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Post by Legend Lover on Jan 7, 2019 4:56:45 GMT -5
So, a few months back, Cramptholomew posted a picture of this... I thought to myself, that looks like a tree branch with a stem in it. Fast forward a few months and I had to cut down a branch in my neighbour's back garden that was pulling on my phone-line. So I thought to myself, 'now's my chance'. So I trimmed off a part of the branch that had another branch coming off...  Then I sanded it down with the Dremel and drilled two holes...  Then I sanded it and pushed in whatever stem I had. I tried to make it fit a MM stem as they are easy to acquire. Turns out the Danish bit fits well...   And it's also a sitter. I was going to round off the bottom but then I thought that it would take too much effort, plus I like a sitter...  I took it for a very quick test drive this morning with some Amphora Original. The thing smokes amazingly well. The drilling is quite off centre (look at the third photo - the hole in the bottom was from the drill bit. The draught hole is at about 5 o'clock). Still, it goes to show that you don't need to have perfect skills to make a workable pipe. I have no skill whatsoever with my hands (as you can tell LOL), but at least the pipe works. To be fair, I'm not sure how often I'll smoke this but it's been a fun journey. If I make another one it might look a bit better. |
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Post by scrooge on Jan 7, 2019 5:42:08 GMT -5
GREAT job Paddy. Enjoy it.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2019 5:44:34 GMT -5
Paddy, very nicely done Freehand pipe👍👍. If it smokes good that’s all that counts. If your last name was Eltang you made a $600.00 pipe......lol.
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Post by Legend Lover on Jan 7, 2019 6:06:04 GMT -5
Paddy, very nicely done Freehand pipe👍👍. If it smokes good that’s all that counts. If your last name was Eltang you made a $600.00 pipe......lol. Ha. Unfortunately it isn't. It's not the prettiest pipe, I know. the way the bumps on the wood lie, it fits really well in the hand, though. And, like you say, it's how it smokes that counts. |
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Post by blackmouth210 on Jan 7, 2019 6:06:44 GMT -5
Nice work.
There's a beauty in smoking a pipe made by your own hands that can never be rivaled by a pipe made by someone else.
What kind of wood is that?
You will want to be sure it's safe to smoke with. Some varieties of wood can be harmful to you when used for pipe-smoking.
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Post by Legend Lover on Jan 7, 2019 6:37:17 GMT -5
Nice work. There's a beauty in smoking a pipe made by your own hands that can never be rivaled by a pipe made by someone else. What kind of wood is that? You will want to be sure it's safe to smoke with. Some varieties of wood can be harmful to you when used for pipe-smoking. Yea, I noticed that. I'm not 100% sure. I think it might be sycamore. I did a search and some smoking pipes have been made out of sycamore. There is a food-smoking guide which says that sycamore is poisonous for smoking food, but there would be tons and tons of smoke produced from smoking food, whereas the smoke from a pipe is 99% the tobacco and minimal from the pipe itself. On top of that a minimal amount will be ingested so I think I'll be safe enough. Like I said, I'm not sure how often I'll use this pipe, but I wanted to see if I could. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2019 6:44:56 GMT -5
Great job for your first run at pipe making.
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Post by McWiggins on Jan 7, 2019 6:47:53 GMT -5
You started from pure scratch and should be proud.
I got one of those starter blocks for carving a pipe a few months ago. One day it might become something but for now it look like a Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso collaboration while both are heavily medicated because they have a rare strain of influenza.
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Post by roadsdiverged on Jan 7, 2019 7:30:03 GMT -5
I like it! I have a Briar Spirit pipe (from Walt) with a very similar shape.
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Post by Legend Lover on Jan 7, 2019 7:35:27 GMT -5
I like it! I have a Briar Spirit pipe (from Walt) with a very similar shape. I'll take that. Thanks guys. |
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Post by Pistol Pete 1911 on Jan 7, 2019 7:45:24 GMT -5
Hell of a job! I'd be proud to smoke it
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Post by kbareit on Jan 7, 2019 7:50:32 GMT -5
Good on you. You have a nice looking pipe that smokes well and you made it yourself. What more could you ask for?
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Post by beardedmi on Jan 7, 2019 7:58:06 GMT -5
Theres a link floating around that scottie posted here last fall that lists safe and unsafe woods for pipe making. If I can find it I'll drop it back here
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Post by Legend Lover on Jan 7, 2019 8:00:24 GMT -5
Theres a link floating around that scottie posted here last fall that lists safe and unsafe woods for pipe making. If I can find it I'll drop it back here cheers. I reckon sycamore might be on that list. |
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Post by beardedmi on Jan 7, 2019 8:06:49 GMT -5
Theres a link floating around that scottie posted here last fall that lists safe and unsafe woods for pipe making. If I can find it I'll drop it back here cheers. I reckon sycamore might be on that list. There it is. I didn't open the link, but the info is in that thread. |
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Post by Butch Cassidy on Jan 7, 2019 8:11:42 GMT -5
Great job, looks like Maple to me.....
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Post by Cramptholomew on Jan 7, 2019 8:19:30 GMT -5
Nothing feels better than smoking a pipe you made yourself.
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Post by addamsruspipe on Jan 7, 2019 8:29:43 GMT -5
Very nice pipe. It's the effort that counts and the fact that you enjoy smoking it. Looks much better then my first attempt, which looked like a deformed elephants foot.  |
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Post by Legend Lover on Jan 7, 2019 8:30:49 GMT -5
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Post by Legend Lover on Jan 7, 2019 8:32:32 GMT -5
Great job, looks like Maple to me..... from what I found, sycamore is also called sycamore maple. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2019 8:37:51 GMT -5
Me like.
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Post by dervis on Jan 7, 2019 9:04:00 GMT -5
I think that looks pretty great. Good job!
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flybypipe
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Post by flybypipe on Jan 7, 2019 9:59:55 GMT -5
Very nice job, and adventurous, too! Doesn’t look like the sycamore we have in Ohio, but there must be multiple varieties.
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Post by oldcajun123 on Jan 7, 2019 10:04:02 GMT -5
 You done good!
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 7, 2019 10:22:29 GMT -5
Great mrmff job hrrmphmrr dude!
Seriously, I know better than to ever attempt to carve a pipe myself. I have one carved by a friend that has the draft hole as a slot in the left side and it smokes great. I think that the only thing that would hold you back is time to practice.
We have had a Sycamore in the back yard for 14 years now and it hasn't bothered us yet.
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Post by Legend Lover on Jan 7, 2019 10:39:13 GMT -5
Thanks again. I know it's not pretty, but there's always next time.
I showed the photo of the pipe to my wife, not telling her anything about it. I just said, 'what do you think of this as a pipe?'
Her response: "looks stupid!"
I replied, 'yes, cos I made it.'
She felt bad. 😂😂
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 7, 2019 10:41:06 GMT -5
Thanks again. I know it's not pretty, but there's always next time. I showed the photo of the pipe to my wife, not telling her anything about it. I just said, 'what do you think of this as a pipe?' Her response: "looks stupid!" I replied, 'yes, cos I made it.' She felt bad. 😂😂 From someone who has been married for 43 years, just treasure those points, but never ever use them. |
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Post by Legend Lover on Jan 7, 2019 11:08:21 GMT -5
Thanks again. I know it's not pretty, but there's always next time. I showed the photo of the pipe to my wife, not telling her anything about it. I just said, 'what do you think of this as a pipe?' Her response: "looks stupid!" I replied, 'yes, cos I made it.' She felt bad. 😂😂 From someone who has been married for 43 years, just treasure those points, but never ever use them. we both laughed together. She was in tears fun laughing so much. |
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Post by smellthehatfirst on Jan 7, 2019 11:28:04 GMT -5
Nice work. There's a beauty in smoking a pipe made by your own hands that can never be rivaled by a pipe made by someone else. What kind of wood is that? You will want to be sure it's safe to smoke with. Some varieties of wood can be harmful to you when used for pipe-smoking. Yea, I noticed that. I'm not 100% sure. I think it might be sycamore. I did a search and some smoking pipes have been made out of sycamore. There is a food-smoking guide which says that sycamore is poisonous for smoking food, but there would be tons and tons of smoke produced from smoking food, whereas the smoke from a pipe is 99% the tobacco and minimal from the pipe itself. On top of that a minimal amount will be ingested so I think I'll be safe enough. Like I said, I'm not sure how often I'll use this pipe, but I wanted to see if I could.
The danger isn't straight-up toxicity, it's allergic reaction.
Woodworkers publish guides on "safe" and "unsafe" woods because repeated exposure to the allergen can cause a massive reaction where previously there was none.
Your exposure may also be greater than you imagine. Cobs are cured for two years to remove as much moisture as possible. Briar is boiled and then cured for ten years or more, to remove both moisture and also various unpleasant chemical contents natural to the plant.
Your wood wasn't cured at all. Even if it was already dead, it's just been sitting outside in the rain. Everything that was in the living tree is still in the dead wood hunk.
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Post by smellthehatfirst on Jan 7, 2019 11:30:01 GMT -5
Also, should you wish to repeat the experiment, but safely, hunks of briar are not expensive. Surely there is a European supplier of individual blocks, as there are in the U.S.
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You done good!
