My "Dammit pipe," made out of frustration, good for a laugh

[Dixie_piper]

So, I got my forstner bits today ($20 @ Lowe's) got my chunk of practice wood cut loose, also fouled my circular saw blade. Got a billiard sorta design drawn out, tweaked it to my liking so on to drilling the chamber...
1) I now know why you go slow,
2) Oak sucks! Even though it was just for practice
3) I need direction on whether or not the direction you drill in relation to the grain can make "busting" more likely?

Anyywho... it pissed me off when the oak cracked, greatly. I had a pipe smoking friend over when it happened, so needless to say, I caught a lot of lip. I told him I'd have one made by the end of the night... and I did!
My practice stem of green walnut wood, a larger straight green piece of Walnut wood, and a #2 pencil.
It is hideous, irregular and below less than adequate. Point in hand here; I got to blow off some steam, have fun and say I've made a "pipe" (although it hardly classifies as one) then realized, I have no pipe tobacco, so... I simply stole the tobacco out of one of my cigarettes. I'll post pics soon

[Dixie_piper]

These are some pics, if I can get this to work...
Okay, I'm an idiot apparently. I click the image button and nothing happens

[Sasquatch]

You need to host your images at a site like photobucket, and provide a link when you press the image button.

Wood is prone to splitting along the grain, which is to say, it's weak across the grain axis. This is why we split wood in the direction we do with an axe. Turn a log perpendicular to the axe and see how well it splits.

How this relates to pipes is that most woods completely suck to build pipes from, with a few exceptions (some cherry, some olive, briar). They split easily, or break off (if you run the grain the other way), they do not take heat or moisture well, etc. That's just life.

[Dixie_piper]

I'll give that a try.
That makes sense about the grain, guess I'm just gonna have to work on my patience and finally pick a pipe kit to work with and follow through.
I did price the tools I plan to buy before too much longer.
Actually found a small wood lathe (very basic) for like $80, haven't bought it yet. And a drill press around the same price.
Thanks