- Status
Speaking of HDV tanks and tank RBA's...
I am headed out to WoodCraft Atl. to turn some pens for the troops and hopefully pick up a new lathe for myself.
this is the setup I will be bringing-
I am headed out to WoodCraft Atl. to turn some pens for the troops and hopefully pick up a new lathe for myself.
this is the setup I will be bringing-
very nice....I would love to be able to design a pipe around a tank rather than trying to find a tank to fit well with a pipe. Have you ever considered doing that with some of the freehands?
I agree, a nice freehand / tank combo would be sweet. Awesome looking pipe Matt.
Speaking of HDV tanks and tank RBA's...
I am headed out to WoodCraft Atl. to turn some pens for the troops and hopefully pick up a new lathe for myself.
this is the setup I will be bringing-
Very nice! Is that new, from the same batch of briar as Boromir and the big battery brandy from last week?
I absolutely love glass blown tanks. It is very cool how that one nestles in the shank! Yes, if you had a glass blower on staff and offered combo packages that would be an entirely other level.
Hey Matt!
Okay, so we're visiting the inlaws today. Showed my FIL my pipe. He was intrigued. Told him I could get him a CIY 'blank' and he about lost it!
Soooooooooo...when do you think more will be in stock again?
Okay, so we're visiting the inlaws today. Showed my FIL my pipe. He was intrigued. Told him I could get him a CIY 'blank' and he about lost it!
Soooooooooo...when do you think more will be in stock again?
I made the pipe quit a while back specifically for the Penelope. It just happened that this tank was a marvelous fit and look on it as well.
I have often considered building pipes that are specifically designed to be used with an atty or tank that would come with that pipe. I may do this down the road but I need to train more guys on pipe making to free up more time for myself to do freehands.
Finding a glass blower for tanks could be tricky. I have spoken with many other vendors about glass blowers and all I here are moans and groans. Apparently glass blowers have the attention span of a ferret on ..... So it is very difficult to get consistent work from them.
CIY blocks are on my to-do list. It may be a couple weeks before I can get to them.
Oh, and I did get myself a new lathe today at woodcraft. Nova DVRxp, for those familiar... My Grandfathers lathe has been under some pretty serious use for the last three years. It still turns well but it is lacking in variable speed and I think the bearings might be going.
Anyway after turning a few pipes on Brian's new VS Jet and feeling the difference, I simply had to buy a smoother running lathe for myself.
Oh, and I did get myself a new lathe today at woodcraft. Nova DVRxp, for those familiar... My Grandfathers lathe has been under some pretty serious use for the last three years. It still turns well but it is lacking in variable speed and I think the bearings might be going.
Anyway after turning a few pipes on Brian's new VS Jet and feeling the difference, I simply had to buy a smoother running lathe for myself.
Awesome! Thanks for the quick response. What size CIY would you recommend for an experienced woodcarver who's never carved a pipe before? Also, please recommend a size for a fairly inexperienced carver.
I'm leaning towards just getting two of the largest you offer so as to give them both (FIL and my son) a lot of material to start with. But if you have any advice, I'd love hear it.
I haven't finished mine (not at all, in fact it will make a guest appearance in a picture shortly and you'll see how undone it is) but I have carved on it a bit. I'd say if he has any issues with manual dexterity the larger. However if he's still got good hand control (mine is iffy due to nerve damage) then the smaller will still do him fine. And will definitely be less work in the end as less bulk to remove. Key for freehanding is going to be having tools more than size of the block. It isn't hard at all.
Grab a cone [edit: that you don't mind defacing] to cover the threads when carving so that you can't goof up the connector. Stuff the main battery chamber with a paper towel to block most of the dust from getting in. Less mess to clean up.
If they have ideas of doing a nicely shanked freehand ... then yeah, get one with lots of material.
Mine is going the abstract route. I figure I can always buy a gorgeous traditional looking pipe from here. I'm building more in the vein of what my dad used to make when I was a kid, 60s / steampunky (before there was a steampunk genre ... and maybe his weren't TOBACCO pipes but who's to say these days?
) with blocky angles. Anything like that definitely get a larger block. Only reason I didn't snag the biggest block that was up for sale the first time was I wanted a 90 degree angle between the connector and the battery so that I could freestand the block upright.
( a long post while people are waiting for their vapemail )
Sooo ... this is what happens when I don't get the pipe I almost bought. I went into a small frenzy.
I found some old cigar boxes my wife had stashed for a never-done project. I also had some old cell-cut foam for making custom carrying cases. Turns out I made 3 boxes (4th is shown with undone CIY block but not doing the foam for it until the CIY is done). 1 for my daily puffing devices, 1 for mixed juices and 1 for DIY juice flavors.
Then I got tired of the silver bands on my Dublin so I got rid of those and my wife helped me out with some brass bands. I built out a small dripping stem for color coordinating with the ePipeMods exclusive Butterscotch drip tip (love that thing).
Then I decided ... heck ... why not polish my buttons. I think the polished brass button is niiiiice. Mirror-like reflection. The flat button I only polished the sides on.
And ... absolutely no new pipes in these pictures but lots of other goodness
Sooo ... this is what happens when I don't get the pipe I almost bought. I went into a small frenzy.
I found some old cigar boxes my wife had stashed for a never-done project. I also had some old cell-cut foam for making custom carrying cases. Turns out I made 3 boxes (4th is shown with undone CIY block but not doing the foam for it until the CIY is done). 1 for my daily puffing devices, 1 for mixed juices and 1 for DIY juice flavors.
Then I got tired of the silver bands on my Dublin so I got rid of those and my wife helped me out with some brass bands. I built out a small dripping stem for color coordinating with the ePipeMods exclusive Butterscotch drip tip (love that thing).
Then I decided ... heck ... why not polish my buttons. I think the polished brass button is niiiiice. Mirror-like reflection. The flat button I only polished the sides on.
And ... absolutely no new pipes in these pictures but lots of other goodness
Last edited:
Love the brass bands. how did you (your wife) do that?! I think something like that may look good for the Dublin I'm waiting on too..
Its pretty easy ... I actually had to redo one of the bands while she is at a convention today because of overzealous polishing.
My Dublin came with the grooves pre-lathed. In the "back" (ie, vertically parallel to the connector) there are a couple of small holes drilled in with a jeweler's finger drill. Just wide enough (maybe 1/16") and slightly deeper to hold the end of the wire. Stick wire in, bend it (or pre-bend it and hook it in the hole), wrap as desired, and then cut about 1/16" past the hole for the other end and bend that other end into the hole, kinking it as best you can.
With the silver bands I had on it before I just wedged the tip of a toothpick in and snapped it off flush with the band as I wasn't sure how long I wanted the bands to stay in. Was a good friction plug.
Since I decided I really like the brass, then put a TINY dab of gorilla glue (originally used a little cyanoacrylic but too brittle for repeated polishing) in by dipping a sharp toothpick in to the gorilla glue to get some on the tip and then lightly touching the tip to the hole and allowing just enough to wick in that I couldn't see it but it keeps the ends of the wire in the hole. It was the CA glue that popped when I polished too hard. I'm thinking the tiny dab of gorilla glue (and me being more careful) will keep that from happening.
This definitely mod'ed my pipe ... ie permanently ... but even with the bands out the holes aren't obtrusive and will be easy to fill in if I ever decide to.
This is a very small ePipe ... you can see where the bands are folded into the holes in the next-to-last picture. The holes are not as tall as the lathed space and are approximately round.
My Dublin came with the grooves pre-lathed. In the "back" (ie, vertically parallel to the connector) there are a couple of small holes drilled in with a jeweler's finger drill. Just wide enough (maybe 1/16") and slightly deeper to hold the end of the wire. Stick wire in, bend it (or pre-bend it and hook it in the hole), wrap as desired, and then cut about 1/16" past the hole for the other end and bend that other end into the hole, kinking it as best you can.
With the silver bands I had on it before I just wedged the tip of a toothpick in and snapped it off flush with the band as I wasn't sure how long I wanted the bands to stay in. Was a good friction plug.
Since I decided I really like the brass, then put a TINY dab of gorilla glue (originally used a little cyanoacrylic but too brittle for repeated polishing) in by dipping a sharp toothpick in to the gorilla glue to get some on the tip and then lightly touching the tip to the hole and allowing just enough to wick in that I couldn't see it but it keeps the ends of the wire in the hole. It was the CA glue that popped when I polished too hard. I'm thinking the tiny dab of gorilla glue (and me being more careful) will keep that from happening.
This definitely mod'ed my pipe ... ie permanently ... but even with the bands out the holes aren't obtrusive and will be easy to fill in if I ever decide to.
This is a very small ePipe ... you can see where the bands are folded into the holes in the next-to-last picture. The holes are not as tall as the lathed space and are approximately round.
( a long post while people are waiting for their vapemail )
Sooo ... this is what happens when I don't get the pipe I almost bought. I went into a small frenzy.
I found some old cigar boxes my wife had stashed for a never-done project. I also had some old cell-cut foam for making custom carrying cases. Turns out I made 3 boxes (4th is shown with undone CIY block but not doing the foam for it until the CIY is done). 1 for my daily puffing devices, 1 for mixed juices and 1 for DIY juice flavors.
Then I got tired of the silver bands on my Dublin so I got rid of those and my wife helped me out with some brass bands. I built out a small dripping stem for color coordinating with the ePipeMods exclusive Butterscotch drip tip (love that thing).
Then I decided ... heck ... why not polish my buttons. I think the polished brass button is niiiiice. Mirror-like reflection. The flat button I only polished the sides on.
And ... absolutely no new pipes in these pictures but lots of other goodness
This is ridiculously cool.
I haven't finished mine (not at all, in fact it will make a guest appearance in a picture shortly and you'll see how undone it is) but I have carved on it a bit. I'd say if he has any issues with manual dexterity the larger. However if he's still got good hand control (mine is iffy due to nerve damage) then the smaller will still do him fine. And will definitely be less work in the end as less bulk to remove. Key for freehanding is going to be having tools more than size of the block. It isn't hard at all.
Grab a cone [edit: that you don't mind defacing] to cover the threads when carving so that you can't goof up the connector. Stuff the main battery chamber with a paper towel to block most of the dust from getting in. Less mess to clean up.
If they have ideas of doing a nicely shanked freehand ... then yeah, get one with lots of material.
Mine is going the abstract route. I figure I can always buy a gorgeous traditional looking pipe from here. I'm building more in the vein of what my dad used to make when I was a kid, 60s / steampunky (before there was a steampunk genre ... and maybe his weren't TOBACCO pipes but who's to say these days?
Aw, man! This is some awesome advice. Thank you thank you thank you.
His dexterity is as good as I've ever seen it, and tools are definitely not an issue. He's got band saws, sanders, lathes, and about 60 chisels. Oh, and knives for daaaaaaaay's! He asked me what I wanted, and I told him to do whatever he wants. I'm thinking a larger one will be better, as to give him more options. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it!
The cone and paper towels are a fabulous idea. I never would have thought of that. Again, thank you.
When the pipe is done, how is it polished? Is it just wax and elbow grease? Or is there another product used?
You're on the right track here IW. The Bigger the block the more options and the easier to work with IMO. Smaller blocks can be tricky because you can get over zealous and remove too much material and expose the battery bore or wire bore.
As far as finishing, the wax on the site would do nicely. If you want a premium finish, hand sand to 240 grit, then hand rub an oil finish on. Either danish oil or teak oil will do nicely. Let the piece dry for a week or two. Then buff with tripoli and carnuba wax. (this is how we do it). I'd stay away from Poly finishes or epoxy, varnish etc... unless you are VERY experienced with them.
Matt can definitely give more advice than me [edit: and he did, just before I posted
] ... but I found a good number of web pages / blogs talking about staining and finishing briar pipes. I'm planning to (very very gently, under 180 degrees) warm up my block and stain it a bit with a dark stain, then a lighter stain, then finish off with wax. For mine I'm going for a coppery-bronze look so I probably won't stain it tooo dark and may add some color to my stain.
Honestly, when the briar block is wet it looks almost perfect with no stain at all, so you might just wax it. Depends on the burl yours comes from though, some have better color and grain than others.
Downie Pipes - Pipemaking <- an example of one of the pages talking about finishing a briar pipe.
( a long post while people are waiting for their vapemail )
Sooo ... this is what happens when I don't get the pipe I almost bought. I went into a small frenzy.
I found some old cigar boxes my wife had stashed for a never-done project. I also had some old cell-cut foam for making custom carrying cases. Turns out I made 3 boxes (4th is shown with undone CIY block but not doing the foam for it until the CIY is done). 1 for my daily puffing devices, 1 for mixed juices and 1 for DIY juice flavors.
Then I got tired of the silver bands on my Dublin so I got rid of those and my wife helped me out with some brass bands. I built out a small dripping stem for color coordinating with the ePipeMods exclusive Butterscotch drip tip (love that thing).
Then I decided ... heck ... why not polish my buttons. I think the polished brass button is niiiiice. Mirror-like reflection. The flat button I only polished the sides on.
And ... absolutely no new pipes in these pictures but lots of other goodness
WOW, Epic post brother. Love the pics and everything you have done! CIY is looking good, the boxes are awesome and that last setup is so sweet. I got me a little setup envy
Gotta get to work on some of my ideas I never try!
Matt can definitely give more advice than me [edit: and he did, just before I posted
I'm planning to (very very gently, under 180 degrees) warm up my block and stain it a bit with a dark stain, then a lighter stain, then finish off with wax. For mine I'm going for a coppery-bronze look so I probably won't stain it tooo dark and may add some color to my stain.
Honestly, when the briar block is wet it looks almost perfect with no stain at all, so you might just wax it. Depends on the burl yours comes from though, some have better color and grain than others.
Downie Pipes - Pipemaking <- an example of one of the pages talking about finishing a briar pipe.
Ew, please no. Get some leather dye and do it up proper. Dye dries in minutes, stain will take days and remain tacky for possibly weeks.
Fine pipes are done with leather dyes not stains. Heating the block would not be a good idea either with the electronics, magnets, and CA.
To get a nice 2tone effect with dye- Start with your darker dye first, and apply liberally 1-2 coats. As I said it will dry super fast. After you have let it dry for 10- 15 minutes, sand the pipe once more with a 180-240 grit sponge or paper. This will remove the dye from the surface of the harder grain and leave behind darker dyed areas in the softer grain. Once you have the block evenly sanded, then Dye again using your lighter color. This may require a few coats and a few more sandings. After the colors get where you want them, hand rub the pipe with teak or danish oil and let it dry for 1-2 weeks (until it is no longer tacky). (Side note- Dyes are alcohol based which means they dry super fast and penetrate well with briar. Stains are oil based, take forever to dry and often do not penetrate as well as dyes).
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked
