allow me to introduce myself

[magicbilly]

i am new to this forum as well as this timeless art form. having never created a pipe before, my main question is, what are some of the biggest mistakes you see green horns (like my self) make when making a pipe?. please bare in mind that is this just a hobby for me. well i am new to making smoking utensils, i have some experience in metal art, painting, ceramics, glass, woodworking and i enjoy fixing up cars (new and old). thank you for you input ~MagicBilly

[UncleDraken]

Hello Mr. Billy!

I'm a newb too so I won't try and answer your question, but welcome to the community!
I don't know if you've spent much time lurking here yet, but there's a fair few people here that really know what they're talking about and the great thing is I haven't met a single one yet that hasn't been friendly or helpful. If you follow the sage advice of the experienced professionals and amateurs here you'll be off to a great start, as will I! Enjoy your stay

[magicbilly]

i have been lurking around here for a bit. i see that most people are using the Fiebings Permanent spirit-based dye so i decided to look up the MSDS on it. (link at the bottom) it contains "diethylene glycol ethyl ether or DEGEE", its liquid at room temp. it makes up about %10 of the spirit-based dye weight by volume.
this link is ( http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/comm ... _o_082.pdf )
a very in depth study into the effects of DEGEE exposure in animals as well as humans.



Basically it lays out kidney and liver issues caused by DEGEE. because it has very low evaporation rate 0.01 (ultra pure deionized water has an evaporation rate of 1.00 so water evaporates 100 times faster than DEGEE) this leads me to believe that this would be a source of long term exposure for people that use these dyes every day. it can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled as vapor. so i will be buying chemical resistant gloves when i order this dye and applying it outside or in a well ventilated area. the only real test i can think of that would tell us how long DEGEE is present in the briar is to apply dye to multiple small samples of equal sized briar and send the samples in one per month for gas chromatography every month untell the test results come back negative for DEGEE. gas chromatography is hundreds of dollars per test. of course things like air flow and air temp would effect the test samples. and increasing temp would undoubtedly increase the evaporation rate.
say i do not what to use fiebings leather dyes, what are my options?

~MagicBilly

http://www.wardrobesupplies.com/assets/ ... 1345138722

[scotties22]

Billy, welcome. I hope you find your stay here enjoyable. I don't use Feibings. I started with the powdered dye from Pimo (you mix it into denatured alcohol) and then found some TransTint (think I have 3 or 4 colors) at Woodcraft. I mix it the same as the powdered dye from Pimo. I think Feibings is popular because it is readily available, cheap and has a great number of colors to choose from. The stuff I use might be just as bad....I've never looked.

[Sasquatch]

My read on both the MSDS and the paper presented in the links is that the stuff is a lot safer than paint thinner, linseed oil, grout, wood dust, rubber dust, metal oxides, lacquer, pipe smoke, every type of adhesive, and just about everything else in my shop, actually.

If you feed it in huge doses to rats they eventually die. I'll bet Velveeta has worse LD50 numbers.

If you want a dangerous solvent, check this out:

http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/dhmo.htm


I sure as shit wouldn't be keeping this crap around.

My advice to a new pipemaker is to worry less about this kind of thing, don't drink your dyes, and take off more wood than you think you need to.

[pipedreamer]

the dye is on the outside. Unless you plan on setting fire to the bowl and breathing in the vapors I know you will be ok. Everybody wears shoes, and the only people that get upset are the firefighters that have to put out a shoe store fire.

[JonBood]

My read on both the MSDS and the paper presented in the links is that the stuff is a lot safer than paint thinner, linseed oil, grout, wood dust, rubber dust, metal oxides, lacquer, pipe smoke, every type of adhesive, and just about everything else in my shop, actually.

If you feed it in huge doses to rats they eventually die. I'll bet Velveeta has worse LD50 numbers.

If you want a dangerous solvent, check this out:

http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/dhmo.htm


I sure as shit wouldn't be keeping this crap around.

My advice to a new pipemaker is to worry less about this kind of thing, don't drink your dyes, and take off more wood than you think you need to.

We did a name signing petition to make people aware of the dangers of DHMO when I started university as part of the initiation thingie...think we got at least a couple of hundred names

[magicbilly]

My read on both the MSDS and the paper presented in the links is that the stuff is a lot safer than paint thinner, linseed oil, grout, wood dust, rubber dust, metal oxides, lacquer, pipe smoke, every type of adhesive, and just about everything else in my shop, actually.

If you feed it in huge doses to rats they eventually die. I'll bet Velveeta has worse LD50 numbers.

If you want a dangerous solvent, check this out:

http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/dhmo.htm


I sure as shit wouldn't be keeping this crap around.

My advice to a new pipemaker is to worry less about this kind of thing, don't drink your dyes, and take off more wood than you think you need to.

thanks for the advice! anything can be poisonous if you ingest enough of it. DEGEE is not that bad compared to other chemicals, but its not something you want to get on your hands or breath day after day. i like to err on the side of caution, Safety is the reason i still have all 10 of my fingers.

[AlanP]

I'm still pretty damn green myself. My biggest thing was drawing out the block, and then cutting the wood out like I thought I needed. Every time I cut entirely too much wood off. Now I don't get out the coping saw unless I have to. Now when I use the saw, I cut about 1/8" on the outside edge of my draw marks. You can take wood off but you can't really put it back.

[jogilli]

you can glue it back on.. I do

[the rev]

best advice... start with a few pipe kits. Mark Tinsky makes great ones.

rev

[Literaryworkshop]

I'm also new at this. I highly recommend starting with a pipe kit. I, too, started with Mark Tinsky's kits, and they work well. Even if your pipe ends up kind of ugly, it should still smoke okay.

Don't start out with a design that's too complicated. Pick a relatively traditional design and try to replicate it. Don't rush the process, especially at sanding stage.

[magicbilly]

other than the PIMO tenon turning tool what are some tools for cutting a decent tenon?

[the rev]

other than the PIMO tenon turning tool what are some tools for cutting a decent tenon?

a metal lathe



seriously, read up on how to do delrin tenons in the stem section. You can do them with a drill press and they are really good. Many pipe makers that have lathes and can easily cut integrated tenons still use delrin, just don't tell Rad, he gets all butt hurt whenever anyone does something the ancient ones didn't do

rev

[magicbilly]

other than the PIMO tenon turning tool what are some tools for cutting a decent tenon?

a metal lathe



seriously, read up on how to do delrin tenons in the stem section. You can do them with a drill press and they are really good. Many pipe makers that have lathes and can easily cut integrated tenons still use delrin, just don't tell Rad, he gets all butt hurt whenever anyone does something the ancient ones didn't do

rev

Thank You! that was exactly what i was looking for!

[The Smoking Yeti]

I second what Rev said about Delrin- MAJOR help. I order my rod stock here- it's cheap and great stuff, the dimensions I like the most are 5/16" and 3/8" http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cf ... op_cat=181

As far as the rest goes, starting with a couple pipe kits is a great idea. I always recommend a billiard as the first shape you do, Sasquatch will critique it for you, you'll make changes, and he'll keep critiquing it. But hey- you'll seriously learn a ton from that.

Stick to the basics for a while, slowly build on what you know, and take your time with sanding grits- especially 320. It pays.

Cheers!

Yeti

[WCannoy]

what are some of the biggest mistakes you see green horns (like my self) make when making a pipe?

From the "dyed wood gas chromatography" post, I'd say the biggest mistake is making things more complicated than they need to be!

FWIW, I use transfast dyes from Woodcraft. I have two colors, black and mahogany.

I used Jacquard Wood & Reed dyes back in the day... wonderful stuff, but it seems they quit making it while I was away.

[d.huber]

I think Walt is right on the money. Over complicating things: #1 biggest mistake first time pipe makers make. <-- Very guilty

I think the best thing you can do is to avoid getting obsessed with little tiny things and just have fun makin' some pipes.

I use Feibings... however it does smell a little bit like sewer gas...

[WCannoy]

I use Feibings... however it does smell a little bit like sewer gas...

My vulcanite smells like sewer gas...

[d.huber]

I use Feibings... however it does smell a little bit like sewer gas...

My vulcanite smells like sewer gas...

You must be using the inferior stuff. In my vast and endless experience, only leather dye should smell like that. I wouldn't put up with sewer gas smelling vulcanite and neither should you!