Something from nothing

I've had this stummel lying on the bench for over a year now, but being the frugal person I am, I did not want to throw it away. I was hoping that one day I'll be able to do something resembling a pipe with it. As you can see in the first photo, in the mean time I even used it to try out different staining techniques.

Originally, the bottom of the bowl was much sharper and lower, the rim was convex and the chamber drilled, but not the airway. I flattened the top and took away the pointy bottom. Then I drilled the airway, along with a mortise to accept a stainless steel tenon.

This photo above is before final wax and polish. And the following photo is the final result.

 I must say in all honesty that I did not expect the grain to be that good! Perfect flamegrain all around, with a bit of birdseye on the bottom and of course the rim. Except for one small blemish on the rim and a pinprick on the bottom, this would have been spotless. But alas, briar is a natural product!
More photos and specifications on my website at http://www.goussardpipes.com/.

Fresh bamboo

One I finished today.

Final Sanding

After shaping on the disc and fine tuning with files, final sanding needs to take place. I start with 150, then 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit. Care must be taken to get all scratches out with each and every grit. It can be a real tedious job!

Yesterday the camera and tripod was standing in the shop and I decided to play with the timer to make things a bit more interesting. Here are 2 photos that came out OK.

Bamboo

Using bamboo are just like women in a way: they need lots of attention, but rub them up the wrong way and you'll be sure to be sorry!Bamboo is a fickle mistress. Except for getting the shank/bamboo and bamboo/stem transition seamless, the composition should also be perfect.
 I finished a little pipe with bamboo just before the weekend and thought I'd share some photos which I took along the way.

First, the stummel is rough sanded. I normally leave the bit of stubby shank over sized, so there is a bit of room for getting the shank/bamboo transition just right. A piece of stainless steel tubing is glued into the mortise.

A piece of bamboo that compliment the pipe is then chosen (which might be quite a task!). This piece is sawed to the right dimension and freehand drilled from both sides with a tapered 4mm bit. The capillary found naturally in the bamboo helps. A mortise is then drilled from both sides to accommodate the stainless steel tenons. I do it by chucking the appropriate bit in the headstock of the lathe and using the tail stock with center to advance the bamboo onto the bit. 

By using a pin gauge, the bamboo is then faced on both sides. The side that'll end up by the stem, also gets a little tenon to accept a ring with slightly larger diameter than the mortise. This ring is then glued in place and slightly countersunk. 

Sometimes, depending on the design, you can also do rings on both sides of the bamboo. 

You now have a piece of bamboo with a ring (or 2) attached, and a stummel with stainless steel tenon sticking out.

                                     

This is where the fun starts! The bamboo piece is pushed onto the stummel and the shaping begins. First I go to the sanding disc to get the diameter as close as possible to the bamboo. Then needle files, sandpaper or whatever works, to get the shank and bamboo transition flush and smooth, always taking care not too damage the bamboo. Nerve wrecking stuff! 

When done, the stummel is sanded to final grit, and stained. Only then, the bamboo is glued into place.              

                                     

Now you have a stummel, with the bamboo attached. An appropriate length of ebonite is then cut, drilled and a stainless steel tenon glued into place. The same procedure as on the shank side, is then followed.

Eventually, you'll end up with something like this:

On the bench

Today I have these 2 pipes on the bench, a Rhodesian variation and pear-shaped chubby.

 The rhodesian variation is sort of in the Danish fashion, with a flattened gently curving shank. I wanted to see  what the bowlrings would look like if I have one that is very shallow and the other a bit deeper. Not sure I like it this way, I definitely won't do it again. The stem fitted is a premold, the first in years. I used it because it's been lying around for ages waiting for a pipe exactly like this and I thought that I would see if I can still do premolds. I still like making my own stems much more!

 The chubby pear has amazing flamegrain. It goes from the heel of the pipe through to the bowl and to the shank. At some stage I was actually thinking of sandblasting, just because I felt that the resulting blast would have been stunning. But with me smooth always wins over a blast! A bit of bark has been left on the rim, with a stemring from protea nitida (waboom).

 The bowlcoating is to follow, then wax and polish and the pipes should be done.

Blowfish!?

I have always admired the blowfish as shape: the beautiful flow, graceful and delicate lines. The shape lends itself to the "shape first" way of pipemaking, which I really enjoy.

Although the shape is pretty much set in stone, you can get an amazing variety. From long shanked to more stubby, from intricate grooves and gullies to plain janes, even some with "wings"!

As some of you might know, I am not one for "frilly" pipes. All these ornate pipes with super-dooper triple whammy extensions and curves and wings and etc, just does not do it for me. Mostly, it is too much, looks too busy and distracts from the pipe itself.  

The blowfish for me sort of falls into this "fancy" category. It's got lines and curves that need to be in harmony. Not easy. I have been wanting to try my hand at one for a very long time, but felt that I needed to develop my skills more before I do. But eventually I succumbed. I got hold of a block and just could not help myself.

I learned a lot from this pipe, made some silly mistakes and some really stupid mistakes. But I will be back with more. What an intriguing, fascinating and wonderful shape!

Freehand?!

My Longman dictionary say the following:

free-hand drawn with your hand and a pen or pencil

Now I suppose the fathers of the English language did not necessarily smoke pipe (if not, they should have!) and that they therefore would not have thought of pipes when deciding on the meaning of this word, but what is a freehand pipe?

 Since starting with pipesmoking many moons ago, learning bit by bit and then getting into the making as well, this "shape", if you can call it that, has puzzled me. 

If a customer asks for a freehand, I get cold fever, my eyes glaze over and knees buckle,making me frantically grab my whisky glass to go pour another. The thing is, if you ask a hundred pipesmokers, well, you are going to get a hundred and one answers.

For most oldtimers (and even some younger smokers) the above pipe is a freehand. For me the old "danish style" freehand from the 70's. It usually was made from plateaux, normally didn't have any significant  grain, with a bit of bark on the the end of the shank and most of the time on the rim as well. It also was quite normal to sport a "fancy" stem with rings and whatnot. Most of the ones I have seen are sandblasted as well.

For other smokers, the term freehand refers to freehand drilling. This is where the pipe is shaped first, then drilled freehand. Any of the standard shapes can theoretically be made using this method, along with more unconventional shapes. Should a freehand-drilled and a lathe-drilled pipe be put next to each other though, there will be no way you would be able to differentiate which is which. This type of thought would be the younger generation of smokers. Most are using the Internet extensively, so they would have exposure to freehand drilling from some of the high end makers.

Then there are the pipe smokers for whom freehand refers to a non-standard shape. These would be more "organic" free flowing forms that might (or might not) follow the grain of the wood. For some smokers even an amorphous raw block with basically just the edges taken away, could be termed a freehand.

Now what does a pipe maker have to do when asked for a freehand? He asks for an idea, a pipe the person related to, a sketch, basically anything that will push him in a direction. That helps.
It also helps if it is a returning customer and you have an inkling of the customer's taste in pipes.
But then the most dreaded of replies also happen. That is when the customer answers: Surprise me. Just make a freehand.