Full pipe making pictorial, from block to finished pipe.

[ND Pipes]

where is the next set of pic's ...
we want pictures, we want pictures, we want pictures, we want pictures, we want pictures, we want pictures, we want pictures, we want pictures...

[meathod]

Sorry guys, been a busy week! You may have to wait a couple more days...

[d.huber]

Sorry guys, been a busy week! You may have to wait a couple more days...

The suspense is killing me!

Ok, we'll wait, but we don't have to like it.

[ND Pipes]

Sorry guys, been a busy week! You may have to wait a couple more days...

no problem my friend... just being interested.... heheheheheh

[meathod]

Sorry for the delay...

Turning the African blackwood plug for the bottom of the pipe





Drilling the hole for the inlay



Filling the base of the hole with packed sawdust



Juice break...



Quartz crushed with a hammer on the anvil





Placed the best quartz fragments into the inlay with tweezers, with a piece of mussel shell and added gold dust to fill the cracks





I put a drop of liquid glue onto the inlay, and let it dry







After sanding on the disc sander to reveal the inlay, then sanding up to 1200 grit. Used a micro file to shape the plug to fit seamlessly.



Turning and drilling the accent for the base of the stem





Drilling some padauk. A sharp drill bit is your best friend here.





After gluing and turning the padauk



Cut off with a handsaw, turned around, and clamped into the self centering chuck



After some work with some detail turning tools. High lathe speed and sharp tools get you a nice smooth surface without sanding.



Ready to be glued



I used wood glue, and then clamped it in the vice



While that dries I start working on the bowl lid



Here is the hot working process. I just heat it in the torch and hammer it out.











Drew an approximate circle on the copper, cut it out, and sanded it down on the disc sander





Hammered it out a bit, then drew another circle as a guide for sanding



Drilling the vent holes





Annealing the copper



Using a needle file to carve the vent holes



A little more hammering and filing





Using the vise to help hammer out a dome shape





Then refining the dome on the anvil







Another guideline for sanding



After some hand filing it fits















Favoring part of today was making this...



More tomorrow!

[ND Pipes]

man - you are crazy (in a very positive way)....
to be honnest - i will have to steal some of your ideas my friend... they are to good not to use them... hope this is o.k. with you...
(i am thinking on the idea of using quartz to fill parts of the pipes - very nice idea that i was thinking about for some time)......
....

[meathod]

I have revealed too many secretes! hahah.

[Alden]

I have revealed too many secretes! hahah.

Maybe so, but I think you've gained a lot of respect for your style of making pipes. I've always admired your results, but it really does add a lot to see what goes into making one of your pipes.
Keep up the good work.

[JMG]

So impressed by how involved this work is. Very nice.

[ND Pipes]

I have revealed too many secretes! hahah.

heheheheh...maybe so, but what i think is that the only secret is in hands/eyes/feeling - this can't be learned... everything else is more or less known or could be learned sooner or later ... but, if we don't have a feeling of how to make a good pipe... then all the knowledge is no good... and you my friend, you have a good sense of how to make a nice pipe... i like your style very much...
...
related those fillings with glue and quartz... for the glue - are you using a cyanoacrylate glue or epoxy ...? from what i can see it is cyanoacrylate but i wonder can it be sanded and polished to a nice shine???

[bandkbrooks]

I really don't know what to say. Amazing.

[Abi Natur]

That is a wonderfully detailed description,keep your great work runnin' man,i liked it from the start on!

Best,
Abi

[meathod]

Lets continue...

Sanding down the stem with sanding discs ranging from 100 grit to 400 grit









Using a hand cut rasp to fine tune the inside of the bend a bit



Sanded to 600 grit



Turning some red palm on the lathe for the stem









Turning it around and using the self centering chuck to turn the other end



Red palm is the most difficult wood I have ever turned, to reduce chipping I coated it with glue that will soak into the wood fibers



Using a small parting tool to cut some decorative grooves



Checking the fit. After seeing it with the rest of the pipe I tossed this stem into the garbage because I thought it looked horrible. Failure is a common practice in my shop, haha.





I decide to leave that part of the stem for later. I start work on the bent part of the stem by cutting some African blackwood squares on the chop saw



Drawing a guide for the hole



I use a cutting bit on the drill press to cut a groove along my guide









Final groove, all cleaned up



After cutting out the rough shape



Refining the shape





I line up the grain patterns for a seamless look later on, and glue the two halves together



When dry, I roughly cut out the other half and then sand it down again







More refining of the shape, getting ready for turning





Some weird turning here. I used a wooden wedge which is temporarily glued onto my chuck to help securely hold the stem. Often I have to customize my tools slightly throughout the crafting process in order to adapt to difficult situations like this. An enjoyable aspect of making one of a kind pieces.



Carefully turning the stem in very small increments









Turned it around and did the same thing on the other end



Done, phew



After some rough sanding I added a padauk accent to the top of the stem





Using a couple files to round out the shape a bit more



Taking a look at what I've got so far, contemplating what to do for that damn stem



I decided that purple heart would be a nice compliment to the golden yellow/orange colour of the amboyna... and it also goes well with black



Cutting it out



Onto the lathe







Checking the fit, visualizing the shape



Sharp tools are essential for avoiding chipping while turning small details in purple heart



Coming along



Drilling the air hole



Drilling the mortise that will fit the bent part of the stem



Drilling a hole in vegetable ivory (tagua nut) for the stem accent





A bit of sanding for a perfect fit



Gluing it all together



After using a few files, and sandpaper wrapped around a foam block





Still needs a mouthpiece, hinge assembly, and a couple accents, but it's coming along nicely I think!





Let me know what you guys think so far! Any suggestions?

[ND Pipes]

Dan my friend - i was happy to see the next part of the photo essay...
she is progressing nicely...
love to see how you are working... very nice

[Ocelot55]

I've never quite seen anyone with a process like this. It's definitely not normal, but it obviously takes some skill, some artistic flair, and a little crazy. Still, this is turning out very well. I can't wait to see the finished product.

[Alden]

Very cool work man, and far from the mainstream
I'm curious about using handheld turning tools with your metal lathe. Is it common to mount a bar in your tool post and use that as a rest ? I would really love to do the same, just curious what others thoughts are. I have a Jet 920, I guess I'm wondering if its a bad idea to do the same with a bigger machine.

[archaggelosmichail]

Wow, your pipes are very unique, you've found your own style.

I like it better with the pink shank, really creative.


Since you began I had the same question, are all those exotic woods "smokable"?

[meathod]

Edward, I don't see why you couldn't do this with your jet, But the bar would have to either be very short (few inches), or thick enough so that It won't bend at all. In a small setup like mine, this isn't much of an issue.

And the woods that I use are safe to smoke out of. I use African blackwood for all of my bowls. I've tested it against briar, and in my opinion it is an excellent pipe wood.

[potholer]

It is still amazing

the amount of work you put in

but i reckon a man with a thumb like that could perform minor miracles

regards
dave

[caskwith]

Edward you can most certainly apply the same technique on your jet lathe, just get yourself a nice thick and sturdy piece of steel and mount it in your tool post slightly below the centre line, it will work a treat, i have done it myself.