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Total time from raw chunks to final pic?

Sas is handy to have around. It saves me a lot of typing and picture posting.

That's what's often referred to as a "camping pipe".

I have no idea if oak burns at too low a temp to be a suitable bowl, but there's only one way to find out, right?

Sweet.

Your inner repairman is starting to emerge.

Soon, you will categorically reject the merest thought connected with making new pipes, and spend all your time doing repair work. And all your sleep time dreaming about it.

This is your future.

Do not resist. Happiness awaits.

I don't blast pipes, but have talked to dozens of pipemakers over many years about shop stuff, and without a doubt their biggest regret when it comes to sandblasting equipment is having talked themselves into buying one that was too small. It's very nearly a CAN'T be too big/powerful situation. Shor...

Yup.

Tape a sheet of sandpaper---along the top only---to a dead flat surface, pull it tight with your non-work-holding hand, and lap the stummel on it.

Keep upping the grit until you're where you want to be.

The standard formula has been used for pipes for decades without problems. It's the standard. If the new Pro stuff is simply a more "environmentally friendly" version (which I suspect), whether it actually works better is a good question. MANY products that have been changed in that way do...

Yup.

Even the factories have never figured out a better way:

I'd love to see what one of those 50,000 frames-per-second cameras with 20X magnification would show is happening at the point of contact between cutter and rubber... My guess is that on a small scale ebonite is actually more "stretchy" than we IMAGINE it is because of how rigid a rod feel...

I've only ever seen the critters from a distance. By all accounts they are entertaining characters. Enjoy your inter-species friendship!

No worries in safety terms.

A number of commercial makers used to "dip stain" stummels, in fact.

Not recommended for appearance reasons, and (I suppose) could outgas microscopically the first few smokes and give an odd taste, but that's it.

Welcome to gettin' old. Moaning accompanies pretty much everything. :lol: I still find it hard to believe that a stick of 22mm ebonite that's protruding from a lathe chuck about 2.75" rather than 2.0" is ENOUGH longer to flex from the pressure of a finishing cut, but if adding a live cente...

Are you the guy on the left or right in the avatar photo?

Yes, stems are very tricky for me, especially the slit. Its abot 2,3mm on this pipe. I have another pipe I have not yet finnished and for life of me I couldnt get the slit any thinner than 2mm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qwt95H70rk&list=PLFwwtvtKlXW9LSrvtgfAwvFnp9jz7X0Sp&index=6 https...

What a fussy PITA... Everything working perfectly, then started on a piece of 22mm stem stock that was 3/4" longer than the previous one and it chattered hopelessly while cutting a tenon. Turns out it needed a live center to keep it from flexing. Everything else identical to before, only the le...

If that's your first-ever pipe you have either worked with hand tools in some other area like leather carving, making jewelry boxes, etc. OR you have a lot of raw talent. :D Your eye for line is excellent, your execution is remarkable (if indeed you are a true beginner). The only "jump off the ...

For most of my stem work (excluding facing cuts) I use sintered carbide cutters which I hone myself to a razor sharp edge as the factory edge is often too dull for working on plastics. I'm assuming the only way to cut carbide is with diamond, and that means one of those honeycomb-looking grit board...

I just looked up what top relief is, and it's definitely something I've been missing. All my cutters are flat. All righty, then. I'll give that a go and report back. (Only going to change one thing at a time so I'll know what's responsible for performance changes when they occur.) Muchacho gracioso,...

I can manage to get good results by test-cutting and tweaking each time I chuck up a new piece of material, but rarely DON'T have tear-out UNLESS I fuss with cutter height, feed speed, and rotational speed. Is that normal? If not, how do you guys avoid playing the "Hi! Can you guess what will w...