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im trying to start making more complex pipes and im really drawn to pipes with curved shanks. im not sure if there is a specific term for this but something close to this picture from tiepenpipes. with no lathe to speak of turnin a shank cap or making an oversized tenon to hide the marks where the draught hole is drilled, is there any way to make a nice looking pipe such as this or do i need to put this on the back burner and go back to more basic things until i'm better equipped.

As long as your stem covers the hole don't worry about it.

Well I agree with what Chris said, but I do still recommend doing more basic shapes until you've got them down. If you can make a straight billiard with proper proportions, you can make anything. The complexity in a straight billiard is in the hundreds of things that hold it in tension. A curves shank pipe is comparatively easy because if you mess up, it's harder to tell.

I am afraid I am not in the camp that say make basic shapes until you have them right. It gets boring making the same thing over and over. If you want to perfect the billiard etc then by all means go this route but most people here want to make pipes for fun. With that in mind make what you like, if you want to make that shape in the picture then crack on, if you mess it up, try again or make something different. If you are worried about the drilling try it on paper first, make sure it seems to work and if you still aren't sure use a cheap block of briar first to practise.
Do what makes you happy

seems like everybody is agreeing with Chris.... and I am no different... make what shape you want.. your not going out to make a million dollars.. its not your day job, so enjoy it... I struggled with billiards for a long time, and Chris showed me the light about a month ago.. and they are quite easy, but I can do a freehand like its nobodies business on my equipment because that's what I like making... enjoy it, make nice pipes, make clean pipes, make sharp pipes, make quality pipes, make what your friends like so you can sell it to them and buy more stuff.. but above all practice... eggs are my favorite shape.. pick your favorite and make a bunch of them

draw them out first and test on cheap material.. I threw away a block today as it wasn't meant to be.. the wood didn't want to be made into a pipe and the crevasse in the tobacco chamber proved that ... you've got 37 posts.. so enjoy yourself for a while...

yea thats exactly what im doin for now i am trying my hardest to nail down the basic shapes but its fun to change it up and make something more tuned to your own personal taste. i managed to ruin four blocks of briar yesterday just trying to get the drilling right for a pipe very similar to the one in my first post and i decided to ask here before i went and ruined four more today

caskwith wrote:I am afraid I am not in the camp that say make basic shapes until you have them right. It gets boring making the same thing over and over. If you want to perfect the billiard etc then by all means go this route but most people here want to make pipes for fun. With that in mind make what you like, if you want to make that shape in the picture then crack on, if you mess it up, try again or make something different. If you are worried about the drilling try it on paper first, make sure it seems to work and if you still aren't sure use a cheap block of briar first to practise.
Do what makes you happy

Damn, makes sense to me! A couple of my best smokers which I have made ended up the way they were because I just started chasing an idea which collapsed and I had to do something else. Had a blast doing it also. Great post Chris.

The pipe pictured could easily be drilled using a drill press and vise. You don't need a lathe to make one like it or similar bent pipes for that matter. I say go for it. There's one sure way to find out if you're ready to try it. Worst case scenario, you mess it up and learn from your mistakes. Best case scenario, you knock it out of the park and still learn a bunch in the process.

i went back today and tried the shape again with a fresh attitude and nailed it first time no problem. one of the biggest lessons iv learned in pipe making is if you mess up and you get frustrated just stop... wait and start again later feeling better it will make pipemaking a thousand times easier. yesterday i got frustrated and spent six hours ruining four pieces of briar trying to drill a pipe and today i drilled 5 blocks absolutely perfect in under 2 hours. what a world of difference

I'm too much of a newbie to offer any substantial input, but I am curious why you choose that orientation? Based on other posts I read and what little I know of briar, it seems like it should be flipped over.
Mike.

You can flip it any way you want, it's your pipe!
For me, the orientation of that pipe of Wayne's is perfect. Optimize the grain.

Re: Grain orientation,

I think this shows about what the straight grain on the block is doing. Because of the way it fans, the grain runs straight along the bowl (which is wider at bottom, hence Mr. Teipen's orientation, I believe). It also runs perpendicular to the shank or close to it. This should result in birdseye all along the top and bottom of the shank and straight grain all along the sides. If you flip the drawing (white), it barely fits on the block, and you have some grain running parallel to the shank, and some running directly perpendicular, since the curve fights against the fanning of the grain. The bowl also loses the orientation of the grain--now it's straight along the back, but angled awkwardly toward the front. I think this is why the carvers above would orient it this way.

If you're carving a Dublin, whose bowl is wider at the top, you'd flip it to have the shape of the bowl match the fanning of the grain. But this pipe is not a Dublin or anything close.

Zippo wrote:I'm too much of a newbie to offer any substantial input, but I am curious why you choose that orientation? Based on other posts I read and what little I know of briar, it seems like it should be flipped over.
Mike.

It's helpful to picture the entire root ball and how the grain radiates outward from a somewhat central location inside the burl. Then imagine where your block is oriented in that sphere. There are many ways to orient grain to compliment a shape. When a shape tapers, it often looks best when the taper of the grain runs with the taper of the bowl. It also works to incorporate the grain orientation with the shank when possible. If a pipe is going to be blasted, it's easier to orient the ring grain than it is to orient the straight grain. Here's the end result with this pipe:

Thanks guys, that makes a lot of sense (and a beautiful pipe).
Mike.

I started with only a drill press, later I got a lathe.Chris is right, pipe carving should be enjoyable for pro or hobbyist. Burnout, has to be avoided. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Pipe in some music you really like or an audio book and let the dust fly.
P.S. beautiful pipe Wayne.

caskwith wrote:I am afraid I am not in the camp that say make basic shapes until you have them right. It gets boring making the same thing over and over. If you want to perfect the billiard etc then by all means go this route but most people here want to make pipes for fun. With that in mind make what you like, if you want to make that shape in the picture then crack on, if you mess it up, try again or make something different. If you are worried about the drilling try it on paper first, make sure it seems to work and if you still aren't sure use a cheap block of briar first to practise.
Do what makes you happy

I am afraid I am a wishy washy son-of-a-bitch. I've actually migrated into the camp with Chris where as formerly I was all about doing classics first because I haven't done any (not really). Man, I can't make a friggin' billiard yet but I'm working on it and, having gotten pretty good at a lot of things pipe making related, I can focus entirely on the shape and engineering specifics instead of figuring out how to get a decent fit or cut a stem while I attempt to make the hardest shapes in the canon. Being comfortable with a lot of the simple stuff helps and if you wanna make whirly gigs and various briar lolli pops like me, then make them! You'll learn a ton and have a lot of fun in the process. Just stay humble. Nobody likes a braggart.