Minimum Viable Tools

[rogermugs]

Gentlemen,
I'm new to the forum and new to pipe making, though I have been partaking of the fragrant weed for some time.

I live in an Asian mega-city and while I could purchase a lathe, there is nowhere in a 5 mile radius I would be able to store it, unless I separately rented a workshop, which doesn't make a lot of sense till I have any idea that I actually do this well.

I'm curious, if you had nothing larger than a cardboard box to store your tools in, what would buy? What is the minimum viable tools I need to make a pipe or 5. Its okay that it will take me longer, but I want to give it a try...

With a decent file, screwdriver, and sandpaper could I make a decent pass at this?
-r

[Sasquatch]

The single critical variable, the main problem that has to be solved to make pipes, is "How am I going to make a tenon, and get the mortise and tenon to fit, and that junction of stem/shank to sit tight?". If you solve this, you can make pipes. If you don't solve this, you can't.

I'd say the minimum is a small drill press, with which you could make stems using delrin tenons, and also drill your blocks. Then you'd need a bunch of files and sandpaper, maybe a dremel-type rotary tool.

[andrew]

+1 on the drill press.

[rogermugs]

thanks guys. I have access to quality briar at a reasonable price, as well as vulcanite stems, so i don't need to make my own stems... just getting two holes, a decent shape, and the stems to fit should be sufficient...
further thoughts?
Any suggestions on the type of file? Or just a big enough with large enough teeth to get things shaved down...?

Also, a drill press is already probably too big for me to store.... i know it would be harder with a standard drill, but if I had decent bits, wouldn't a standard drill be sufficient? Or am I fooling myself? I've worked with wood before (though it has been a long time), but never with briar, so perhaps the hardness of the wood is something I'm underestimating...

[Sasquatch]

The thing is, you get a stem and it's a big lumpy thing with chunks of plastic hanging off and you need to make the tenon round and your tolerance on fit is probably +- .001" You just can't make a pipe properly if you can't machine a tenon or at least machine the end of the shank and the shoulder of the stem in a situation where you have a premade tenon.

[LatakiaLover]

thanks guys. I have access to quality briar at a reasonable price, as well as vulcanite stems, so i don't need to make my own stems... just getting two holes, a decent shape, and the stems to fit should be sufficient...
further thoughts?
Any suggestions on the type of file? Or just a big enough with large enough teeth to get things shaved down...?

Also, a drill press is already probably too big for me to store.... i know it would be harder with a standard drill, but if I had decent bits, wouldn't a standard drill be sufficient? Or am I fooling myself? I've worked with wood before (though it has been a long time), but never with briar, so perhaps the hardness of the wood is something I'm underestimating...

A half-round, handmade rasp is your best bet for shaping (don't waste your money on hardware store machine-made ones)

As for the mortise and tenon thing, if a hand drill would do the job, that's what would have been recommended in the first place. It sounds like you have already made up your mind and are trying to get an experienced maker to agree with you. It doesn't work that way.

[rogermugs]

A half-round, handmade rasp is your best bet for shaping (don't waste your money on hardware store machine-made ones)

As for the mortise and tenon thing, if a hand drill would do the job, that's what would have been recommended in the first place. It sounds like you have already made up your mind and are trying to get an experienced maker to agree with you. It doesn't work that way.

ha. wow. that got intense. not trying to get you to agree with me... but pressing the issue again because of space. It may be I just simply cant make a pipe given my space constraints... but I am trying to get a whittled down opinion. I cant make the best pipes in the world. I cant make probably even sellable pipes given what I'm asking... but can I make pipes... and if so with what...

If a drill press is a must I may just be stuck...

[LatakiaLover]

Not trying to be gratuitously intense, just keepin' it real.

The mortise/tenon joint in a pipe is hugely counterintuitive in that a few thousandths of an inch make the difference between a proper fit and uselessness. A pipe is a casually shaped object on the outside, but don't let that fool you about what goes on inside one.

The footprint of a small drill press isn't significantly larger than a shoebox. Taller, but not much wider or longer. Finding a rigid one in a small size---and has low run out (a quill with virtually no side-to-side wobble)---is the hard part. A refurbed older machine made in the pre-Asian outsource era is your best bet.

[rogermugs]

The footprint of a small drill press isn't significantly larger than a shoebox. Taller, but not much wider or longer. Finding a rigid one in a small size---and has low run out (a quill with virtually no side-to-side wobble---is the hard part. A refurbed older machine made in the pre-Asian outsource era is your best bet.

Now thats the kind of info that does a guy good... i had no idea you could get one that size... i'll look in to it. Thanks.

[caskwith]

Cardboard box sized workshop, only if you are workking from kits. I reckon you could fit all the tools needed into part of a small cupboard/closet. I would start out with a small drill press and you could add to that a mini lathe later on. If I had to I think I could fit the essentials onto a sturdy desk in the corner of a room though dust would always be a problem.

[Sasquatch]

http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Bench-Top-D ... B000FO2X6U

[SchmidtN]

http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Bench-Top-D ... B000FO2X6U

Plus a drill press vice to hold your work down.


Plus a bench top vice.
You're going to be shaping by hand, without a lathe or anything. What I do is take a 1" square ripped piece of board, file the end roughly 5/8th round, then wrap it in paper towels until the tobacco chamber fits so snug it wont move while I file the bagezus outta that stummel. Something's got to hold that 1" square stick in place. You'll need two vices, one on the drill, one on your workbench.

Don't forget a buffing system (maybe a local tobacconist can help you out here, plus if you're polishing your brand new pipes in a pipe shop you might get some old timer offering you money for it before you even get to smoke it! These things happen).

[bikedoctor]

Civil war POW's at Andersonville carved pipes. All they had was knives, time and starvation.

I don't remember seeing one with a stem though, only stummles.

[d.huber]

If you get a drill press, rasps, and files you'd be ready to start making pipes. So basically, I agree with what those guys said.

[billiard]

Here is something I have laying around:



It's a Tenon tuner. Yep. They use to make and sell stuff like this. Stick your tenon in a hole, turn the side knobs and turn your stem back and forth, start with course and work to fine as you get closer. A hand drill, a pocket knife, a cut of an old truck tire, and a chunk outta some fruit tree and you can make a rusticated pipe. I made a couple by hand to see if I could, easier to use the above tool with a preformed stem of course but doable without.


Now that said, listen to everyone else, they are guiding you correctly, but worth noting that where there is a will there is a way

[Literaryworkshop]

I've made only a handful of pipes, but I've recently been in the same boat as you are. I've done a lot of other kinds of woodworking though, and I have a small shop, including a full-size drill press. If I didn't have that, I would definitely be working from kits with stems with pre-fit tenons. I do a lot of hand work at a traditional joiner's bench, so I know about working by hand in a small space. Here are some thoughts on tools:

- A vise. You want something to hold the stock while you work it. There are all kinds of options, here. Maybe a small vise that clamps onto a table top or counter top? Just make sure you can mount wooden jaws on it so you don't mar the work. You need a vise that will hold the work firmly, especially if you're using rasps and files for shaping. They exert a lot of force on the stock, and you don't want it popping out of the vise.

- Rasps. As said above, a good hand-stitched rasp is SO much better than the machine-made junk. There are some French-made rasps like Auriou and Liogier that set the standard here. Not sure what's available where you are. There might be some Japanese tools that would be easier to get. You really only need a couple, maybe a large and a small half-round. Do the bulk of your shaping with your most aggressive tool. Then refine the shape and surface with your finer tools.

- Files. Get files the same shapes and sizes as the rasps. It will make follow-up work easier. I would try to find two different levels of aggressiveness, bastard cut (the really coarse kind) and smooth cut (finer). So, maybe four half-rounds. A couple rat-tail files are also helpful for shaping the stummel/bowl transition.

- Sandpaper. Good stuff in several grades. For shaping, you can wrap sandpaper around a dowel, too. You can get by with fewer rasps/files that way, although in the long run rasps and files are probably cheaper. Sandpaper gets used up quickly.

I do often use a small saw to remove large chunks of briar from the stock. I use a back saw, though I've also used a coping saw. As with rasps, most coping saws made today are garbage. Olsen makes a decent one, if you can get it where you live. I have often wondered how much pipe making could be done with traditional carving knives. I'm sure it's possible to lap-carve them, similar to the way wooden spoons are lap-carved. It would be difficult, sure, but not impossible. I'm glad a previous poster mentioned it as a possibility.

[rogermugs]

thanks guys, this is all incredibly helpful. I'll have to get my act in gear and I'll post something with pictures once I get off the ground running... great ideas...
much appreciated.