Hello to all and oh, is this fixable?

[ErichPryde]

Hello to all of you. I just recently started messing around with some PIMO briar kits and ran into some issues with one of them.



there was a serious flaw in this last PIMO kit that was highly visible from the surface. After removing the stem and determining that there was a dark spot inside the stem in the matching area, I was somewhat frustrated and set the kit aside.

Apparently my dog is really into flawed briar, because I came home two days ago to find this:



Phoenix apparently could not resist herself and chewed the flaw almost completely out of the block!

So anyway, I decided to go ahead and cut what was left down into a generalized bowl shape, removing more and more of the flaw as I went.







I decided to use the "bowl" as a test for some staining, and here's what I have left.




There's even a crack... Sheesh!

Not much left, obviously, and it will never be a "looker" if it ever becomes anything. I want to know, though, can I make SOMETHING of a pipe out of this? Perhaps a cedar stem, like a corn cob would have? or thread some bamboo into it? I don't even know how to go about doing that. Perhaps epoxy an extension onto it? If it is salvageable I'll do some more cleanup, sanding, and restain the piece.

So other than this piece (which would have been my third, and I have a pretty plain radice billiard I was going to model it after), my first one came out "okay," and my second one was slightly better. I'm working on stem/stummel meeting places (have a plan that I HOPE will fix my second pipe) and general shaping right now, but I'm far from any master... not sure I ever will be. Doing a TON of reading on this site is helping give me a lot of ideas and improve my comprehension of why some things are how they are (ebonite, for instance, stinks. ).

I look forward to posting additional attempts at pipe-making. PLEASE offer me constructive criticism and critique when I do, I'm not here to be the newbie that wants to show you masters up! With any luck I'll eventually figure enough out to make something really nice looking for myself, mebbe even handcut a stem or two.

I'll learn what I can, contribute what I can, and refrain from making any "random" posts.

-Erik

[Sasquatch]

That's an awful block, and at some point, I think Ginny would have replaced it for you. Now, I suspect you have "a project".

[kbadkar]

That block should never have been drilled, or at least should have been drilled to avoid the gorge.

I wouldn't put much more effort into it. You are so close to the chamber, I wouldn't want any epoxy or anything as a chemical fastner.

Perhaps drill out your airhole with a steep chamfer bit, creating a tapered hole into the bowl. Then shape a wood shank/stem with matching taper. Then you can jam/twist the shank into the bowl with a nice hard friction fit (like a military bit fit, but for the shank). It should hold without epoxy/glue/threading. It'll look a little corn cobby, but should be functional... and easy to clean.

[wdteipen]

You could make a diplomat shape out of it.

[ErichPryde]

You could make a diplomat shape out of it.

what does MM use to hold the stem and bowl together on a diplomat?


I suppose I could make a piece of briar to be friction fit into this and have a stem coming off of that. my concern is that it might come apart if this bowl expanded much during smoking.

No worries... I'll take a look around at some of the other people offering kits, until I figure out what I am doing and decide if I'm serious about this or not.

[Sasquatch]

I would just move on, I think. If you do wind up gluing briar to briar, you could do a bunch of things, including a metal sleeve for strength, and you want to select a glue that is resistant to heat and moisture, so a lot of woodworking glues are out (white glue, fish glue, many yellow glues, hide glue, etc) You might have to use a urethane adhesive, or an "all weather" type wood glue, which would probably taste better than urethane if any burned.

[KurtHuhn]

JB Weld.

[Sasquatch]

That's how Daddy fixes Kurt's bubble pipe, but the big people are talking right now.

[KurtHuhn]

Seriously. JB Weld.

It has a very high temperature tolerance, is exceedingly strong, has loads of open time so you can position and reposition as needed, it won't impart any flavors once it's cured (especially if you keep it out of the smoke path), and if you have any gaps in the fitment it will fill them (though that shouldn't be used as an excuse). It's also very thick, so it will cling to vertical surfaces, and it won't drip like most two-part epoxies. The only downside is that it can take 24+ hours to cure, so you need to plan accordingly.

That said, in this particular case, I would move on and take the experience earned from shaping, staining, and sanding the wood to use in the next effort. This particular bowl probably isn't worth the expenditure of any more time.

[Sasquatch]

Well damn, I learn something every day. I thought JB weld only worked on plastics, and via chemical interface, which is to say, I thought it kinda sorta melted the plastic in order to bond it. I didn't think it would stick wood to wood.

[KurtHuhn]

It will stick anything to anything - and it can be machined, and even drilled and tapped! It's incredible stuff. A heck of a lot of knifemakers are using JB Weld instead of solder to adhere bolsters to knife blades It's a tad expensive, but it's just about the strongest 2-part epoxy you can find.

[ErichPryde]

It will stick anything to anything - and it can be machined, and even drilled and tapped! It's incredible stuff. A heck of a lot of knifemakers are using JB Weld instead of solder to adhere bolsters to knife blades It's a tad expensive, but it's just about the strongest 2-part epoxy you can find.

The drill and tap thing I knew about JB weld. I once used it to seal a cracked oil pan bolt hole and then re-threaded the thing. lots cheaper than buying a new oil pan...

I didn't think about using it with pipe making, though! Hmm. I think I'll let this one go and move along. oh well.

thanks for the responses!

[Sasquatch]

I'm going to start making JB Weld stems.

[ErichPryde]

I'm going to start making JB Weld stems.

Sounds like something one of us foolish americans would try! Plus, I don't really think a pipe with a JB weld stem would be a rye and coke type pipe, you'd have to find a friend in Kentucky to get you some hillbilly shine...