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A Pipe Comes to Life |
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"I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgement in all human affairs." -Albert Einstein, 1950 |
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The South West Pipe Club (UK) |
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© The South-West Pipe Club (UK) - 2007. All rights reserved |
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This page is a photographic testimony to the creation of a pipe from a mere doodle to reality. |
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To contact us, email:
The Club Secretary (bewm@fsmail.net) |
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The pipe started life as an idle doodle that took shape during a meeting (the doodler was paying attention at the time!). The doodle was emailed to pipemaker Stephen Downie along with the question “can this be made?”. The answer was in the affirmative. A couple of months later, and here is the result. |
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Pictures and text by kind permission of |
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The design is marked out on the block and the excess wood removed using a bandsaw. Any flaws that come to light at this point may instigate a re-assessment of the design. |
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The mortise hole, the draught hole and tobacco chamber are drilled in that order. Given that the initial cutting with the bandsaw is unlikely to produce a perfectly true block, the drilling alignment is done by eye and experience. One advantage of having an adjustable vice and a good eye! |
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In the case of this pipe, a shank extension of Black Chicate and Wild Olive was decided upon, plus a Delrin sleeve to accommodate the stem’s tenon. The Delrin sleeve has been let into the mortise to a depth of about 1/4 inch, and the piece of Black Chicate, already sanded so it will sit flush against the briar, has been slid over the Delrin. |
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The final part of the shank extension, the Wild Olive, is drilled and machined to shape on a lathe. This is then sanded so it will sit flush against the Black Chicate. |
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The Delrin sleeve, Black Chicate and Wild Olive are now glued to the briar and left to cure. Delrin does not like to bond with glues all that much. To help in the process, Stephen cuts notches into the sides of the Delrin to help give the epoxy something to adhere to. |
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While the glue is curing, attention is turned to the stem, in this case made from Ebonite rod. The rod is cut to length and rounded in the lathe. The airway is drilled, using a long taper drill and then a wider opening to accommodate a Delrin tenon, which has been machined to fit the Delrin mortise sleeve, is made. The rod is turned around and the bit end of the rod is then drilled. |
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The shank end of the stem is machined down so that it will sit flush with the shank extension, and the Delrin tenon is glued into the Ebonite rod and left to cure. |
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Once all the gluing is cured, the components of the pipe are fitted together and any fine adjustments necessitated are made. The rough, final shape of the pipe is achieved by initially further trimming with a bandsaw with further shaping done by hand. |
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The pipe’s final shape is achieved by sanding using increasingly finer grades of sandpaper. The Ebonite rod is bent, carefully, by heating with a candle, and the final touches to the bit carried out. Even without staining and polishing, the quality of the pipe’s grain shows through. The pipe is then buffed using an abrasive buffing compound. This takes out any tool marks and sanding scratches. The process is repeated until all scratches and marks have been removed. |
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Staining is done using alcohol-based stains. Using a dark stain initially helps to bring out the grain, as grain and wood will absorb the stain at different rates. The next step is what makes or breaks the appearance of a pipe. The right choice and use of stains will create the right contrast between grain and wood, and will serve to highlight the grain. The pipe undergoes several cycles of staining and rubbing back using steel wool. Once the right finish has been achieved, the pipe is buffed and waxed to a high gloss finish. |
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Et voila ….. the finished item. |
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For a fuller explanation of how a pipe is made, follow the link below:- |