Poker pipe (my first pipe) PICTURES FIXED!

[Kenny]

So, here is the first pipe I ever made, a semi-stubby Poker made from Macassar Ebony with an acrylic and Corian hand-cut stem using a Delrin tenon. I'm not super happy with the stem, but it took about 6 tries to get the slot right, so I think I'll keep it. I forgot to get a picture of the slot, but maybe I'll add one later.

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, good, bad or otherwise. Just please go easy, it was the first pipe I ever made and I've only been making pipes for a very short time! Although I do think it's one of the better pieces thus far. I guess I'll get better in time!

I've also sanded inside the bowl since these were taken, as there was a bit of tear-out while drilling (just a touch)

[mcgregorpipes]

I like the ebony the curved stripes look cool. nice pipe I've never seen one made from Macassar ebony before.

[Ocelot55]

So far so good. Interesting stem. I recommend that you spend some time learning all the classics. Pay attention to things like basic proportion. For a first that's pretty good. So...great job! Now go make another!

[Kenny]

Thanks for the kind words. The stem didn't come out as planned, to be honest. I used that red ring on my previous attempt, which failed. But I liked it, so I drilled out the tenon and reused it. Then I goofed on the gluing on this stem. I was concerned with the adhesion of the delrin tenon, so I used epoxy and I didn't get a good bond between the acrylic and the corian. It's solid, but you can see a hair-line gap (really a glue line) if you look close.
If I do anything like this again, I'll laminated the acrylic prior to drilling and gluing the tenon! I've worked with acrylic enough to know better than to make foolish mistakes like that...


I'm now working on a "practice" Bulldog out of Brazilian Cherry. I figure it's a tough shape to master, so I'd better practice on a cheaper wood that I have a lot of before I move onto an expensive hunk of briar. It's turning out to be easier than I had expected, though still not all that easy.