DIY tobacco pipe?

[Shiloh]

Honestly I feel the best way to start building a collection of pipes is to hunt through Ebay for estate pipes then clean them up, ream em, do bowl soaks, stem soaks and then just get to puffing. Also if you want the absolute best wood for making a pipe I'd suggest ordering a pre-aged pre-dried brier block and some vulcanite to make stems. I've made a few pipes this way and love em all to bits!

As stated though corn cobs are an easy way to go, and hickory makes a great stem for a cob pipe. Just make sure you pack the base to avoid burn out. Also I'm surprised your local smoke shop didn't have something like a Missouri Meerschaum cob pipe most shops have em en mass.
One thing to keep in mind is that whatever wood you try and use you must be sure it is properly dried and aged. If the wood has too much tanic (I think thats the term I'm looking for) acid it will make a terrible pipe! It'll be bitter, and give you tongue bite. I learned that lesson with cherry wood, and juniper when I first got into pipe smoking. Now I'm a briar... I can't help it D: (This from the guy with a 98+ pipe collection....yep I'm addicted to collecting pipes...)

Haha, understandable! I hesitate to call our local store a "smoke shop", since it's that plus a liquor store. They actually have some decent cigars, and a good selection of tobacco, but most of the pipes they sell are for "alternative" smokers. :s

I was actually looking around last night and stumbled onto these: They looked pretty cool, and I heard good things about them. And for $4, you can't really screw it up too bad. 

[stickbender]

     Dang!  I just might have to go into the pipe making business, for the price of some of those pipes!  Man that much money, just to get mouth, throat, stomach, and lung cancer!


                                                                                  Wayne

[Shiloh]

     Dang!  I just might have to go into the pipe making business, for the price of some of those pipes!  Man that much money, just to get mouth, throat, stomach, and lung cancer!


                                                                                  Wayne

Well the way I understand it, you're less likely to get lung cancer with pipes/cigars since you don't inhale the smoke all the way into your lungs. But don't get me wrong, it's still not what most would consider "Healthy".  And depending on the tobacco you use, they generally have less chemicals than cigarettes.

[Olanigw (Pekane)]

Perspective:
They haven't done any studies on pipe smoking since the last one found pipe smokers lived longer than non smokers.
The risk of any cancer with "moderate" cigar smoking (one per day) was negligible

[comebackshane]

Olanigw(Pekane) have you ever seen the painting of the Delaware scout Black Beaver?  Google it if you haven't.  When I saw you holding that long pipe that's the first thing that came to my mind. Pretty close resemblance.

Sorry, way off topic! I couldn't help myself

[KrisDelger]

Honestly I feel the best way to start building a collection of pipes is to hunt through Ebay for estate pipes then clean them up, ream em, do bowl soaks, stem soaks and then just get to puffing. Also if you want the absolute best wood for making a pipe I'd suggest ordering a pre-aged pre-dried brier block and some vulcanite to make stems. I've made a few pipes this way and love em all to bits!

As stated though corn cobs are an easy way to go, and hickory makes a great stem for a cob pipe. Just make sure you pack the base to avoid burn out. Also I'm surprised your local smoke shop didn't have something like a Missouri Meerschaum cob pipe most shops have em en mass.
One thing to keep in mind is that whatever wood you try and use you must be sure it is properly dried and aged. If the wood has too much tanic (I think thats the term I'm looking for) acid it will make a terrible pipe! It'll be bitter, and give you tongue bite. I learned that lesson with cherry wood, and juniper when I first got into pipe smoking. Now I'm a briar... I can't help it D: (This from the guy with a 98+ pipe collection....yep I'm addicted to collecting pipes...)

Haha, understandable! I hesitate to call our local store a "smoke shop", since it's that plus a liquor store. They actually have some decent cigars, and a good selection of tobacco, but most of the pipes they sell are for "alternative" smokers. :s

I was actually looking around last night and stumbled onto these: http://www.pipesandcigars.com/pipes/70787/mo-meerschaum-ozark/#p-120383

They looked pretty cool, and I heard good things about them. And for $4, you can't really screw it up too bad. 

Sorry to say but I'd avoid that pipe in particular, I've had two and they smoke rather hot for my tastes and generally keep a bitter taste to them. They don't cake like most other pipes that I've noticed instead they seem to char. If you smoke them very slowly and keep the heat down you can get by with one though.
I started with one of these pipes http://www.pipesandcigars.com/pipes/66446/mo-meerschaum-macarthur/ and absolutely loved it until I finally burnt out the side of the bowl after about 5 months of it being in my rotation.

[Shiloh]

Perspective:
They haven't done any studies on pipe smoking since the last one found pipe smokers lived longer than non smokers.
The risk of any cancer with "moderate" cigar smoking (one per day) was negligible

An entire cigar? Every day?!  Holy cow, I'll go two weeks between stogies sometimes!

[JEB]

Anyone know where I can purchase clay bowls.  I was thinking of using a clay bowl and a turkey wing bone for the stem.

[stickbender]

Perspective:
They haven't done any studies on pipe smoking since the last one found pipe smokers lived longer than non smokers.
The risk of any cancer with "moderate" cigar smoking (one per day) was negligible

     Ok, put a cigar in your pipe.   
Normally you don't inhale, depending on the substance in the pipe bowl.      But some of the flavored tobaccos, might not be so too pretty good for you, inhaling or not. I doubt too many of them are natural flavors.   I love the smell of a pipe, and a good cigar, and have never had the burning eyes, and runny nose, from being around either of them, but cigarettes......   Might be the paper on the cigarettes.   You can get clay pipes from Dixie Arms.  You can cut the long stem off, and drill a hole the size of the wing bone, and cut a small slot, or hole on top of the wing bone that is inserted into the pipe bowl, so you can draw the smoke, but not get any tobacco, or ash.  You can also put a small circle of brass wire mesh, in the bottom, and that will keep the tobacco above the bone insert.  Also if you use wood, it will keep it from burning out the bottom.  the sides?  Oh well.....   I had Friends in the Army when I was stationed in Italy, who worked in the motor pool, and when they made pipes they would take the fine mesh brass filter screens and put it in the bottom of the little pipe bowl.  It was uh for small amounts of tobacco, yeah, that's the ticket, yeahl       You could put three or four small,1/16 size holes in the bone, that is in the pipe bowl.  That should give you a good effortless draw.  You can experiment with the size and or number of the holes.  Make the hole in the pipe bowl, a little bit smaller than the diameter of the bone, and go slow and custom fit it.   you could also drill a couple of holes, in the sides of the wing bone that is inserted into the pipe bowl, and that would keep the tobacco, and ash out, and give a good draw. Providing the bottom of the bowl is larger than the wing bone.

                                                                                Wayne 

[ionicmuffin]

I have to say, Pipes are the bomb. I smoke one at school on occasion. The people who smoke cigars or cigarettes always like the taste of the pipe way better than the stuff they smoke, the only thing i know of that they prefer over the pipe is a hookah, but that isn't as classy as the pipe in my opinion!

[stickbender]

     you need to get a Swiss style pipe.  It has a pipe bowl with a little spring loaded metal lid with tiny holes.  That way, in misty weather, or light rain you just turn the pipe upside down, and continue smoking.



                                                                               Wayne

[tipi stuff]

This is my simple catlinite pipe. Just an elbow pipe with a sumac stem. This is actually the second one I made. The first one I made had an invisible (to me) crack running the length of the bowl. I finished the bowl, polished it up, and pushed the stem in to it for the first time. When I pushed the stem in, it split evenly into two pieces. Second attempt at a bowl worked out pretty good,,,,,,,,,,, I had gotten my practice in with the first one.   Curtis

[JW_Halverson]

I am told by friends down on Pine Ridge that your style pipe is a bachelor's pipe.  A married man's pipe has the base extending beyond the bowl. 

Warmed beeswax rubbed into that catlinite really makes it look nice, don't it?  I imagine any fat would work well, though. Nice piece, man.

[bow101]

Funny thing because I'm looking into making a pipe or 2 myself.  Maybe there is a small market for them.  Lots of Ocean Spray around here, may try that.  I noticed that Lucite stem material is not cheap.
Lots of good local woods to use, maple, oak, apple, cherry and many others.  I guess most fruit wood is good..?
This is a good pipe forum website.    http://pipesmokersforum.com

[Shiloh]

Got to try out my cheap-o pipe today for the first time. Smoked just fine after I finally got the whole "how to pack it right" thing down. xD I just got some generic "tin star" tobacco that looks like it was more made for rolling your own cigarettes, but it was okay. The bowl got a little hot but I think the dryness of the tobacco had something to do with that, plus I started puffing a little more quickly than I probably should have.

Verdict: Does what it should so far. Didn't spontaneously ignite in my hand and I had an enjoyable smoke. No regrets (as of yet).