Tapered drill bits

[EpicDragon7]

As someone who is new to pipe making, I was wondering what the point of tape tip drill bits are, and why I should use one over a standard drill bit.

[LatakiaLover]

If the airway is kept a constant diameter, the bite zone is either too thick to be comfortable, or the airway too constricted when the bite zone IS normal/comfortable.

[EpicDragon7]

Ok, and along those thoughts, I have not seen a taper bit longer than 7.5 inches or so. If I was making a churchwarden with a 10 inch stem, would I be able to get away with heatind/ softening up the bit end and squeezing it down before shaping the stem, (like crushing down the ende of a straw), then filing out the bit with a needle file

[caskwith]

No, that doesn't work.

[EpicDragon7]

Cask with, what is the issue that causes that technique to fail?

[LatakiaLover]

I sense a long series of one-at-a-time questions coming.

This place doesn't work like that.

Find and watch a few good videos about stem making and read some step-by-step guides, then give it a go yourself.

Don't try to re-invent the process. It's been refined for many decades by thousands of people. You won't discover things that were overlooked by others.

After you've made a few, THEN ask questions---with accompanying pics when applicable---about specific things that you encountered along the way.

You will find lots of help here if you put in that sort of effort yourself.

Trying to walk through the process in your mind first, asking anticipatory questions that have already been answered countless times will just cause the pros who know the most to walk away. Guys like Chris Askwith (Caskwith) don't have time for that. They make pipes for a living and could be using it to make something to sell.

[caskwith]

Lots of reasons it doesn't work that will take lots of time to explain so take my word for it.

I see from your other posts that you are new to pipe making. Here is some super helpful advice to get your started, don't make a churchwarden stem.
You should make dozens, possibly hundreds of normal size stems before you think about making a churchwarden stem. They are a pain in the arse, the worst pain in the arse, probably the most time consuming, expensive and difficult stem to make.

If you want a churchwarden stem for a pipe, buy one and modify it to fit or send it out to a repairman to fit one for you.

[n80]

Check out this stem:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078L ... UTF8&psc=1

No it is not a high end stem but it is much better than most of the other low end Chinese junk. No you wouldn't use this stem for a paying client's pipe. But it is nice enough to make a decent churchwarden with. It isn't cheap but overall the quality is good. It says it is acrylic. I've bought two of them. Not sure if it is acrylic or not.

You can get vulcanite and acrylic churchwarden stems from Vermont Freehand. They are unfinished and the tenon has to be cut or shaped. They are unbent. Pay attention to dimensions though. I order one and it was tiny (slender).

George (another novice)

[wdteipen]

You can grind your own long tapered bit if you're hellbent on making a churchwarden. As has been mentioned, it's a tough place to start. There's a really good reason you don't see very many handmade churchwarden pipes. They aren't impossible but they are a real pain in the ass and expensive in time and material to make. Our standard tools don't work so you have to get creative and make your own and it's just not worth it for serious pipemakers.

[UnderShade]

I second what Wayne said. I love to smoke ‘em, but hate making them. A friend of mine really wanted me to make one, but because I don’t have the tools or desire to hand cut one, I got a couple of pre-molded churchwarden stems from Vermont Freehand, and it’s still a pain in the ass cutting tenons for them. I don’t have a collet that fits, so I ended up chucking it up in my 3 jaw and using my old Pimo tool,(which I don’t like due to it’s imprecision). Not saying don’t do it, just kinda not worth it if you have a high work load.

[KurtHuhn]

I'll be the voice of dissent. I don't find them to be that much of a chore, but I am tooled up for making them. I was, at one point, known for entertaining customer requests for churchwardens, so it was worth it for me to do. The down side is that churchwarden customers are not known for being regular pipe smokers, and the request was a flight of fancy for most - meaning that a handmade pipe price was a shocker for many of them. If anyone used to squawk, I'd point them to Vauen for their fantasy outlet.

[n80]

It does seem that the churchwardens attract the nostalgic/Lord of the Rings crowd rather than the serious pipe smoker and it does seem that they get dismissed as flights of fancy as Kurt mentioned.

A churchwarden was the first pipe I made, using the completely pre-made stem from China that I linked to above. The only reason I chose to make a churchwarden was the availability of this half decent and completely finished stem. I'd never had a churchwarden before and as my first pipe it is fairly crude.

What surprised me was that it smokes great and I really like the ergonomics of the long stem. I find myself going back to that crude pipe with the Chinese stem because the form factor suits me. If I was more of a serious smoker/ pipe buyer/ collector I'd probably look for a well made churchwarden for that reason.

At this point I would not even consider attempting to make a churchwarden stem from scratch. Of course I have not, yet, made any stem from scratch but I'm leaning that way.

[KurtHuhn]

At this point I would not even consider attempting to make a churchwarden stem from scratch. Of course I have not, yet, made any stem from scratch but I'm leaning that way.

Once you get a system down, making a stem from scratch is as easy and quick as using a premold stem. Once you get into the finer details, starting with a premold or a rough shaped stem from rod stock takes pretty much the same amount of time. At least in my experience.

[n80]

Once you get a system down, making a stem from scratch is as easy and quick as using a premold stem. Once you get into the finer details, starting with a premold or a rough shaped stem from rod stock takes pretty much the same amount of time. At least in my experience.

I may give it a try. I've read the how-to article (without a lathe) pinned in this forum a couple of times. It is starting to make sense.

George