My name is Nick Salt, and it's always been a pipe dream (groan!) of mine to make my own pipes, but I never had the time, space or money to buy the tools, I know some people are able to create amazing and beautiful work without a lathe, but I also know I wouldn't be one of them so I just put it off as a retirement hobby to look forward to someday, and a nice relaxing YouTube video distraction for the meantime.
Well that all changed when the price of bitcoins went crazy this year, I did a little bitcoin mining last year and suddenly found I had enough spare money to get the family some nice Christmas presents and treat myself to the workshop lathe I'd always wanted! So while all the other bitcoin miners who suddenly found themselves with spare cash were posting pictures of their new sports cars or gaming computers I found myself looking at a 1960s Myford lathe, sanding disk, buffing mops, a set of files and a box of briarwood from Greece
I bought 20 pieces of briar and so far they have made 9 complete pipes, 4 part-complete and 3 pieces of briar I can still use for stem rings because the shank snapped or the lathe tool dug into the bowl. I haven't created anything I'm confident enough to post for critique yet, but I feel I'm getting closer. Maybe the last block will yield a pipe I'm really proud of.
I'm finding sanding out all the little scratches to be the most difficult part, followed by mortise/tenon issues. The collective atmosphere, progressive critique method, and wealth of knowledge on this forum is fantastic, and I'd like to say thanks to everyone who gives their time and expertise to contribute.
