Smoking pipe?
- Thread starter Timberwolf
- Start date
-
Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
Theres a drawing in Mors Kochanskis 'Bushcraft' that shows you how to make a 'field expedient' pipe. 
Do you mean a clay pipe ?
If so, i believe from the marks, that they are made in two halves in moulds, and stuck together before fireing...
If so, i believe from the marks, that they are made in two halves in moulds, and stuck together before fireing...
W
WNZer
Guest
I carved mine out of some wood I never identified, I just took a cross section of a branch with a wee branch sticking out of it, so I already had the basic shape, then it was just a matter of hollowing it out, it looked very woodsman like with the bark on it still,
W
WNZer
Guest
tomtom said:
I just used an electric drill for that*, then used a large bit form the drill to start a hole in the place where you put your baccy then used a knife to further hollow it put, I would imagine it would be easier to make a larger one, I just made a pocket sized one, it was quite a fragrant wood so it was an enjoyable smoke since the oils in the wood were coming out aswell.
***You could use a bit of sharpened large gauge wire for it, like I tried but my impatience got the better of me***
W
WNZer
Guest
tomtom said:
I would have thought that would have split the wood, but try it and tell us all how it goes
Tantalus said:i was in Nis once upon a time,
welcome to BCUK
Tant
Thanx for the welcome.
I hope you liked here.
How to make moulds for the pire just like yours innocent bystander?
greensurfingbear
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
tomtom said:
made pipes when I was working in the mountains of New Mexico. we used hot wires to bore out the stem and knives to make the bowls. it took a long time and lots of patience. we used resin to connect the bowl to the stem as well as some twine. Gave mine away as a gift......wish I had kept it. we used juniper woods as it is very fragant.
A very enjoyable way to spend the evening...out on the pouch under the stars carving away while chatting, listen to some of the guys playing guitars and bango's.....ahh happy memories
Timberwolf said:
Hi Timberwolf, now i have to confess that i never gave it much yhought - mine came from a local pub, which sold ale from the wood, with a pipe and twist to go with it
.. Now from what i gather, you have a left and right hand mould, hollow out the inside and stick together. However a little googling foundsome stuff on the net like this :http://www.scpr.fsnet.co.uk/Pages/rexkey/rexkey.htm
http://www.tinderbox.co.nz/clay_pipes.html
http://www.aspipes.org/faq/faq/clay.html
I just googled for "Clay Pipe Moulds" anf find quite a few sites.
It doesn't seem to be overly complicated, so it might be fun to try ?
wolf
Settler
ive made a pipe from hollowing out ash for the stem.thats the american natives choice,i put a small piece of bone in the end,then attached this to a piece of deer antler for the bowl.
Apparently goose quill was used as a common repair for broken pipe stems, or even as a replacement on a more permanent basis. Easy to clean, and easily replaced... Would extend the life of the important part, the bowl, quite considerably...
Thanks IB. Excellent set of links I've found literally hundreds of bits of clay pipe but never thought to go and find out how the things were made.
My grandpa smoked a pipe, one of those with the snap down metal cover plate....he was an engineer and I used to reckon he was building up a head of steam under his bunnet with it
He smoked the most weird and wonderful mixtures; he picked plants seemingly at random and gave them a try. It smelled like the compost heap was on fire some days
An uncle, home on leave, once asked my granny, "Why are we growing cannabis, mother?" My granny looked at him, looked at my 85 year old grandpa and replied, "Are we dear?" in an questioningly innocent voice. Grandpa was surprising mellow that year....'til the budgie died. Seems where granny cleaned out the cage had sprouted a crop
Cheers,
Toddy
p.s. does a briar pipe really come from a briar rose or from a blackthorn?
I've found literally hundreds of bits of clay pipe but never thought to go and find out how the things were made. My grandpa smoked a pipe, one of those with the snap down metal cover plate....he was an engineer and I used to reckon he was building up a head of steam under his bunnet with it
He smoked the most weird and wonderful mixtures; he picked plants seemingly at random and gave them a try. It smelled like the compost heap was on fire some days
An uncle, home on leave, once asked my granny, "Why are we growing cannabis, mother?" My granny looked at him, looked at my 85 year old grandpa and replied, "Are we dear?" in an questioningly innocent voice. Grandpa was surprising mellow that year....'til the budgie died. Seems where granny cleaned out the cage had sprouted a crop
Cheers,
Toddy
p.s. does a briar pipe really come from a briar rose or from a blackthorn?
Neither apparently - it's from the "white heath tree", and the name Briar comes from the french word Bruyere, meaning "heath root". It's actually a burl on the root.. or something like that.... 
My Grandad used to smoke a pipe, and was very fond of a clay, as a boy I would buy him one for Christmas each year and he would smoke it whilst gardening and keep it in the shed/greenhouse. Eventually they turned from white to dark brown due to nicotine stains and they became very brittle, usually breaking conveniently around November.
The first thing I ever smoked was a clay pipe, filled with home-grown tobacco. Rum and raisin flavour I recall... Wonderful stuff!
My girlfriend and I recently took a trip to Ironbridge Gorge to look around the "Living Museums" of the area and stopped off at the Brosely Pipewroks mentioned in one of the links given earlier in this thread. Not only a fascinating day out, but the pipeworks still make and sell clay pipes of all shapes and sizes to those who visit. I had to indulge myself and shell out for a couple, and I'm enjoying smoking them now. I can't get the hang of them properly yet, having to light again and again (and again) but with the right baccy they bring back some wonderful memories for me.
My girlfriend and I recently took a trip to Ironbridge Gorge to look around the "Living Museums" of the area and stopped off at the Brosely Pipewroks mentioned in one of the links given earlier in this thread. Not only a fascinating day out, but the pipeworks still make and sell clay pipes of all shapes and sizes to those who visit. I had to indulge myself and shell out for a couple, and I'm enjoying smoking them now. I can't get the hang of them properly yet, having to light again and again (and again) but with the right baccy they bring back some wonderful memories for me.
D
dataphage
Guest
Mind your fingers if you are carving a pipe bowl. It is easy to slip and I have some very deep cuts in my left index finger from doing exactly that.
I have found that if you want a quick pipe stem the best thing to use is ordinary garden cane (bamboo). Simply saw a section outside of the notches, bore through where the plant closes off each section inside and push through a piece of coathanger wire of something similar to remove the soft tissue in between the sections. You will find the saw and awl on an SAK perfect tools fo this.
Other tips:
If you are carving a bowl and attaching a stem make a stub on the bowl for the stem to go into and make it longer than you think you need to, that way when you attach the stem if you are using glue the heat from the bowl won't destroy the glue.
You may want to angle the hole into the bowl that the stem fits into so that you can see the tobacco. This makes lighting the pipe and keeping it going a lot easier.
The best way to keep the stem in place is with a deep friction fit into the bowl as it will easily allow you to take it apart and clean or refit a stem. If you are going to use glue you will need to use a good 2 part epoxy clay. Milliput is good for this if you can find it, it has a high temperature tollerance.
Again, if using glue, and I suggest you don't, at no point should the glue be exposed to the smoke. You do not want fumes in the smoke.
Wait until you have the pipe constructed completely before treating the wood with anything.
Use well seasoned wood for your bowl - if it is even slightly green it will begin to crack the first time you light it and it will just get worse. Don't be afraid to leave the bowl walls thick. This gives the bowl better heat resistence and longevity as well as a nice weight, you can also carve patterns on the outside!
You can lightly treat the inside of the bowl with corn (maize) oil a few days before you do the first burn. This is a high temperature cooking oil and will get well into the wood and 'cook' it so that it chars and protects itself from burning too quickly.
Don't smoke the first burn of the pipe like you normally would. Woodsmoke might smell great but it doesn't taste too great, particularly if you've oiled the bowl!
Aromatic tobacco is best in homemade pipes - cherry or apple is lovely.
As final note, if you make anything that looks 'different', it's best to be with understanding company when you smoke it. Our friends in blue often take an interest in peculiar looking pipes and passers will be wondering if you are some kind of wood-elf!
I have found that if you want a quick pipe stem the best thing to use is ordinary garden cane (bamboo). Simply saw a section outside of the notches, bore through where the plant closes off each section inside and push through a piece of coathanger wire of something similar to remove the soft tissue in between the sections. You will find the saw and awl on an SAK perfect tools fo this.
Other tips:
If you are carving a bowl and attaching a stem make a stub on the bowl for the stem to go into and make it longer than you think you need to, that way when you attach the stem if you are using glue the heat from the bowl won't destroy the glue.
You may want to angle the hole into the bowl that the stem fits into so that you can see the tobacco. This makes lighting the pipe and keeping it going a lot easier.
The best way to keep the stem in place is with a deep friction fit into the bowl as it will easily allow you to take it apart and clean or refit a stem. If you are going to use glue you will need to use a good 2 part epoxy clay. Milliput is good for this if you can find it, it has a high temperature tollerance.
Again, if using glue, and I suggest you don't, at no point should the glue be exposed to the smoke. You do not want fumes in the smoke.
Wait until you have the pipe constructed completely before treating the wood with anything.
Use well seasoned wood for your bowl - if it is even slightly green it will begin to crack the first time you light it and it will just get worse. Don't be afraid to leave the bowl walls thick. This gives the bowl better heat resistence and longevity as well as a nice weight, you can also carve patterns on the outside!
You can lightly treat the inside of the bowl with corn (maize) oil a few days before you do the first burn. This is a high temperature cooking oil and will get well into the wood and 'cook' it so that it chars and protects itself from burning too quickly.
Don't smoke the first burn of the pipe like you normally would. Woodsmoke might smell great but it doesn't taste too great, particularly if you've oiled the bowl!
Aromatic tobacco is best in homemade pipes - cherry or apple is lovely.
As final note, if you make anything that looks 'different', it's best to be with understanding company when you smoke it. Our friends in blue often take an interest in peculiar looking pipes and passers will be wondering if you are some kind of wood-elf!
Similar threads
