with a hole that I'd need to plug, which means there'd be wood glue in the bottom of the tobacco chamber/airway. I'd put a concave scoop on the plug, then clean up the high end and chip out the extra glue to make everything smooth and normal. I'd also put a cigar ash/water bowl coating in the tobacco chamber, which would probably help. I was just wondering if any of you Bigtime Fammus Pipemakers know if the heat from smoking the pipe would do anything to that glue and plug. Make the stummel split open, set off a nuke, make the tobacco taste like bananas... you know, any of that normal bad stuff that could happen to a pipe.

Oh, I'd also rusticate the holy heck outta that bowl so nobody could see the plug... it's just the plug/glue I'm worried about and I have religious conflicts about knowingly ruining pieces of briar.

Why would you have to use glue? Why not just use a brass screw or some other ornament that screws in from the outside. You can then grind it down, whatever,looks great, no glue, no worries.

I did this with one of my early pipes as I had drilled the draught hole too far, and when I sanded the stummel, lo and behold, a hole appeared! Got the idea from here, of course!

Go with the brass or stainless screw idea. No glue in the chamber please. Maybe wood glue (like titebond), but no ca.

If you've got a nice little round hole, you can make a little plug that will friction fit. Jeff Gracik did this with one of his pipes that had one of those little limb like things show up that went through the bottom of the bowl. The you can pull it out while you're smoking for that "carburetor" effect.

Rad

Drill your air hole first. Make a plug to the appropriate length and make sure you have a good friction fit, then "glue" the plug in with sodium silicate (commonly used as a binder for bowl coatings). After the plug is cured, then bore the tobacco chamber...
That's how I'd do it, if I were going to...

If you're going to use a wood plug and not a brass screw or something similar, I'd say there are a couple of ways of approaching it.

1. Use a completely different type of wood, so it's way obvious that you drilled a holed there and filled it. Make it more of an adornment.

2. If you're good enough to make that hole disappear completely, go for it. But this is really hard.

If it's obvious that the hole is there, but it looks like you were trying to cover it up, it might be a bit suspect. But if you make it either disappear, or look completely obvious that you're not trying to cover it up, I think it will fly.

Just my thoughts anyway.

Rusticate

Hopefully, we're talking about a pipe you will keep for yourself. Please tell me this is correct.

Rad

Also, I'm no expert here, but in instrument repair we use heat to soften and split glue joints. Heat degrades most types of wood glue. I gather pipe tobacco burns at around 500 deg C, which is pretty darn hot. I believe CA breaks down at around 200 deg F. This is pretty typical for standard wood glue as well. I don't know if the glue would burn, but I suspect it would soften considerably. Now, I imagine nobody would be torquing this joint, but I would still suggest you avoid a glue joint in the bowl.

I also imagine a brass screw that goes through to the tobacco chamber (possibly contacting burning tobacco) could get quite hot.

Yeah, this is for a shop pipe right?

And, Alden is right. Heat like that kills most adhesives.

andrew wrote:
And, Alden is right. Heat like that kills most adhesives.

Sodium Silicate melts at 1088 °C, 1990 °F. It is used for applications ranging from head gasket sealing and exhaust system repair in cars, to preserving eggs and clarifying wine and spirits. I used to order it through Walmart pharmacy back before the days of the interwebs, but it is readily available online. You might find it under "water glass".

Some pipe manufacturers would coat the walls of their tobacco chambers with the water glass, then dump in powdered activated charcoal which stuck to the water glass to form a pre-carb layer, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, heat proof.

Yerp, I'm not crazy like the rest of you loonies, I don't sell my pipes. Call it a shop pipe, I'll smoke it anywhere.

I don't want anybody to see the plug or know it's there. Plan is "I'd also rusticate the holy heck outta that bowl so nobody could see the plug."


So now, will the plug hold without glue? That might be the best option. Backup plan might be this sodium silicate, "water glass," voodoo you speak of.

I'm not sure what type of shape you're aiming at but couldn't you drill "from the other side" with a plug (glued or not) in the smoke airway? That way you wouldn't have to worry about plug in the tobacco chamber..

If this doesn't comply with your design, please pretend you did not read this

OK, OK... even if I make it, I'll still probably never post pictures so I'll tell ya. I want to do a stretched out hawkbill so a solid straight airway will leave a couple holes in the shank.

I could put the plug in the shank, but then I'd have to rusticate the shank and I'd rather rusticate the bowl instead.

Maybe this whole idea was stupid.

SchmidtN wrote:OK, OK... even if I make it, I'll still probably never post pictures so I'll tell ya. I want to do a stretched out hawkbill so a solid straight airway will leave a couple holes in the shank.

I could put the plug in the shank, but then I'd have to rusticate the shank and I'd rather rusticate the bowl instead.

Maybe this whole idea was stupid.

Well rusticate the whole thing, why dontcha?

Yerp, that's an option too... or rusticate a racing stripe with the plug hidden in there.

I guess the gist is to avoid a plug in the bowl because that'll be bad?