pipemakersforum.com

A month or so back, I won a very nicely carved meerschaum pipe on e Bay for $16.00 inc postage. It is a CPF pipe which I estimate to be close to 100 years old. About 6" long with a half bent with real amber stem. Carving is a large cat ( tiger?) coming around a stump with a bit of tropical foli...

As said above, the bad dints from a toothcan be reversed with a bit of thought. It is important to make up some small tools of steel which will fit thru the button funnel into the smoke passage..but that's not it.The tool will have a very short 'ell' on the end with a rounded and smoother end. A coa...

pennyscot, I sent you a PM on the briar burl source I know of. Kurt, Sounds like the boiling process would need to be attended closely.. One could surmise that when the water solution began to darken to some shade from clear, that water would either be added ( for the evaporation) ? or changed out ....

Buster,many domestic and wild( gone wild) fruit wood, apple, pear, plum,cherry will make a very nice smoking and attractive pipe. Historically, the reason why pipes were seldom made of fruit wood was in those days, fruit trees had far greater value for fruit and had little commercial value otherwise...

Kurt, Thanks for the experience..You have an admirable talent and a great willingness to help and share with others.A gift! One cannot help but wonder what the 'water' may have been like used to boil that poor batch from which your experience came. Boiling water is..well ...pretty constant in temper...

Rano & Rad, Thanks for the replies and the link. I'm familiar with "retarding" moisture loss in denser hardwoods of thick dimensions so the wood can lose moisture with inner cells keeping better pace with the outer. Damp and cool and dark are usually the steps where no modern process a...

Wasn't sure which of the forums to put this on so forgive me if this should be elsewhere. Q: Do or have any of you started the pipemaking process with the entire briar burl? Typically the ones I have and have access to are from 2-5 pounds, a bit smaller than a volleyball , larger than a cantaloupe.....

The heat gun works well for me...tho I have used an oven on a bed of salt as well as boiling water for some limited bending work. With the heat gun, one has hands on control of the process. I've not tried the candle or alcohol burner up til this time. As has been said, keep rotating the stem and mov...

Andrew, I think that most who have the small PIMO book refer to it often, esp as they delve into pipemaking in greater degree. There is alot of straightforward info in the book, which was written for the home crafter with the most minimal tools...helping him to understand the why and hows of pipemak...

Without a latin name, hard to tell exactly what the Argentine osage orange is..I have worked with alot of osage orange over the years( cutting it and making things from it after seasoning) It is a beautiful, hard ring porous hardwood.It is bright yello when fresh and oxidizes over time even if finis...

Georgein Bulgaria, I'm with Vermont Freehad..Improvise and 'use' the damaged area to create a new top contour. Even IF a perfect 'mechanical piece were to be glued and fitted, it will always look 'repaired' on that cornor.Wood Grain will not match and despite the most meticuloutly thin glue lines an...

Timberwolf, thank you. I haven't posted pictures of my small chest of drwaers anywhere..but I believe others also have proposed the small chest of drawers as an excellent way to display and protect pipe collections. Unless one enjoys the dusting tasks, pipes sitting in open racks do collect dust and...

Timberwolf, One can get some ideas for larger pipe cabinet, rack displays by looking at those made in the past. Some are quite artful, others simpler. As a pipe smoker and maker of many years, I found my small 'harem' of smoking pipes to be ever expanding...:) Many vintages, shapes, sizes, styles. S...