I live in rural Kansas with a wife and two kids, and work full time as a paramedic.
I got into pipe making simply because my brother and I are aspiring wood workers and thought building custom churchwarden pipes for eachother would be a great challenge. I originally tried joining to get some advice, but I've finished it now. Attached are pictures of the finished project. Throughout this process I've come to really enjoy working with briar and look forward to making a few more for myself in the future. This pipe was carved from a briar blank, and the stem is 11 1/2 inches of solid white oak. It's all stained with feibrings leather dye, and partially rusticated. The joint between the stem and stumel was nearly my demise, but I was able to hide the gap small gap with a "band aid" (wrapped and epoxied twine to give the appearance of a single wrap). It all comes apart neatly though. I'm not thrilled with the overall shape of the bowl, but I was afraid of making the walls too thin. Overall I'm very happy with my first attempt.
If this needs to be moved to another topic please let me know. Otherwise I'm open to all criticism and tips.
