Making a quality tobacco pipe

[johnlee1933]

I have the lathe and a decent 3 jaw chuck. Just need the know how. All materials are on hand also.I seem to have a leak in my creative juice resovoir.

Never thought about that. I have an old Shop Smith lathe/miller. I guess I could crank one out. Could I make it out of cherry, black walnut, maple or hickory?? I have a bit of any of them.

Hey you pipe guys -- Do the kit suppliers or anyone sell just stems?

John

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Pimo sells stems but if you have a lathe do like I do and make one on your lathe. PIMO has some nice tools to help you. Cherry is a nice wood to use as well as Olive wood.

 

[johnlee1933]

Pimo sells stems but if you have a lathe do like I do and make one on your lathe. PIMO has some nice tools to help you. Cherry is a nice wood to use as well as Olive wood.

Thanks Dude. I have made my cigar holders for years and the tough part for me is thinning the bit end enough to hold without breaking into the smoke bore. With Vulcanite or plastic they can get away with a much thinner wall. I thinking about a 3/4 bore with a 1/4 or 3/8 wall. This will be a desk pipe not teeth hold. If this works it would make testing my blends easier before rolling cigars and using up scrap ends and such.

John

 

[Aaron]

Johnlee... If you are wanting to use a wood for the bit on your pipes you could look into getting some Acrylic stabilized blanks. That should allow a thinner profile without sacrificing too much strength. I've been meaning to try this in the future, just not got around to it yet.

 

[Aaron]

I have the lathe and a decent 3 jaw chuck. Just need the know how. All materials are on hand also.I seem to have a leak in my creative juice resovoir.

The best place I know of to find information on pipemaking is http://www.pipemakersforum.com.

Here's a nice little tutorial on pipemaking for you to check out. http://www.woodturnersresource.com/extras/projects/pages/smoking_pipe.html

Hope this is helpful

 

[johnlee1933]

The best place I know of to find information on pipemaking is http://www.pipemakersforum.com.

Here's a nice little tutorial on pipemaking for you to check out. http://www.woodturnersresource.com/extras/projects/pages/smoking_pipe.html

Hope this is helpful

Thanks ! The wood turners article is now bookmarked. It helps a lot. This should not be too difficult with a 4 jaw chuck on my metal lathe. I have plenty of wood so if I screw up I can just start afresh. I'm figuring a straight model and I'm not after a work of art. Just something that works. When the weather turns cold this sounds like a neat project.

John

 

[Steve2md]

All the woods you mentioned work well, but I would personally stay away from the walnut for the stummel (the part with the bowl), as burning it and breathing it can cause a sensitivity to that wood.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

If you are going to use a 4 jaw chuck it's best to remove two of the jaws. With 2 jaws you have room on your blank for the stummel.
The stem is best turned by inserting a round blank into a collet.