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Hi, my name is Konsta and I live in Finland and i'm 17 years old. I have made couple pipes and another woodworks (my english is not so good, but i'm learning all the time).I made pipe from burl of birch and it looks like this:





It was littlebit hard to work with that burl, with just a dremel, knife sandpaper and battery-powered drill (I dont know the right word, but i hope you understand), and I screw too much with drill and drill went couple times through the pipe, but i fixed the holes with juniper as you can see this picture :



(I didnt use any glue) I'm pretty happy for the result, but there is much what I can make better.
(perhpas this should be in Alternative Materials section, I dont know.)
What you guys think, and you can be honest.

Hi Konta,

Welcome to the group! The birch burl has really interesting grain and coloring. I like it. Try not to be upset about your drilling mistakes, instead just learn from them so hopefully it will not happen again. I look forward to seeing more pictures of your pipes in the future.

Hi Konsta,
Welcome. Great shape you have on this pipe. Wish you had shown the Tobacco Chamber with a Top View. Did you use a stain or is this the natural color of the Burl Birch.
JB

Here is the top view, you asked:



As you can see the hole is in corner, which is not good thing but at least the hole is in bottom of heel. I will try this soon and tell is it good or not.
I used bee&carnaubawax mix, which I bought from local paintshop.

That's a beautiful pipe! Keep up the great work.

and you speak my language much better than I speak yours!

john - not knowing a word of Finnish!

That is a great looking pipe. Interesting design work. The wood grain is very unique and beautiful. I, too, look forward to seeing more work in the future. I can't wait to hear how it smokes.

Jeff

You hit that is what is important. I tried on two pipes and missed altogether.
The way you shaped the Tobacco Chamber around the hole looks great. Good work.


Konta wrote:
As you can see the hole is in corner, which is not good thing but at least the hole is in bottom of heel. I will try this soon and tell is it good or not.
I used bee&carnaubawax mix, which I bought from local paintshop.
_________________

Just out of curiosity, what did you use to drill the tobacco hole? You mentioned using a battery powered drill, but what kind of bit and how did you hold the briar steady? Thanks

Jeff

Here is the picture from tools which I use to drill the holes :



And Jeff asked how I keep the pipe steady, here is answer: I keep the pipe in my left hand and push drill with my right hand, I don't have any vise or something and I don't need them

Wow, that's a very impressive, though perhaps too difficult, procedure to use for the drilling. I look forward to seeing you perfect this method, or seeing what you can do when if and when you move on to another system.

Jeff

It's interesting how inventive we humans can be when we have to. I'm impressed that you were able to drill a working pipe with such minimal tools. Keep up the good work!