CrazyManAndy Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 (edited) (If the mods feel this should go into a different area, feel free to move it, I just wasn't sure) I'm an avid tobacco pipe smoker and, like guitars, I have an uncontrollable desire to understand how they're made. So I decided to get some materials and tools (got to grab one of these) and put one together for myself. I plan to keep track and take progress pics for anyone who's interested. The wood used to make most pipes is called briar wood, aka tree heath, or Erica arborea. The actual pieces come from the root of the plant. Here is the chunk I'm going to be using: That's all for now, until everything I ordered arrives. To pass the time, here's an interesting presentation on the harvesting of the wood: http://www.theitalianpipe.com/make/briarharvest.htm CMA (P.S. Yes, yes, I know I should be working on my Tele! Don't worry, I will be getting more done on that soon. I've been sick the past week which has prevented me from making much progress.) Edited January 11, 2008 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 That's awesome! Where did you pick up the wood? I would love to make some of these, I have a couple of friends who they would make great gifts for. Definitely keeps showing us detailed progress pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted January 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 Hey Matt! I got the block from a pipe maker I know, and he is going to pre-drill the holes for me as well, so all I have to do is the shaping and finishing. Check this out: http://pipedia.org/index.php?title=Pipe_Making That website has recommendations on pipe kits, tools, books, how to, etc. You should find what you're looking for there. Some other good links: http://www.pimopipecraft.com/ http://www.jhlowe.com/briar.htm http://www.pipemakers.org/ CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telesque Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 (P.S. Yes, yes, I know I should be working on my Tele! Don't worry, I will be getting more done on that soon. I've been sick the past week which has prevented me from making much progress.) So, you're at least gonna make this pipe guitar shaped right? With a tiny fretboard glued along the mouthpiece? Mother of pearl inlays?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted January 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 (P.S. Yes, yes, I know I should be working on my Tele! Don't worry, I will be getting more done on that soon. I've been sick the past week which has prevented me from making much progress.) So, you're at least gonna make this pipe guitar shaped right? With a tiny fretboard glued along the mouthpiece? Mother of pearl inlays?! Not this time around, but damn! That's a cool idea! CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Any update here? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted February 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2008 (edited) Hey Chris, I didn't realize you replied! I need to check my threads more often, lol. I did not want to start until all of my tools arrived, so that's the real reason for the delay. I do have a small update though. Here is a pic with the shape drawn onto the briar: You may notice that the tobacco chamber is now angled. I told the guy who drilled it for me to do that, as I want to give the bowl a sense of forward motion. I've already started taking off the excess with a coping saw. Boy, do I wish I had a bandsaw now more than ever! Briar is some hard shite! It laughs at any cutting tool I throw at it, lol. At the very least, I'm going to finish cutting off the excess today, and take a few pics. CMA Edited February 2, 2008 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anderekel Posted February 2, 2008 Report Share Posted February 2, 2008 That's cool, seems like that would be fun, and hard, to carve out. speakin' of which I gotta continue on that celtic knot for the girlfriend..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted February 3, 2008 Report Share Posted February 3, 2008 Smokin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted February 3, 2008 Report Share Posted February 3, 2008 >snip< Very Nice Andy, BTW do you know where I can get some replacement pushpulls for my meerschams without having to buy 100+ of them. The only place I have found is pipemakers.org, but must spend $100 min. and thats about 144 pushpulls. I only need 5 LOL:) Then I can repair most of my pipes and have 2 spares Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted February 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 The guy I got the pipe kit from now has a page on his website for pipe kits, if you want to check it out: http://penguinbriar.com/kits/ Good prices and great quality. MiKro: I've been looking around, but so far, no luck. I'll keep on it though, and let you know what I find out! Other than that, not much to speak of, haven't taken anymore pics yet. I should be getting a bandsaw soon, so that'll help speed things up for sure. CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 The guy I got the pipe kit from now has a page on his website for pipe kits, if you want to check it out: http://penguinbriar.com/kits/ Good prices and great quality. MiKro: I've been looking around, but so far, no luck. I'll keep on it though, and let you know what I find out! Other than that, not much to speak of, haven't taken anymore pics yet. I should be getting a bandsaw soon, so that'll help speed things up for sure. CMA Thx Andy!! mk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted February 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Hey MiKro, I am told that your order only has to be $100 if you want to start an account. You can still order from them like you would any other place, you just won't be able to start an account. Whatever that means, lol! Let me know if it works out or not. CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted February 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 MiKro: You can also get push-pulls at J.H. Lowe. Quick update, just a few pics after doing some cutting with the coping saw and a little sanding with the belt sander. I'm gonna wait until the band saw arrives before I finish removing the excess. Bulk Removal 1 Bulk Removal 2 Bulk Removal 3 CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted February 11, 2008 Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 (edited) Hey MiKro, I am told that your order only has to be $100 if you want to start an account. You can still order from them like you would any other place, you just won't be able to start an account. Whatever that means, lol! Let me know if it works out or not. CMA Thanks Andy, I think I'll order a 10pack then, and not worry about an account I should have called or emailed them, but it appeared that they only took a $100 order minimum by the website. Btw it's looking good can't wait to here how it smokes Thanks Mike Edited February 11, 2008 by MiKro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted February 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 (edited) Glad we got that worked out, Mike! They are supposed to be tops when it comes to service and such, so I'm sure they'll take good care of ya. Now that I have the band saw set-up, I tested it out by doing some more bulk removal on the pipe. Enjoy! Bulk Removal 4 Bulk Removal 5 Bulk Removal 6 Bulk Removal 7 CMA Edited February 23, 2008 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted May 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 I made some progress on the pipe while I'm waiting for more wood for the Tele. This is how the pipe is as of right now. That's just water to bring out the grain. It's sanded up to 400 grit in prep for the finish. Here are the progress pics: Bulk Removal 8 General Shape Finished 1 General Shape Finished 2 General Shape Finished 3 General Shape Finished 4 General Shape Finished 5 Final Shape Done 1 - You can see here that I refined the area where the bowl and shank meet, and the bottom of the bowl. Final Shape Done 2 Final Shape Done 3 Finished Sanded 1 Finished Sanded 2 CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted May 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 (Quick disclaimer: For some reason, the pipe appears much more red in many of the pictures than it is in person. I don't know why, but it does.) Ok! Finally finished! Here we go: Staining and Finishing 1 - Setting up an area to stain the pipe. Staining and Finishing 2 - This is a slice of briar I'm using as a test piece. Staining and Finishing 3 - Once I decided on a color I liked, I gave the pipe several good coats of stain, with some light sanding in between each coat. Staining and Finishing 4 - After letting the stain dry for an hour or so, I sanded it back to the amount of color I wanted. Staining and Finishing 5 - Time to apply the carnauba wax with a sewn muslin buff. This is my buffing setup. Staining and Finishing 6 - Carnauba done. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Once you get a feel for it, it's smooth sailing. Almost Done 1 2 - I decided to take a couple of pics with the stem in. In these pictures, the stem has been bent, filed, and sanded up to 1000 grit. To bend it, I filled a pan with sand and heated it to 270 degrees. I took the pan out of the oven and put the stem in the sand for a few minutes. It was then pliable enough to bend it with my hands. Alright then! Time for the final product. I polished the stem using tripoli (a sanding rouge) and a muslin buff. I love how it turned out. A couple of things I should mention though. I forgot to remove the damn bark from the shank plateau (the face of the shank). It won't affect the pipe's smoking ability, but it won't look too pretty once it starts coming off. I'm probably going to take a crack at fixing it before too long. Also, it doesn't look like the stem goes all the way in, in the pictures. It does, I just neglected to push it all the way in. Anyway, enough blabber. The pics man! Finished Pipe 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Enjoy! CMA (Here's a pic of me breaking it in. View at your own discretion! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted May 18, 2008 Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 This is really cool. I'm definitely going to have to do a couple of these in the near future myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted May 18, 2008 Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 Very nice job. I would love to do something like that, but I seem to stick with my cigars. I just never got a pipe to burn right. I've read up on it, and it definitely takes time to learn how to pack one right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_48_Johnson Posted May 18, 2008 Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 A couple of years ago I made a pipe out of oak. I see why they make them out of briar now. I didn't make the stem, I used a stem from I pipe I already had, and made the pipe fit the stem. After I smoked it for a while, the grain started to split, (heat/moisture), and I had a long hole in the side that followed the grain of the oak. It smoked really well, but only laster a short time. I didn't take any pictures of it or anything, but it turned out quite well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted May 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 This is really cool. I'm definitely going to have to do a couple of these in the near future myself. Can't wait to see them! It's a really fun project. And even if you screw one up, your only out 20 bucks or so. Very nice job. I would love to do something like that, but I seem to stick with my cigars. I just never got a pipe to burn right. I've read up on it, and it definitely takes time to learn how to pack one right. Yeah, pipe smoking does have a bit of a learning curve. It took me four or five months to really get my technique down, and I still have trouble with some blends. The learning curve increases if you smoke many, many different blends, and different cuts, like I do. Many folks just stick to one or two blends and call it a day. Cigars are great though! If you decide to pick up the pipe again, come over to smokersforums.org. It's an amazing forum with some great folks who'd be more than willing to help you out. A couple of years ago I made a pipe out of oak. I see why they make them out of briar now. I didn't make the stem, I used a stem from I pipe I already had, and made the pipe fit the stem. After I smoked it for a while, the grain started to split, (heat/moisture), and I had a long hole in the side that followed the grain of the oak. It smoked really well, but only laster a short time. I didn't take any pictures of it or anything, but it turned out quite well. Awesome! Would've liked to have seen that one. Other woods have been successfully used in pipe making (maple, walnut, and maybe some others), but briar is probably the ideal wood. CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_48_Johnson Posted May 19, 2008 Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 Sine the grain in the briar root goes in every direction it has to be the best. If it starts to crack from the heat/moisture, the next layer of grain stops it from checking very far and holds it together. Fantastic work by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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