Selecting a block?

[E.L.Cooley]

Sandahl, thank you for opening my eyes to this topic and thanks to everyone who has offered input. I know I am still grabbing a block and cutting it up. But if I have an idea what the goal is in grain and shape. I imagine it will help down the road. At my job my team has a brand new apprentice. I noticed he did not have a multimeter on his van. I gave him one of my backup multimeters and told him that he really needed one so he could make sure that the power is off before he touches anything. Later that day he asked me what all the symbols on the meter meant and how to turn it on. Thanks for opening my eyes to yet another topic I had no clue about.


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[sandahlpipe]

Glad to pass on what I've learned. I've spent the past year learning mostly stems and how to make a pipe with proper fit and finish. Before those things, I didn't even need to worry about the briar. I tell you, though, learning how to make a comfortable stem is the best skill you can learn in pipe making. For me, it makes all the difference. My favorite smoker right now is an ugly lovat that has an ugly stem. But it's comfortable and light, so I smoke it frequently. Oh...and the grain is ugly, but it's looking decent blasted.

[E.L.Cooley]

Sandahl thanks for that too. I'm currently working on my third stem. Which I can see your point stem com for one the most important details. I've mostly been reading about that in threads. Turns out as long as behind the button is <.015 nothing else matters, right? J/k.


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[wdteipen]

Here's an example of a pipe I recently completed where I got nice grain but didn't quite get the grain oriented just right:



The grain tilts toward the stem. The dilemma I ran into is that I had already started shaping the shank when I realized the grain wasn't orienting right on the bowl. If I changed the shape to orient the grain on the bowl at this point, it would have been impossible to drill because the tobacco chamber would have angled away from the airway and my airway would have to be too high to compensate. I probably should have gone a completely different route as far as choosing the shape for this particular block.

[oklahoma red]

Sandahl thanks for that too. I'm currently working on my third stem. Which I can see your point stem com for one the most important details. I've mostly been reading about that in threads. Turns out as long as behind the button is <.015 nothing else matters, right? J/k.


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Uh, you might want to move your decimal point to the right one notch.
Chas.

[E.L.Cooley]

Oh .15 got it I guess that explains how I ended up in the draft tube


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[wisemanpipes]

A plateaux block cut from a smaller burl will have a tighter radius which makes for better grain orientation for an apple while a plateaux block cut from a large burl with grain that is more (nearly) straight up and down with only slight fanning is going to make for a better billiard.

This stuff matters and it pays to learn it now.

ill be the first to admit im wrong when I am, but I dont know if I am, so ill take your word for it on this Wayne. It makes a lot of sense when I think about it though. maybe im not the ideal grain chaser but when I make a billiard or an apple I usually seem to have 360 straight grain surrounding the bowl with little to no difference depending on which shape I picked.... I was trying to get at the shape varies so little in a classic apple to a classic billiard its hard for me to tell from the outside of the block, which will reveal stronger grain for each shape.

my apologies for chiming in where I ought not to... I felt like I had something constructive to say from limited past experience...

BTW thanks Sass for trying to cover my ass..


and while I agree its good to learn it early on, speaking fro experience, I didn't even care about grain on a pipe as much as I did getting the drilling straight for the first 10 pipes....basics first.

lastly, damn Wayne!! that is one sexy pipe. the ring (I assume ivory) sets it off.

[baiguai]

Not sure if my question warrents a new thread (if so let me know), so I'll pose it here since it pertains to the question at hand.

I've been practicing on cherry bowl blanks etc, and haven't yet worked with briar blocks. Nearly all the shapes I like have the shank positioned up from the bottom of the pipe - cherrywood style. Because of this I've been uncertain about buying an ebauchon, having never seen one in person. Are the blocks you purchase large enough to position the shank up from the bottom (all the ebauchons I've seen are roughly shaped, hinting at the bowl and shank with the shank flush with the bottom of the block)? - Or would I need to spend the big dollars for a plateaux to get enough briar for cherrywood, small pickaxe etc shapes out of it?

I hope the sad attempt to explain my question makes some sense. Thanks!

[oklahoma red]

Not sure if my question warrents a new thread (if so let me know), so I'll pose it here since it pertains to the question at hand.

I've been practicing on cherry bowl blanks etc, and haven't yet worked with briar blocks. Nearly all the shapes I like have the shank positioned up from the bottom of the pipe - cherrywood style. Because of this I've been uncertain about buying an ebauchon, having never seen one in person. Are the blocks you purchase large enough to position the shank up from the bottom (all the ebauchons I've seen are roughly shaped, hinting at the bowl and shank with the shank flush with the bottom of the block)? - Or would I need to spend the big dollars for a plateaux to get enough briar for cherrywood, small pickaxe etc shapes out of it?

I hope the sad attempt to explain my question makes some sense. Thanks!

What you will have the best luck with is the "R" style ebauchons. These are cut at the mills to accommodate bent shapes. And, these R style blocks can be had in various sizes and are reasonably priced. I'll be Steve Norse at Vermont Freehand can help you.
Chas.

[sandahlpipe]

Baiguai,

There are two kinds of ebauchon. One kind is for straight and the other for bent pipes. Tell the briar seller you want to make a bent pipe and they'll know what kind of block you need. There's a technical designation for each but I can't keep them straight. If your block is large enough, you can even make a small bent pipe from a block that's meant to be straight.

If you're starting out, though, I'd recommend making straight pipes until you have them down and make bent pipes later down the road. I wish I had done that to start.


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[baiguai]

Not sure if my question warrents a new thread (if so let me know), so I'll pose it here since it pertains to the question at hand.

I've been practicing on cherry bowl blanks etc, and haven't yet worked with briar blocks. Nearly all the shapes I like have the shank positioned up from the bottom of the pipe - cherrywood style. Because of this I've been uncertain about buying an ebauchon, having never seen one in person. Are the blocks you purchase large enough to position the shank up from the bottom (all the ebauchons I've seen are roughly shaped, hinting at the bowl and shank with the shank flush with the bottom of the block)? - Or would I need to spend the big dollars for a plateaux to get enough briar for cherrywood, small pickaxe etc shapes out of it?

I hope the sad attempt to explain my question makes some sense. Thanks!

What you will have the best luck with is the "R" style ebauchons. These are cut at the mills to accommodate bent shapes. And, these R style blocks can be had in various sizes and are reasonably priced. I'll be Steve Norse at Vermont Freehand can help you.
Chas.

Thank you so much! I'm hoping to have some funds scraped together within the next month or so and will be shopping for briar then!

[baiguai]

Baiguai,

There are two kinds of ebauchon. One kind is for straight and the other for bent pipes. Tell the briar seller you want to make a bent pipe and they'll know what kind of block you need. There's a technical designation for each but I can't keep them straight. If your block is large enough, you can even make a small bent pipe from a block that's meant to be straight.

If you're starting out, though, I'd recommend making straight pipes until you have them down and make bent pipes later down the road. I wish I had done that to start.


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Thanks! Yeah so far all straight pipes. Pokers etc. The fanciest I've tried is a cutty-like shape. I do want to try some slightly bent stems though. But I love straight pipes, so that's perfect heh.

[E.L.Cooley]

Baiguai, here is a link to a page on marks website with block shape info. http://webshop.amsmoke.com/Briar-Block-Information.html


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[wdteipen]

my apologies for chiming in where I ought not to... I felt like I had something constructive to say from limited past experience...

and while I agree its good to learn it early on, speaking fro experience, I didn't even care about grain on a pipe as much as I did getting the drilling straight for the first 10 pipes....basics first.

lastly, damn Wayne!! that is one sexy pipe. the ring (I assume ivory) sets it off.

No need to apologize at all. I didn't mean for my post to sound as harsh as it did. For some reason, I always sound like a bigger ass on forums than I am in real life. I'm just not very graceful with my typed words. And you're not entirely wrong. In the beginning, if you can't match up the tobacco chamber to the airway or fit a stem to a stummel it really doesn't do you any good to be able to read grain. That being said, I wouldn't dismiss it early on all together. It takes time to train your eyes to see the shape a pipe wants to be so starting early makes it easier when you acquire the technical skill to actually make the pipe you envision in the block.

A fun exercise would be to post a picture of a block of briar with the grain visible and see what shapes we can photoshop/draw on the block according to what we see in the grain. It would be cool to see what everyone comes up with.

[wdteipen]

Oh, and the ring on that pipe is faux ivory. Ivory is illegal to sell these days.

[E.L.Cooley]

Guys, this has been an eye opener to say the least. So I just want to make sure I understand this correctly? If you could, you would have the grain run straight up and down across the bowl all the way around, not leaning front to back or side to side at all? You would prefer grain that is tight to the next grain line not far from it? What is ring grain is that desirable? I know birds eye, do you want it?

Clearly, none of this will effect what I'm doing in the shop at this juncture. I am still trying to figure out how to securely mount a block in the chuck. (3weeks since last blastoff) but I read all the critiques in the gallery. Reading those has improved my eye for quality in others and myself. Because, when sas says the bottom line is too low. I go look at that and think f me I didn't even see that. So if I were looking at one of your pipes, what would I expect you to aim for regarding grain?


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[Joe Hinkle Pipes]

Wanye, that is a great pipe. so what if the grain fanned a little at the top of the shank. If you had cut the shank down to eliminate the straying grain it wouldnt be as nice. 99% of the people that look at (who arent pipemakers) wont notice. 75% of the pipemakers wouldnt even consider it as an "error".

[Sasquatch]

Wanye, that is a great pipe. so what if the grain fanned a little at the top of the shank. If you had cut the shank down to eliminate the straying grain it wouldnt be as nice. 99% of the people that look at (who arent pipemakers) wont notice. 75% of the pipemakers wouldnt even consider it as an "error".

I agree with this and scolded Wayne privately.

Not every pipe can or should be a perfect specimen of shape vs grain. 99% of blocks aren't symmetrical enough to expect this out of them.

One thing you used to see was pipes where the grain wasn't so much lined up with the bowl or the shank or panelled for birdseye or whatever... but used to highlight and compliment a shape - I think that's more interesting than simply carving the variants (volcano or dublin!) that the average block holds.

[wisemanpipes]

Oh, and the ring on that pipe is faux ivory. Ivory is illegal to sell these days.

riiiiiiight

[Charl]

Hey, leave my elephants alone!