First Pipe

[dustyllama]

Hello!

I’m Ted, the dustyllama.

I’ve been studiously reading through past posts, obsessively looking at pictures of pipes and scouring FB Marketplace for potential tools and such that I might pick up at a bargain. Organizing and sharpening the tools I have etc.

I have minimal experience with woodwork:
- turned a couple of functional bowls; in that they are bowl shaped and hold stuff)
- made a couple of butcher block cutting boards
- Made a decorative box or two (again, vaguely rectangular and you can put shit in them)
- other larger more construction based things (pergola, workbench, garage shelves)

In my reading of the posts here, I have learned a few sure things:
1. My first pipe is going to be an ugly POS

Oh wait. Maybe I’ve only learned one sure thing.

Anywho. Knowing that this thing will be an exercise in frustration on a $40CAD chunk of briar… My main goal is to have a functioning smoking pipe at the end of the process and a passion for a hobby. So I will gladly ask a few questions that are more philosophical in nature because I’m a teacher and I learn so much from the discussion between more learned people such as yourselves!

1. My plan is to drill the chamber and draft holes first (turn this block a bit closer into a kit style), is there some benefit to shaping my first pipe after drilling a little bit more freehand to get a feel for the wood, tools, and techniques and not worry as much about proportions of a classic shape? (Again, knowing this will be a hot mess)

2. Please take a look at my beautiful piece of briar and if you have ideas/shaping suggestions, let me know! I especially find the junction between bowl and shank a tricky curve to draw and imagine no matter how many pipes I look at! As you can see, I kind of have an idea of keeping some of the Plateaux on the rim, but there is some lovely birds eye grain showing on the surfaces perpendicular to what is pictured. (Sorry for the link- couldn’t get the file size down small enough)
https://postimg.cc/DSpRhS80

C. I found some of my grandpa’s old hand drills (he was a carpenter/furniture maker for Woodward’s in Canada for 40yrs). Please dissuade me from trying this with these tools until much later in my journey.

Thank you in advance,

T

[LatakiaLover]

That's quite a nice piece of wood. (There could be a fatal flaw waiting for you inside, of course, but that's part of the game.)

If I was in your situation, I'd get a couple low-grade blocks to experiment with / practice on before messing with the one in the pic.

Briar is tough stuff, and doesn't "work" like most furniture woods. Learning how to clamp it while drilling and so forth must also be discovered through experimentation.

Pipe making is also difficult because it's entirely subtractive. You can't re-do mistakes the way potters can by adding more clay, or painters can by going back over an area.

Finally, I guarantee you'll be unpleasantly surprised by the degree of precision that demanded by a pipe's stem-shank join. The target for a "just right" fit is a thousandth of an inch. It's brutal. Mentioning it because hand tools for THAT part of a pipe's construction simply won't work. The cutting and fitting of stems is more machine shop-like than wood shop-like.

Enjoy the ride

[dustyllama]

Thank you sir!

I agree, I think I grabbed a really nice piece of wood… Might have to go back and buy the rest from the shelf if it is indeed as nice as it looks!

I figured about the hand tools, I’ll have to find another way to honour Grampa.

I’m only into pipe making for $40, some enjoyable hours of reading, and lots of marvelling at the pipes out there. Absolute works of art. As such, I suppose if I end up with a functional gargoyle of a pipe made out of primo wood, and never agonize over another one I won’t have ventured too much.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be hooked on it though and will see if I can find some cheaper stuff, or cherry/oak scrap that I can practice on, great idea. Some folks on the FB group have already dropped some other excellent suggestions re: shape and tooling too. This appears to be a great community!

Thanks!

[DocAitch]

I really hate to be disagreeable, but I do not think that that is a great piece of wood.
The left side is essentially featureless- there are no lighter/darker striations which will give the kind of figure that makes briar so beautiful. There are some growth rings present but they are a subtle feature- they might come out with a sandblast.
There are some lighter streaks in the mid right, and thats where I would put my bowl.
Forgive the hastiness of the drawing, but you should get the idea of where I’m talking about.

DocAitch

[DocAitch]

To illustrate my above point:
This block of Grecian briar has a potentially gorgeous grain.
Note the difference between your block and this one- there are lighter and darker striations which will make good contrast when finished
Also note that the first photo has a more continuous top to bottom striations- this is because the face of the block is parallel to the striations.

This second photo is the other side of the same block- the striations are not as continuous, because the surface is slightly oblique to the sriations.

DocAitch