Stem Material - Ebonite, Cumberland, Acrylic

souljer · Post by **souljer** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 3:51 am

Hello,

First off I'm new here, although I've been reading off and on for a while. Thanks for all the info so far! I'm an artist but usually work with paper, canvas, or wood as a base for ink & paint.

I've finally decided to make a few of my own pipes, not the least reason being that I can't afford the nicer pipes I want that I see in the stores. Well as we all know, a few steps down a new road brings forth new scenery which begets new questions.

The question I have today is: What is Cumberland made from? Is it a variation of Ebonite or is it an Acrylic? How is the shaping process different (if at all) and does it smoke different? Or is it simply a visual aesthetic choice?

I've carved about 2.5 bowls, but I'm having a hard time getting the bits right. I don't have a lathe so making the tenon is difficult to say the least. If anyone has an idea or technique for this, I would love to hear about that too.

Thanks for your help so far.

LexKY_Pipe · Post by **LexKY_Pipe** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 12:33 pm

I would think it would be hard to work with if your shaping stems strictly by hand. But I'm not sure.

souljer · Post by **souljer** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 11:12 pm

Thanks for the information.

I have been trying to make the bits out of acrylic because that is easily available to me and I figured it would be good practice. However I want to move on to Ebonite and was wondering where Cumberland fell into the mix.

It is almost impossible (so far) to make the tenon with any degree of accuracy without a lathe. I can not give up though since I don't have and will not have a lathe at any time in the near future. I did finally get my first pipe sorta done and smoked my first bowl. Now to carry on and finish it!

Naturally being me, I started with three blocks and some acrylic rod. No one is going to pre-drill my wood! I figured I was going to hand cut my own stems anyway, so why waste time.

I seem to have found some of the tools I need, and have stopped returning things every-other day lol. Finally one of the guys at the hardware store asked me, "What are you making?"

That reminded me of the Tom Waits song that's really my theme song, since I'm always working on some little project like this. It's called, "What's He Building In There?"
He has subscriptions to those magazines
and what about all those packages he sends?
What's that sound from underneath the door?
He's pounding nails into a hardwood floor.
He's has a router, and a table saw
He gets a lot of mail,
I bet he spent a little time in jail.
What's he building in there,
We have a right to know...

There's more to it, but I don't want to write the whole thing out here. I think it's pretty funny though.

JordanSharpes · Post by **JordanSharpes** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 1:28 am

Love that song (if that is what its considered)

Brendhain · Post by **Brendhain** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 10:40 am

Random......you freaken ADDICT!!! 8O

No wonder you don't think other people have time to hand cut stems!!

You spend all of your day on this forum!!!:naughty:

Just kidding! I just noticed that you have gone over the 1000 posts mark and that makes you, officially, a Forum Addict!

souljer · Post by **souljer** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:49 pm

Random wrote:

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 11:21 pm
Souljer wrote:

I figured I was going to hand cut my own stems anyway, so why waste time.

Why?

What I meant by that was; If I'm going to get around to doing it, why not just do it sooner rather than later. The sooner I start, the sooner I start learning how.

Random wrote:

It seems like most new makers plan to hand-cut their stems. Why?

I have no idea why other people do a lot of things. I can't answer that. Why do you use Ultem?

Random wrote:

You won't get paid enough more for a pipe with a hand-cut stem to make it worth the time it takes to hand-cut it.

Unless you need the artistic freedom making stems from scratch provides, I'd say don't bother.

That's a very funny thing to say to someone who is making his own pipes at all! LOL Whether or not I hand cut my stems or buy them prefab, considering how much work it has been so far I don't think I'm going to get paid enough to make "it worth the time".

At least if "worth the time" is measured only in dollars. Payment has many forms. I make art to make money, yes that's true. However, I choose to make art to make money because the rewards are not only monetary, but emotional. A passion I just don't think I'd feel as a fry cook or office manager. Have you made more money for your time doing other work in the past? Did you enjoy that work more than pipe-making? Do you enjoy your life more now than then?

I think that hand cutting my own stems is a manifestation of the passion I feel for creating something that I like with my own hands. When I considered making a pipe or three I thought it would be fun. The idea of money never even crossed my mind. For me, it has NOTHING to do with getting "paid enough". There are many other ways (easier ways) to make money that are both less dusty and dirty and do not require putting your hands near sharp and course edges moving at very high speeds! I do it because I can and I want to and I enjoy it.

Random wrote:

Think about it before you do a lot of work that maybe you don't need to do.

Okay, with an open mind and in respect of your experience, I'll buy a few and see were that takes me. The worse that can happen is I'll learn something. And that's always been a pretty good deal for me.