Shopsmith Forums

Has any one done a pipe on a shopsmith?

Right after I got my SS back in the mid 80's I did a ton of pipes.
I usually brought the briar pre drilled for the stem and bowl but not always.
Back then the free forms were becoming very popular and I did a lot.
Biggest problem was making the sides thin enough to look elegant but thick enough that they didn't burn out too quickly.
I also did a little work in Mershum (sp?) and an artificial material that I can't recall what is was.

I haven't smoked a pipe since 87 or so. But I did love to make pipes to fit my hand. I also loved to finish them using what I called nose oil. If you run your finger on the crease of your nose you will get a very small amount of oil. I would rub it on my pipe. After weeks and weeks of repeating this the pipe would take a finish you couldn't duplicate anyway else. An old pipe making pro taught me that one.

Know also there is a lot of heart aches building pipes many of the exotic briars are very costly and more than once I have found sand pits that when sanded into automatically formed a huge hole and rendered the briar useless.
Hard to take when you paying $30+ for briars and all you can do once this happens is pitch them. Also if you make a wall too thin the pipe will burn through almost instantly. I had a $50+ briar that I worked on for days. Took the finished product to local pipe store to show it off. I was offered $300 for it but decided I would smoke it myself. Packed it with some of their finest, light it and immediately burned a hole through it. I was sick, embarassed and a little ticked. Plus I was out $50 for briar stock and the $300 I turned down. Guy that wanted to buy it probably would have never light it, so the wall being too thin would have never been discovered. Sigh!

Ed, could you (or anyone else) give us an overview of your pipe making process starting with a non-pre drilled blank. Also, what woods would you use, other than Briar?

Thanks,

First off briar I believe is a name given to root knot of most woods.
The briar I often used were grape root I believe, not sure of this as they were imported.

When you get a briar that isn't predrilled you must first flatten it some what.
I usually planed the wood slightly then using water tried to see the grain patterns. Most of time this gave you an idea of where and what to slice off to get some flats to work from. I usually always cut my first flat for the side and then cut another parallel to it that set the bowl size. I then cut the bottom flat. At this point I drilled the initial bowl hole making sure I left plenty of wood all around to work with. Once that was drilled I then drilled the draw hole. If I had the stem I was going to use this would determine the initial size stem hole to drill. I usually went one size smaller that the stem and then using trial and error hand fitted the stem. Once I had the stem fitted I used a drill about half the size of the stem hole to drill the draw hole into the bowl. You Must make sure you got you stem holes drilled before you cut down the neck because you can generate a lot of stress, pushing the stem in for a good pressure fit.

Once the briar is drilled I usually rough out the shape on the Bandsaw and ending up with a rectangle with a large bowl hole and smaller stem hole and square stem off to the side.

Usually when you buy predrilled briars this is how the come. Then using bandsaw, sanding drums, grinding bits on SS, hand drill and dremel I begin to shape the pipe to what I want it to look like. As you find a grain pattern you may modify that shape. Also I liked the bark edge of the briar to be the top of the pipe around the bowl. Often grain again would dictate how I shaped the pipe.

The thinner the walls of pipe the more delicate it looked, the quicker and more brilliant it would color from smoking but it also meant is would burn through faster. Like I said I made some pipes that burned through on the first smoke. Not good. The thicker the wall the cooler the pipe to hold, more durable it was, more rugged, and of course it might never burn through if it was thick enough. But it is also heavier and harder on the teeth and jaw.

Which incidently I why I gave up pipes. The heat, the weight of the pipe and other factors made it possible for my dentist to tell that I smoked a pipe which teeth I held it with. He claimed my jaw bone density was so modified coudl determine this. His claim was my teeth would eventually fall out. Perhaps he is right since the teeth that held the pipe are my only capped teeth now. Soorry to get off subject but I had to tell what I learned through experience.

You shape and design a pipe that is pleasing to you. Free forms are the most fun because you can fit them to your hand while working with the grain. Classis pipe shapes are also fun because you can make a classic shape as small or as large as feels comfortable in your hand.

There are some finishes sold for pipes but I liked what I explained as nose oil or bees wax. The beauty of a pipe after the initial polishing comes from the tobacco oils, hand oils, and etc. The color usually deepen and get richer and richer.

Many commerical pipes bypass this natural finish by spraying on an artificial lacquer finish. I never cared for how one of those pipes smoked.

Mershum (sp?) I believe is fossils that is soaked o make it softer and then carved. The beauty of it comes from the coloring when you smoke it. I made a few of them it was almost like carving Ivory soap, in that I used a carving knife and sandpaper.

There is not real secrets to pipe making, it is more craftsmanship, and artistry than special technique.

Thanks Ed!

Thanks for the reply