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Do I love my Zippo enough? I hope not. I know zippos are great when it's windy but I much prefer butane.

Happy Birthday!

Nice pipe.

Did you round all of this by hand? You did an excellent job. It looks really uniform.

"Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company"
Mark Twain

FWIW, your pipe is definitely not a POS.

I wouldn't say it's required but it sure does help. Prior to making my first pipe I pretty much had no shop training of any kind. I'm not talking about master machinist... basic shop skills. I freely admit I don't know anything about machining, how to make precision parts or the tooling required. I...

Really learning about woodworking and lathe tools, how to properly use them, making and sharpening tooling, etc. has become part of the joy and pleasure of making pipes for me. As a new pipe maker, I had this idea that you just drill some holes, shape the pipe, and finish it. I now know that learni...

Thanks Steve. I'm only learning now about "real" tools as I studied electrons and radio waves. Not doing me any good now. :lol: I've seen the stuff about relief being needed before. Is the function to allow the removal of chips or is there some other reason? I'll probably buy a couple of t...

I use silver and demming bits from Ace Hardware, and I grind the profile that I want on a bench grinder. Rad I know this is an old topic but does anyone have some example pictures they could post? I like the idea of using these bits. I have no idea what the tip should look like. No point at all? Is...

Steve, it's a nice improvement over the eBay page. Do you have any plans to set up a shopping cart right on your web page?

I'd venture that once 50th Sistine chapel would be better. In fact, I think this plays out IN the Sistine chapel. I haven't seen it myself, but a friend who visited said one striking thing about the chapel is the improvement of the painting quality as the project progressed. One end of the chapel i...

Excellent.

Well damn. :lol: I do work slow and try to do the very best I can assuming it will improve my skills faster. The problem is I want a half way decent pipe when I'm done. Now, this approach will make it less likely I would post a pipe for critique because I wouldn't give a shit about trying to make it...

I think it depends on the complexity of the object being made. Make 50 clay pots vs 1. Ok, I'll accept making more is better. Painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? Well, you know ... Slow and deliberate is what creates muscle memory. Intent matters. Ask any musician. So, I agree with Scottie.

Guys, I really hope Scottie has started something here. The opportunity to ask a pro why they do what they do is priceless even if it's a preference thing. :) Asking a pro is worth it. Best is to let a pro handle the pipe so they can see every angle. Posting here comes pretty close, though. What I ...

Guys, I really hope Scottie has started something here. The opportunity to ask a pro why they do what they do is priceless even if it's a preference thing.

I'm certainly not in a position to critique, but a long time pipe smoker I have to say the pipe is well done with a decent blast and nice stain. Well done!

Wayne, so barring any flaws would you have a perfectly straight linear taper from the shank to the button or would you start the taper 1/4" in?

Thanks.

I talked to Tim West yesterday when ordering some stuff and he's working with a machinist to manufacture an improved version that allows more precision ... but he couldn't give me a date he would have them.