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Pipe Making supplies and sources

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Knucklehead

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You guys got me all fired up to make a pipe so I'm assembling the required means and materials. The first order of business was to convert my lathe from a table leg, spindle, balluster configuration to one that I can turn pipes on. I just finished giving everything a good cleaning with brake cleaner and a dose of penetrating oil in preparation. I ordered the following chucks and jaws to hold my briar blocks.

The economy 4 jaw chuck: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/CUG3418CCX.html
The economy tower jaws: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCALJAWS.html
A keyless drill chuck for the tailstock: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/TM32KL.html

I ordered some Briar blocks and premade ebonite stems from this guy in Greece: http://stores.ebay.com/Alexander-Briar He got some really good reviews on www.pipemakersforum.com. We'll see. I'm going to send a couple blocks to BarG and we're going to have us an old timey pipe making hoe down!

I want to start with a 1/4 bent Rhodesian style and then a 1/4 bent Bulldog. "They" say to start with a straight pipe first but what do "they" know? I just like those styles. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome and appreciated. I also ordered the PIMO book and Smoke Chamber, Air Hole and Stem Mortise drills, along with buffs, tripoli and carnauba wax from here: http://www.pimopipecraft.com/tools.html. Hopefully all will start showing up so I can start on my first pipe in a couple weeks. Well that's the plan. I eventually will make my own stems and will need a good source of ebonite and delrin and mucho advise and critique as I go along and post pictures.

Ok time for you guys to chime in........
 
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Aaron

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Sounds like you're off to a great start. That's awesome. I can't wait to see what you come up with. You'll have to let me know what you think about that chuck. I've been trying to decide between that one and the Barracuda. My independent chuck is a PIA and I just broke one of the jaws while working on a pipe for BarG. Luckily I only use two at a time so I had a couple spares.

As far as whether to do a straight vs. bent to start, I'd say do whatever you want and I'm sure you'll find a way to make it work and you'll have more fun doing it. One downside to doing a bent is having to realign the stummel to drill the airway after you drill the mortise, though even on straights I like to angle the airway up a few degrees anyway.

I've never used a premade stem before so I'm no help on those. I've read that a lot of folks get their ebonite from http://sem-ebonite.com/cms/front_content.php?idcat=2 They are in Germany. The only place I've found to buy ebonite rod in the states is http://www.exoticblanks.com/index.p...art&page=shop.browse&category_id=41&Itemid=60 but it seems they rarely ever have black or cumberland in stock. There's probably a bunch of places to find Delrin but I've been getting mine from msc supply. I've used plain Delrin but I'm liking the Delrin with Teflon http://www1.mscdirect.com/eCommerce...77dt2?refinement=4288836557&searchandizedOk=Y

If I can answer any specific questions you may have you can always send me a PM. I've been very occupied the last few weeks and haven't been able to keep up with all the posts but I will see a pm easier.

Let the shavings fly :cool:
 

Irishhorsemaster

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I am really excoted for you. Who knows, you may the next Bo Nordh! I know some folks who just wanted to make a pipe as a hobby only to find themselves to be be in the spotlight as very good pipemakers later. You really got me excited about the pipe. How about putting the making of your pipes in a series of of pictures here (if you have time that it). By the way, are you making your own mouthpiece or one thats pre-made? Bulldog is my favourite style , Rhodesian being a close second. There was a pipe chart/poster by ASP but I think they are no longer around. How big is the airhole going to be? Some like it bigger some smaller. Good luck in making your pipe and please post pictures if you can!
 

Knucklehead

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Aaron - thanks for your help even though you're mostly to blame for me wanting to do this. I'll sure let you know about the chuck and the tall jaws. They really recommend taller jaws to keep the briar from flying out the window. They got good reviews on the pipemakersforum and if you read the reviews from Penn State Industries it got great reviews there too. Is your lathe a metal lathe or wood lathe? I'm kind of wondering how to make stems on a wood lathe. I've started reading all the posts on www.pipemakersforum.com but haven't joined. Maybe we can start our own mini forum here and get the guys to buy our tobacco! LOL

Irishhorsemaster - you should look at the thread on the pipe Aaron made here: http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?1357-Pipe-progress. I think some lucky member of this forum ended up with it. There are some nice pictures of pipes he made in this thread: http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?1142-good-first-pipe I will do some pictures as I go along with a disclaimer ever so often that this is my first pipe. The airhole will be 11/64. The chamber 7/8. I will be modifying the airhole and shape of a pre-made stem until I get my confidence up. I would really like to find some kind of chart or something. What is ASP? Another good pipe build is the one Deluxestogie built up using a minimum of tools. It's really cool: http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?432-Making-a-quality-tobacco-pipe

Thanks for the replies ya'll. I have my fingers crossed while I still have all of them. :)
 

Irishhorsemaster

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Aaron - thanks for your help even though you're mostly to blame for me wanting to do this. I'll sure let you know about the chuck and the tall jaws. They really recommend taller jaws to keep the briar from flying out the window. They got good reviews on the pipemakersforum and if you read the reviews from Penn State Industries it got great reviews there too. Is your lathe a metal lathe or wood lathe? I'm kind of wondering how to make stems on a wood lathe. I've started reading all the posts on www.pipemakersforum.com but haven't joined. Maybe we can start our own mini forum here and get the guys to buy our tobacco! LOL

Irishhorsemaster - you should look at the thread on the pipe Aaron made here: http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?1357-Pipe-progress. I think some lucky member of this forum ended up with it. There are some nice pictures of pipes he made in this thread: http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?1142-good-first-pipe I will do some pictures as I go along with a disclaimer ever so often that this is my first pipe. The airhole will be 11/64. The chamber 7/8. I will be modifying the airhole and shape of a pre-made stem until I get my confidence up. I would really like to find some kind of chart or something. What is ASP? Another good pipe build is the one Deluxestogie built up using a minimum of tools. It's really cool: http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?432-Making-a-quality-tobacco-pipe

Thanks for the replies ya'll. I have my fingers crossed while I still have all of them. :)

Thats a good size airhole you are putting on. Easy draw with that. I did see the pipe Aaron made in the link and it looks lovely. A lot of professionals use pre-made stems so I think you are in good company. ASP if I am not mistaken was the first pipe website in the web I think. Burney started it up I think and they created a poster with the various pipe shapes in it. There were so many shapes that I never knew about. I can't find the site for some reason. Deluxestogie's pipe looks great too. Reminds me of a Romanian in Ireland who makes them the same way. there are some sites with pipe shapes out there, but if you need it, I will search them up for you.
 

Knucklehead

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Thanks for the offer IH but I found shapes for all kinds and saved them to the computer. I got Peterson shapes too but it's a PDF and I can't figure out how to load it. The airhole drill was the only one PIMO offered so I figured it must be a common size.

SavinelliChart1.jpgSavinelliChart2.jpg
 

bosun

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Sounds like you believe in jumping in the deep end when starting something new! I've hand carved a few for myself over the years but compared to me you are a serious man!
 

Knucklehead

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Sounds like you believe in jumping in the deep end when starting something new! I've hand carved a few for myself over the years but compared to me you are a serious man!

OCD all the way, that's me. My father is a true old school craftsman in wood so I grew up learning from one of the best. The only way I know to do anything is to give it my all and do the best I possibly can or not do it at all. I also research something to death. By the time I finish my preparations I'm plum tuckered out! LOL OCD that's me. I've planned and prepped my tobacco season so thoroughly I'm sitting around with nothing to do, so I figure, what the hell, build a pipe. I've been non-stop building that damn pipe for two weeks now, night and day, and I don't even have my wood yet. Yup, that's me, OCD. I checkered my first rifle stock for 17 straight hours cause I couldn't find a good stopping point. I hurt all over. I need valium.
 

Knucklehead

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I don't use any of the stuff but from what I've heard Prozac will punch you out for quite a while. -- J

I was just kidding. I don't even take aspirin. Now a good slug of white fire water with a little honey and lemon - maybe so, maybe so.
 

Irishhorsemaster

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Those 2 posters are great Alabama. I like them. I liked thed the one from ASP because because they actually had the name of shape for eg. apple, snail, tomato, bulldog, etc. As for the airholes, I noticed some years ago that the Americans preferred larger holes compared to the Europeans. But as time passed, everybody has their own preference. I personally like ebonite, partly because it was what was used long time ago. It doesn't mean ebonote is better though. I just do prefer ebonite as it reminds me of the past. Acrylic is so much easier to clean though. I noticed that you are buying the whole rod so you are making them from scratch I think. I really like that shape you have picked up for your pipe. Boy O boy, I just can't wait to see your finished pipe!
 

Knucklehead

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Leverhead is working on the Peterson pipe poster so maybe it will get posted soon. Right now I'm finding sources for rod to make my own but I may start with a pre-fab that's close to what I want in shape and modify it so I can concentrate on the pipe shape. I'm sure I'll be wanting to see what the pipe looks like with polish on it so I have to rein myself in and have patience. Starting with a prefab stem for my first couple can help keep my attention focused on the stummel shaping and then I'll work my way up to making my own stems like Aaron. I think I can do enough mods on the prefab so it doesn't look like off the shelf though. I plan on redrilling it with a tapered bit and reworking the slit in the end for better air flow and then shaping the outside some to give it my own shape that will flow with the pipe. All this is just in my head now. The finished pipe may end up in the mulch pile. lol

I've also saved a ton of pictures of homemade pipes from the gallery on the pipe makers forum. There are some killer pipes on there and some well known pipe makers. I just joined the forum. They have one header on growing your own tobacco so I may be able to send several of them over here to learn growing and maybe they will share pipe making advise while here. That would be awesome.
 

Knucklehead

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I got my Chuck, Jaws and drill chuck installed on my lathe. Still waiting on briar and materials. They don't sell briar at Lumber Mart.

Chuck.jpgLathe.jpg
 

Knucklehead

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Thanks John. My father left the turning tools in a bucket after his move to next door to me. Somehow the bucket got water in it so Î really had to give them a good wire brushing. Then the OCD took over and I refinished the handles! I still have to resharpen every one of them.
 
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