How would you go about making a p-lip in the home shop?

For discussion of fitting and shaping stems, doing inlays, and any other stem-related topic.
Post Reply
Sickle
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Jun 30, 2021 12:57 am

How would you go about making a p-lip in the home shop?

Post by Sickle »

I've come up with 2 possibilities:

#1: Drill 2 holes, the main airway, then the second hole after you've finished the main shaping of the mouthpiece.

#2 Drill one hole, and bend the tip up before the final shaping steps.

What would you do? I'd love to see some attempts!
LatakiaLover
Posts: 3120
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 4:29 am
Location: Kansas City, USA
Contact:

Re: How would you go about making a p-lip in the home shop?

Post by LatakiaLover »

Peterson doesn't carve them. They're molded. If you are shooting to make an exact copy, know that the airway is not parallel-sided but conical.

As for the turn up, definitely #2
UFOs must be real. There's no other explanation for cats.
Sickle
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Jun 30, 2021 12:57 am

Re: How would you go about making a p-lip in the home shop?

Post by Sickle »

Good to know, thanks!
User avatar
Sasquatch
Posts: 5147
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:46 am

Re: How would you go about making a p-lip in the home shop?

Post by Sasquatch »

Bend the tip. A good P-lip is pretty tricky to make, but the process is something like this: make the stem as you ordinarily would, but leave the button both thicker and longer than you would, the p-lip is going to be some 5/16 or 3/8" long right? Get the end of this thick chunk hot and bend the tip up about 45 degrees, then carve the p lip around it. Once you muck a couple up, you'll see how to do it and it's certainly do-able, but the demand for them is low so it's not something a guy needs to have handy very often.
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
Sickle
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Jun 30, 2021 12:57 am

Re: How would you go about making a p-lip in the home shop?

Post by Sickle »

Thanks for the tips, sasquatch! I'll definitely give it a try.
Jetsam
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2022 1:08 pm

Re: How would you go about making a p-lip in the home shop?

Post by Jetsam »

I have tried a few p-lips with varying degrees of failure and came to the conclusion that there was some dark magic involved. That was until Christmas day, in fact, when Mark Irwin uploaded a video on his blog of Paddy Larrigan making a freehand, including the hand cut stem. I watched with equal measure of awe and dispair: no dark magic - he eyeballed it and freehand drilled. Fascinating video from 70s with Paddy doing a voice-over(stem is about 17 min in, but well worth watching in full). Enjoy.

https://petersonpipenotes.org/2021/12/2 ... -his-pipe/
Post Reply