Shaping seems difficult.
Shaping seems difficult.
So i recently acquired a 3 foot long piece of walnut from my local lumber yard and i attempted to shape my pipe today only to be disappointed in the fact that it did not look good at all. What am i doing wrong, i sketched out what i wanted the pipe to look like on the wood and then sanded away on my home made disc sander only to be frustrated with the final product. Any tips?
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
Well then i guess this hobby of mine is gonna get expensive really quick , but if that is what it takes to become a good pipe maker then i am all for it
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
Make more pipes. That's all a guy can do to get better. Proper tooling and great materials is nice, but really, it comes down to practice.
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
- KurtHuhn
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Re: Shaping seems difficult.
The best tools in the world won't make even a halfway decent pipe maker. You need to practice, talk to other makers, practice some more, and get honest feedback on your work. You can make stunning pipes with nothing but a dremel, or you can make the worlds crappiest piece of garbage with $200k worth of tools.
Nobody is born with the knowledge of how to use their tools, how to construct a pipe, and how to shape it. Most of the time, this can't even be taught save for the basics of tool operation. You have to do it once to find out that you don't know how, then you have to do it often to exercise the demons of inexperience. There's no way around it, unfortunately.
Nobody is born with the knowledge of how to use their tools, how to construct a pipe, and how to shape it. Most of the time, this can't even be taught save for the basics of tool operation. You have to do it once to find out that you don't know how, then you have to do it often to exercise the demons of inexperience. There's no way around it, unfortunately.
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
Is walnut a good wood to make pipes out of? I know that briar is the primo wood to make pipes out of but that isnt readily available where i live, it is also out of my price range. I got a 3X3X3 piece of walnut for $8.00. Or should i quit wasting my time and buy a briar block.
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
You can get a briar block for less than that.
Walnut is neither especially heat resistant nor especially flavor-transparent.
Walnut is neither especially heat resistant nor especially flavor-transparent.
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
Yeah i noticed while shaping my walnut pipe that the sawdust tasted really bitter.
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
- KurtHuhn
- Site Admin
- Posts: 5326
- Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2006 8:00 pm
- Location: United States/Rhode Island
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
Briar isn't especially expensive, and it is the primo wood.
Walnut has lots lots of tannins, so it isn't especially good for light tobaccos.
Apple, Cherry, and Maple are better woods if you can't find briar in your budget, and they don't contribute much flavor to the smoke.
Walnut has lots lots of tannins, so it isn't especially good for light tobaccos.
Apple, Cherry, and Maple are better woods if you can't find briar in your budget, and they don't contribute much flavor to the smoke.
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
I had no idea that maple would be a good wood to make a pipe out of. I also have read that some woods can be carcinogenic and are not good to smoke out of.
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
Smoking is carcenogenic.
But some woods are certainly allergy sensitizers and carry all kinds of nasty crap in them. A lot of exotics make for bad pipery - rosewood, cocobolo, that kinda thing.
But some woods are certainly allergy sensitizers and carry all kinds of nasty crap in them. A lot of exotics make for bad pipery - rosewood, cocobolo, that kinda thing.
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
Sasquatch, where do you suggest a person can buy briar for under 8 dollars?
All the best,
Tano
Tano
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
PIMO for example. 8.50 for their small ebauchons. JH Lowe is even cheaper - http://www.jhlowe.com/briar.htm
You can briar for 2 bucks a block if you talk to the big boys in Greece. But I don't speak Greek, and I like pretty briar, and I don't wanna buy 2,000 blocks at once.
My point is merely that you can "save" money by practicing on wood that makes poor pipes and then have to re-learn everything when you do your first briar, or you can just bite the bullet and get a briar block to play with in the first place.
You can briar for 2 bucks a block if you talk to the big boys in Greece. But I don't speak Greek, and I like pretty briar, and I don't wanna buy 2,000 blocks at once.
My point is merely that you can "save" money by practicing on wood that makes poor pipes and then have to re-learn everything when you do your first briar, or you can just bite the bullet and get a briar block to play with in the first place.
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
I agree, excellent advice.
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
You could try of course olive wood ,it gives a smooth and unique aroma as a pipe and non of the cancer and allergic talk sticks to it ,yet it is somewhat expensive and hard to find in huge quantities of good quality regarding the clean structure and percentage of rest-humidity.I cure my own olive wood so i am very well aware of the painful search for it and the long drying process.
Here is a link to a online store from Germany with some fine offerings in olive wood ; http://www.edelholzverkauf.de/index.php ... 2a1cb1ccdc
Here is a link to a online store from Germany with some fine offerings in olive wood ; http://www.edelholzverkauf.de/index.php ... 2a1cb1ccdc
Last edited by Abi Natur on Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
Thanx for that link, Abi. It's exactly what I've been looking for!
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
I am a newbie too and what I am going to do is order the piece of briar the get a piece of cheap wood like poplar, cut it with the exact shape that the Briar came and practice with this before damaging the real deal
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
Just a note on the potentialy "Nasty wood" subject. this is a link to a list of many Toxic woods.
http://www.mimf.com/archives/toxic.htm
http://www.mimf.com/archives/toxic.htm
Re: Shaping seems difficult.
Sasquatch wrote:PIMO for example. 8.50 for their small ebauchons. JH Lowe is even cheaper - http://www.jhlowe.com/briar.htm
My point is merely that you can "save" money by practicing on wood that makes poor pipes and then have to re-learn everything when you do your first briar, or you can just bite the bullet and get a briar block to play with in the first place.
So why would you have to relearn everything moving from maple to briar? Aren't there basics that would carry through for every hard wood?
I just have lots of maple and would rather ruin that then buy briar then toss it out after I made a mistake.