Leland Maple ECP #1

[RobEsArt]

This is the 5th ECP (Expansion Chamber Pipe) I have made. The ECP body and two narrow inlay rings on the stem are from a Leland piano that was made around 1900. The flared ring on the bowl and the large inlaid ring on the stem are walnut. The stem is cut from German ebonite rod. The bowl was turned from Algerian Plateaux Briar.













Thank you for comments and critiques.
Rob

[sandahlpipe]

The calabash is a tough one to pull off. I've wanted to try one, but haven't worked up to it yet.

Here, I think the shank is a bit skinny for the bowl and also too tall and cylindrical. A calabash widens near the top more significantly. And the curve around the bowl to the stem should be a flowing line. The line here has an abrupt turn on the bottom of the bowl, rather than a flowing curve.

The stem should have a consistent taper in my opinion. There are a couple uneven pinch points on the stem that could be more graceful. Also, the corners of the button look sharp, but it's hard to see for sure on the pictures. I usually round over the sides of the button for comfort.

Is your gasket made from cork? I can't tell for sure. If it is cork, I wonder how that will hold up under moisture. Perhaps someone else knows for sure.

Keep 'me coming!

[RobEsArt]

The basic idea did come from the calabash concept. I wasn't trying to mimic the classic calabash shape. Not yet anyway. I like to play and experiment with different woods and use chunky scraps of briar for the insert bowl. The prototype in this line I smoke regularly, however, I made a maple shank extension that inserts into a jarra expansion chamber. The maple expanded more than the jarra would accommodate, and a crack appeared in the jarra section of the shank. A little disappointing, but now I get to make a Leland maple exp. chamber for the briar bowl and the stem from that first pipe. I love to play.

I will look at the corners of the button tomorrow. You may be correct. A little tweaking as necessary, and then move onto the next one.

The gasket is cork, I haven't had any issues with the prototype pipe regarding this. I do however use a light coating of cork grease (woodwind instrument conditioner for cork, available at most musical instrument stores. I happen to have some because I dabble with playing a tenor recorder from time to time).

For this type of pipe, I insert a fresh, half size cotton ball into the expansion chamber before every smoke. This collects moisture, and makes cleaning the exp. chamber real easy.

Thanks again for your thoughts and insights.

I hope this was a typo... "Keep 'me coming!" Would you at least buy dinner first.

[sandahlpipe]

Aargh! I hate autocorrect!

Good insight into the cork gasket. I think you're on the right track there.