Making my First Pipe

[dshpipes]

Hey guys!

Things are happening, dust is being made, stems are being worked, mortises drilled, tennons fitted. Update photos soon!

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Photos, or we'll just think you're at home watching football. 8)

 

[dshpipes]

Photos, or we'll just think you're at home watching football. 8)

I said soon. Sheesh. Now back to the game!

I'm actually working all day today, so I haven't made a lot of progress since 10 am. However, I've got three days off in a row starting tomorrow, so I imagine I'll be making a lot of headway on the pipe. My goal by the end of the day tomorrow is to have the stem fit to the stummel, the chamber complete, and to have done a good deal of shaping.

Photos by end of day tomorrow!

 

[dshpipes]

Sad news.

 

[dshpipes]

Looks like I've got a lot to learn. Patience and taking care are two lessons learned here. I knew that I'd drilled a bit low, but while trying to round out the bottom of the bowl, I opened up the two holes you see above. So many would've/could've thoughts floating through my head at this moment.

I'm probably going to still use the wood to practice fitting the tennon and mortise, but this poor briar will never be smoked.

 

[dshpipes]

This thread ain't over, though! I've got to finish a pipe first!

To make myself feel better, I bored the airway and the pilot for the chamber of the pipe in the second video at the beginning of this thread. I'll repost below. With a 2mm bore, I connected on the first try! Talk about a way to make me feel better!

I'll try to make a quick video to show the airway connection. This will be the pipe that I'll be working on from here out:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZbeMnD3NbRQ" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[dshpipes]

Airways touch! Booya!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EpUfQPykLIQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Oh man, Uber, I'm so sorry... I didn't even have to read the explanation, I just saw the daylight through the pipe bowl in the picture and my heart SANK...

...well, live and learn, eh?

SO--a tip dear Daniel (tNd) suggested so that might not happen again... after the airway hole is drilled at the shank, at the right angle, at the right length (measured by tip of shank to where you'd like the middle of the bowl to be), THEN you drill the bowl/tobacco chamber. The trick: put a piece of thick copper (or other soft) wire in the airway hole. As you drill, you'll know when you've hit the wire and not go through the bottom, and the soft metal won't decimate your drill bit. Mind you, you're using some funky way to get a tobacco chamber drilled out with multiple holes, and this is specifically for a spoon or other drill bit that makes the chamber in one pass.

I haven't employed this idea yet, but when I get to drillin', you betcha I will be. 8)

Great vids, and good luck! Great shape on the intact pipe, too!!!

 

[dshpipes]

Oh man, Uber, I'm so sorry... I didn't even have to read the picture, I just saw the daylight through the pipe bowl and my heart SANK...

...well, live and learn, eh?

SO--a tip dear Daniel (tNd) suggested so that might not happen again... after the airway hole is drilled at the shank, at the right angle, at the right length (measured by tip of shank to where you'd like the middle of the bowl to be), THEN you drill the bowl/tobacco chamber. The trick: put a piece of thick copper (or other soft) wire in the airway hole. As you drill, you'll know when you've hit the wire and not go through the bottom, and the soft metal won't decimate your drill bit. Mind you, you're using some funky way to get a tobacco chamber drilled out with multiple holes, and this is specifically for a spoon or other drill bit that makes the chamber in one pass.

I haven't employed this idea yet, but when I get to drillin', you betcha I will be. 8)

Great vids, and good luck! Great shape on the intact pipe, too!!!

Thanks for the tip, Kyle! Drilling freehand does make employing that a little tough, but perhaps one day I'll have some power tools that can accommodate a spoon bit. When that happens, you bet I'll be trying this out!

Before the sun went down, I snapped some pictures of my progress today.

I spent about 4 hours boring and working the chamber on this one and, thankfully, did not drill low this time nor did I drill through the bottom!

In fact, the chamber is almost finished and is looking good. I drilled one hole for the chamber this time then did the rest of the work freehand with my dremel. Check it out:

I also did some work on the stem. I took Kurt's advice, but since I only have a 3mm tool like his, the stem is extremely open. I'll see how that works out, but if it doesn't I've got other stems to work with. My apologies for the blurry photo.

There's still a lot of work to be done, but I feel pretty good about the progress made today. More updates to come!

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I have a $30 Black and Decker drill clamped to a guitar case--all I need is the spoon bits. :lol: If you get something even similar, flexible, rotary "sticky pad" type sanding wheels that fit it and a the same drill/spoon bits, you'll do just fine. Working with my Dremel is almost too small, but I find it handy for finishing work on the pipes.

Geez, this is making me want to start carving something... hmmm...

 

[tyler]

For fear of jumping and sounding like the Cliff Claven of pipe making....

Spoon bits, in the context of pipe making, are very strange, particular bits custom made to drill a tobacco chamber on a lathe with the bowl already shaped and in your hand. I don't think that's what you guys are meaning by your use of the term. You guys just need some bits that are ground into a tobacco chamber shape. Most commonly these are SPADE bits that are ground to that shape, and I think the similarity in name causes confusion sometimes.

Anyhoo, sorry. I just thought it would be helpful for you guys to know for future discussion so your weren't misunderstanding or being misunderstood.

Clif--er-- Tyler :tongue:

 

[dshpipes]

Cool! Thanks for informing us!

 

[tyler]

Found this:

The spoon bit in this picture is the the fat, 3-dimensional one in the middle. Most of the rest of them are ground spade bits.

 

[dshpipes]

Why is a spoon bit better than a spade bit while freehand boring the tobacco chamber?

Are spade bits mainly used in drill presses?

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Spoon bit, spade bit... I guess whatever will get the job done. The tobacco chamber just needs that nice U shaped cup at the bottom...since I have a drill, again, clamped to a guitar case, the freehand "spoon bit" is what I was really referring to. I don't have a drill press, nor do I intend to spend the money on one. I suppose a spade bit would do the job nicely too.

 

[tyler]

Why is a spoon bit better than a spade bit while freehand boring the tobacco chamber?

Are spade bits mainly used in drill presses?

The spoon bit is basically a steel rod turned to the shape and size of the tobacco chamber, then half of it is removed along the vertical axis. The reason it works well for freehand drilling is the half-round shape slides around in the hole being drilled and prevents chatter and "catching." If you freehand drill this way with a spade bit you have to be careful not to rip a finger off.

The spade bits are used with any form of "traditional" drilling where the wood is clamped by something other than your hand. I use spade bits all the time to drill with my lathe, but a drill press or hand drill can use a spade bit too.

 

[tyler]

Spoon bit, spade bit... I guess whatever will get the job done. The tobacco chamber just needs that nice U shaped cup at the bottom...since I have a drill, again, clamped to a guitar case, the freehand "spoon bit" is what I was really referring to. I don't have a drill press, nor do I intend to spend the money on one. I suppose a spade bit would do the job nicely too.

Well, OK.

FWIW, one spoon bit will cost you as much as a drill press, so good luck with that.

 

[dshpipes]

Why is a spoon bit better than a spade bit while freehand boring the tobacco chamber?

Are spade bits mainly used in drill presses?

The spoon bit is basically a steel rod turned to the shape and size of the tobacco chamber, then half of it is removed along the vertical axis. The reason it works well for freehand drilling is the half-round shape slides around in the hole being drilled and prevents chatter and "catching." If your freehand drill this way with a spade bit you have to be careful not to rip a finger off.

The spade bits are used with any form of "traditional" drilling where the wood is clamped by something other than your hand. I use spade bits all the time to drill with my lathe, but a drill press or hand drill can use a spade bit too.

Thanks for the info! I'm learning so much during this process and largely thanks to you and Kurt. And the gentleman who goes without saying: Kyle. I am loving every minute of this.

So no photo update this evening. I spent about 5 hours working the mortise, tenon, and stem today so not a whole lot of new visual updates to share. I did discover that I need to use a larger stem from my inventory (of 9 stems), or else I'd have to reshape the pipe to accommodate the small size of the stem, and that ain't happenin'!

As such, there'll be a lot more stem work being done on a different stem tomorrow. Hopefully by the end of Wednesday I'll finally have a stem in my stummel!

...Is it just me, or was that last comment slightly dirty? :scratch:

 

[szyzk]

As such, there'll be a lot more stem work being done on a different stem tomorrow. Hopefully by the end of Wednesday I'll finally have a stem in my stummel!

You pig!

Also - you're making me want to carve a pipe. This is not another slope I want to jump off.

 

[dshpipes]

As such, there'll be a lot more stem work being done on a different stem tomorrow. Hopefully by the end of Wednesday I'll finally have a stem in my stummel!

You pig!

Also - you're making me want to carve a pipe. This is not another slope I want to jump off.

You're posting in the wrong place, buddy.

Jump! Jump!