Process Shots, Boring Pipe

[JMG]

Let's hear more about those shoes.

[Sasquatch]

Keen's. Wide, tough, stable.

[JMG]

Keen's. Wide, tough, stable.

Going to have to look into them. They look like an old baseball mitt.

[Sasquatch]

Yeah I have nearly impossible feet, wide at the front, skinny heels, high arches, just awful. Certain German brands fit me okay but mostly they don't make "lifestyle compatible" footwear. Like, Birkenstock does make a boot now, but it's a pretty crappy build for 300 bucks. Keen's are cheap and pretty rugged. Lots of variations, high tops, slip ons, etc.

About the only other thing I wear is Blundstones, and they ain't what they used to be either.

[LatakiaLover]

Buy the best and cry only once:

https://builder.wescoboots.com/About.aspx

[seamonster]

... Keen's are cheap and pretty rugged. Lots of variations, high tops, slip ons, etc.

... and made right here in Portland, oh yeah!
good shoes, have owned a lot of pairs over the years. they were my gateway into barefoot shoes and wide toe boxes.

[Sasquatch]

My kid is into barefoot hiking boots and has a set of "casual" shoes too, just super light and flexible. She says her feet are changing shape.

[seamonster]

It's true! Your feet will spread out, after not being crammed into narrow shoes any more. My toes used to fall asleep on runs before I switched to a wider barefoot shoe. They're great.

[luttrell31]

Great looking pipe, love the finish.

One thing that grabbed my attention. After you had the stem fitted to the shank you said you then cut it to length. I assume you use a tapered bit when drilling then finish it off with 1/16? So I assume you stop drilling with the taper around an 3/4 of an inch then finish with the 1/16 so you can trim down from that side? I always try to have the length guessed out so I don't leave as much room, I probably stop around 1/2 inch. I believe I will start doing it how you did though, leaves a lot more room for error, and I make plenty of those.....

[Sasquatch]

Yes to all that. I drill in with the tapered bit some certain unspecified amount that is less than "Oh shit that's too far" (having some rough idea what I'm making, be it a lovat or whatever). Then I choose the actual stem length visually, with the thing actually sitting stuck in the stummel, masking tape is handy... then I cut it a hair long, face it up on the lathe, drill in with 1/16" to an inch or so, then flip it back around, figure out how far I want the tapered bit to actually go, where it needs to end, and I drill that and hopefully shit connects.

Inside my drilling methodology of both stems and bowls, there is a little repeating, a little "let's finish this later". I cut the chamber some way, cut the pipe bowl, then drill the airway and do whatever work is being done on the shank, and then I'll re-mount the bowl and finish the chamber, cutting down to hit the airway. Why bother? Cuz it lets me work on the bowl, maximize grain etc before I have to choose any details about the shank. (So for example Askwith thinks I'm nuts to do things in this order, preferring to start with shank and airway).

[LatakiaLover]

...then I cut it a hair long, face it up on the lathe, drill in with 1/16" to an inch or so, then flip it back around, figure out how far I want the tapered bit to actually go, where it needs to end, and I drill that and hopefully shit connects.

There's a way to work faster and more accurately (guaranteed perfect axial alignment) at the same time with goofy-long drill bits, if that floats your boat.

They're available up to 12":

[luttrell31]

Awesome, thanks for that. I think I will start doing my stems like that. Makes a lot of sense to me.

[Sasquatch]

I know Tyler uses long 1/16" bits to carry on cutting, rather than flipping anything around.

I like to mount the stem, look at it for length, and decide at the last second just exactly how long I want it, I don't feel like that's a decision I make (unless I'm building from a pattern) ahead of time, so I don't like the risk of going too far with the tapered bit.

And if a guy isn't working on a lathe, yeah, you're probably better by a long shot to keep drilling down the same hole rather than bung something up flipping it end for end.

[caskwith]

Yes to all that. I drill in with the tapered bit some certain unspecified amount that is less than "Oh shit that's too far" (having some rough idea what I'm making, be it a lovat or whatever). Then I choose the actual stem length visually, with the thing actually sitting stuck in the stummel, masking tape is handy... then I cut it a hair long, face it up on the lathe, drill in with 1/16" to an inch or so, then flip it back around, figure out how far I want the tapered bit to actually go, where it needs to end, and I drill that and hopefully shit connects.

Inside my drilling methodology of both stems and bowls, there is a little repeating, a little "let's finish this later". I cut the chamber some way, cut the pipe bowl, then drill the airway and do whatever work is being done on the shank, and then I'll re-mount the bowl and finish the chamber, cutting down to hit the airway. Why bother? Cuz it lets me work on the bowl, maximize grain etc before I have to choose any details about the shank. (So for example Askwith thinks I'm nuts to do things in this order, preferring to start with shank and airway).

This isn't the only reason I think you are nuts.

[JontyPiper]

Hi, well all I can give is a resounding "this is definitely of interest to me".

I have been making pipes on and off for 3 years, I'll be honest they are still a mile away from where they need to be and look **** very often. I have seen people's 10th pipe look better than my current efforts. When I started there wasn't much in the way of tutorials available (at least so I thought). I have spent a day with Ian Walker of Northern Briars (I'm in the UK) and also picked the brains of some of our up and coming makers here, there's a handful of guys churning some great stuff out.

What I love about this post is that you visually demonstrate the crease line between the stem/bowl junction, I have yet to see a video on this part of the process as it seems to be skimmed over.

I have had interaction with yourself early on and also DocAitch when I posted something in the Facebook beginner's groups, at the time being quite upset that what I thought was a great 10th pipe was just a turd really and didn't respond well to the criticism. I am hopefully learning that these things are meant to help shape us (and in turn help us shape pipes).

Anyway thanks for this as it's a huge help. I took note that you yourself took a while to get good, I'm sure it probably didn't but I love your honesty and that inspires me. I'm not wanting to be a world beater but turn classic pipes that I can look at and have some sense of purpose in it.

Sorry for my lengthy response!

JP

[Sasquatch]

When you make something, and it's difficult and time consuming and you put your heart and soul into it, you WANT it to be good. That should drive this whole thing. But wanting something to be good and actually being able to make something actually genuinely good (which is to say something where identifiable areas of difficulty have been handled, and there are about 300 of these on a pipe), are not the same thing, of course. So you make something, and someone comes outta the blue and says "Yeah next time think about this and this and this and this and this and this but your stain job looks okay" and it's tough not to be a bit put out.

Eventually for me, I realized that the ugly pipes I was making weren't selling, people didn't seem to understand my artistic genius or something, and when I started doing the things that other, better, more experienced pipe makers told me to do (told me to "fix" in other words), boom, the pipes sold.

So there are all kinds of genuine "rules" about pipes that are mostly based on technicalities of the craft, you don't want glue blobs hanging out... but they wind up becoming aesthetic signatures too, in how we apply them individually. It's never "Your pipe should look like this pipe.", not a rote formulaic thing to make all pipes the same - It's always "THIS pipe, because of this and this, should look like THIS." and it's to make THAT pipe the best it can be, for whatever it is.

I don't think I was "good" even after a hundred pipes. People kept buying pipes, and that was and is great, it's a very supportive community, but I look back at lots of pipes I made and hate them. Even now, I hate last year's pipes "Why would I cut the shoulder like THAT?" Basically still hate every pipe I make - I never finish a pipe so much as give up on it. "All right, this thing's not getting any better, get it the fuck outta my sight."