Bamboo Stem Fitting
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:18 pm
Hi all,
Preface: I'm a novice pipe-maker. I've made 5 pipes thus far, just for personal use and experimenting. Nothing really too traditional, and I don't have a great set of tools, so I'm just working with what I've got. I did buy a 12" long 1/8" drill bit, and I bought a spade bit that I ground down to make a half-decent bowl bore.
Anyway, I've got some bamboo growing in the yard. Not sure what kind it is, but it's skinny and quite tall, so I decided to cut down a stock and try to make a pipe from it. I let it dry for a few weeks, cut off a good length a bit under 2 feet, drilled through the nodes with my long 1/8" bit, and cooked it in the oven, periodically coating it with beeswax. I drilled it first to prevent it from exploding. It actually turned out really well, I think. I'm not too happy with how the stummel turned out, though. I used cherry, but I didn't have a good vision for it, so it's rather plain. I also haven't finished it, only rough sanded.
My main question is regarding fitting the bamboo to the stummel. What techniques are used here? I was originally going to have a tenon on the shank that inserted into the bamboo (kind of reverse of the norm), but that didn't work very well (not a tight enough fit), so I ended up drilling a hole slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the bamboo and wedging the whole thing in. It's a tight fit and holds well, although I suspect the seal isn't perfect.
It gives a good smoke; the long stem does a good job of cooling it down. I'd like to try making a new stummel for it, hopefully using a better technique for fitting the stem. Suggestions and critique welcome!
Preface: I'm a novice pipe-maker. I've made 5 pipes thus far, just for personal use and experimenting. Nothing really too traditional, and I don't have a great set of tools, so I'm just working with what I've got. I did buy a 12" long 1/8" drill bit, and I bought a spade bit that I ground down to make a half-decent bowl bore.
Anyway, I've got some bamboo growing in the yard. Not sure what kind it is, but it's skinny and quite tall, so I decided to cut down a stock and try to make a pipe from it. I let it dry for a few weeks, cut off a good length a bit under 2 feet, drilled through the nodes with my long 1/8" bit, and cooked it in the oven, periodically coating it with beeswax. I drilled it first to prevent it from exploding. It actually turned out really well, I think. I'm not too happy with how the stummel turned out, though. I used cherry, but I didn't have a good vision for it, so it's rather plain. I also haven't finished it, only rough sanded.
My main question is regarding fitting the bamboo to the stummel. What techniques are used here? I was originally going to have a tenon on the shank that inserted into the bamboo (kind of reverse of the norm), but that didn't work very well (not a tight enough fit), so I ended up drilling a hole slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the bamboo and wedging the whole thing in. It's a tight fit and holds well, although I suspect the seal isn't perfect.
It gives a good smoke; the long stem does a good job of cooling it down. I'd like to try making a new stummel for it, hopefully using a better technique for fitting the stem. Suggestions and critique welcome!
I like the pine pitch idea though. The only problem is the length of the stem means needing to remove it to do any cleaning.