Makis Vs Mimmo Ebauchon Heel Squareness

[Masonrygh]

Hey guys, I’m finding that some of the Makis blocks that I have are too “rounded” (have too little or angled material) near the edge where the chuck would hold them, so I’ve have trouble turning these on a lathe.




I normally square up blocks before turning, but on these blocks I would have to take off too much material to make a usable pipe.

Should I just consider these as “wait to get a drill press and make a non billiard” blocks?

Also, from what I’ve seen, the Mimmo blocks appear to be a little bit squarer (I’ve only gone through about 10 Mimmo blocks vs 60ish Makis blocks). Have you found this to be the case? On some of the Makis blocks I’ve had to cut off so much material to square it up that it basically went down a size and I might as well have ordered the equivalent Mimmo briar. I’ve read a ton on here about briar selection, but haven’t seen anything regarding this, so I hope it’s an acceptable question. As a newer pipemaker, 95% of my problems have been my own ineptitude rather than the fault of the materials, so before I order every variety of briar to test them, I figured I’d ask the pros.

Tldr: I’m having difficulty chucking some blocks on the lathe due to lack of material. Are Mimmo ebauchon blocks generally more square (as in “is the block heel square, not wedge-tapered”) than Makis blocks?


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[Masonrygh]

Here’s a profile photo of the “wedge heel” that’s hard to chuck on the lathe.

Thanks again guys


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[KurtHuhn]

Get a set of tower jaws, or specialized pipe making jaws. They will have no trouble holding that block. If you're using standard #2 jaws on your lathe, they don't really have the reach to grip anything securely except your typical lathe work (what we do is not typical).

[Massis]

fully agree with Kurt. If your jaws can't hold this, they're too short for pipemaking anyways.

$75 and you're all set if you're already using a oneway/nova chuck: https://vermontfreehand.com/product/chuck-jaws/

[caskwith]

It's not a problem I encounter often but when I do I just add some material on to give a more secure grip.

[n80]

Agree about the VF tower jaws. I have them and they'll pretty much lock down on anything.

[Sasquatch]

Those are actually pretty good blocks, you need better jaws. I've got blocks that look like moon rocks, they are just... lumps, it's no fun.

[Masonrygh]

Man, it looks like I'm just complaining about nothing then

I'm actually using the VF jaws, I'll put a bit more elbow grease into tightening it down on the block.

Thanks guys, you're the best

[wdteipen]

I'm curious what grade the first block you posted is. It looks to me like you have trunk wood on that block which is dead grain. I avoid blocks with trunk wood unless it can be cut out such that it's not included in the pipe.

[wdteipen]

The second "block" looks like it was pulled from the scrap pile. Mind you, I've made entire pipes for shits and giggles completely out of scrap briar just to see if I can and they've turned out pretty decent but I wouldn't pay much money for a block like that and I wouldn't hand pick it for sure. To much of a pain in the ass to work unless you're shaping before drilling. The Mimmo blocks I work with are all relatively squared but I also hand pick them so I tend to avoid odd shaped blocks as a general rule unless it has phenomenal grain and I envision a pipe in the block.

[PremalChheda]

Turn them upside down if they are more parallel at the top.