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Naw, I just find Chinese cigarettes raunchy, and I've tried them all... low quality tobacco with way too many chemicals. Virginia?... please. How do you define "Virginia"?

Queequeg is the hero, Ahab is not, Moby is the anti-hero, Ishmael is a fly on the wall that gets off on spermaceti.

Cigarette tobacco is usually Burley, is cased with all kinds of chemicals and additives, is ribbon cut, and is typically completely dry by the time you smoke it... all these factors contribute to it's harshness in a pipe. Not to mention that Chinese tobacco is raunchy to begin with (even the famed C...

Yup, Latakia is fire-cured, typically with White Oak and herbaceous (bring us a) shrubbery. I've been experimenting with trying to make my own Latakia (will post pics at some point), but so far, it just tastes like smoked salmon. Cigarette tobacco is flue-cured and then left to age in "bales&qu...

Stoving, as the word implies, means you heat up already cured and "in case" (moist) tobacco. It cooks out some of the nicotine and harsher aspects of the tobacco... mellows it. With Virginias, I've found stoving removes some tongue bite, so you can smoke it hotter. You can stove your own s...

"light touch" is essential with tripoli... and white diamond,... in fact, any time you put a pipe to a buffing wheel. If it is very grimey, use tripoli. If it is not as grimey, use white diamond... but always, the light touch. On greenish stems, use sandpaper first. Sandpaper on the stumme...

Fairlight wrote:
... but the question remains, it is safe to use tripoli with a light touch on finishes like these?

Yup.

Chamfering the stummel end of the tenon means cutting/sanding 90 degree edge down (~45 deg) so the tenon diameter going into the stummel starts out smaller than mortise diameter. Although humidity affects the wood stability, it may not be a factor in your woes. Like Rad said, the same drill bit will...

Where do you buy that size, Rad? That's much thinner walls than I have been using. If you maintain a 5/32 airway, you can run a 5/32 drill bit through it when/if the bamboo swells from absorbing moisture. Some bamboo does this more than others, but I got a pipe back from a customer that was totally...

Where do you buy that size, Rad? That's much thinner walls than I have been using. The SS tube Rad mentioned is .188 OD, .156 ID = .016 thick wall, which is thick. The SS tube I mentioned is .156 OD, .146 ID = .005 thick wall, which is thinner. The ID 5/32" and OD 3/16" SS tube makes sens...

As usual, nice flowing shape that works well with olive grain, but as usual, I am concerned about the bit work. Your organic button areas match the general shaping, but don't conform to the usual conventions of comfort. I like a thin wide bit with a button lip. I'm not sure I could adapt to your sty...

I'd suggest O.D. 5/32", .146" ID.

Here's a link to a post which covered this:

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4481


You can get it at McMasterCarr, lickety-split.

Sounds like a SEM rod to me. I had the same "geewhiz" moment when I first shaped SEM rod.

Here we golden ratio again. I'm never quite sure who's on A and what's on B when determining where on the pipe parts to measure out the ratio from, but it has to "look right" and then apply the golden ratio to rationalize your intuition and fine tune your lengths. Around 3/4 length of the ...

Incredible old American machinery. The 3D contour capability is just the trick for shank (and stem?) engraving. Tsunami, are you going to use it only for pipe engraving? It seems to me it's too much machine not to be used for other purposes. The best part is that J.Riser can now make pretty much any...

Anyone who underestimates the erudition of PMFers or Alabamans, be forewarned, if you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it - the supreme excellence is simplicity.

If you are the last post in a topic, it won't show an edit to that post. If someone posts after you and you edit after they post, your post will start tallying the edits.

Do not sand the inside of the bowl to any fine grits. That's my opinion. It seems some makers take the trouble to sand the interior chamber smooth in order to make it very difficult for the user to start a carbon cake - it's counter productive, if you ask me. I actually rough up the chamber with low...

Any "home improvement" center should have a decent 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" forstner bit. Be sure to get "precision ground" so the flats cut flat. I've had good luck with the Freud brand.

Todd's ditty on why some makers (as opposed to Rad) use delrin tenons is must read...

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4752