DIY Carved Pipes

Most pipes are made of briar wood.

Pipes can be carved out of corncobs, meerschaum, soapstone or briar wood. Briar pipes, made of briar wood, are relatively difficult for novices to make so most first-time carvers use a prebored pipe-making kit with a prefitted stem. All tobacco pipes are roughly L-shaped. The portion of this L with the largest diameter is called the "bowl." Tobacco is stuffed into and burned in the bowl. The remaining arm of the L-shaped piece of wood has a smaller diameter, connects the bowl to the removable stem and is called the "shank." It is possible for a first time pipe maker to drill out the pipe bowl and drill the shank mortise so it perfectly matches a stem but most difficult crafts are learned in steps rather than all at once. Pipe makers who use a kit can concentrate on shaping and finishing their pipes. The kits also ensure that the finished pipe will be smokable whether it is beautiful or not. Because the flow of smoke from the bowl through the shank to the smoker's mouth can sometimes be complicated by drafts, not all homemade pipes are fit for smoking.

Things You'll Need

• Prebored pipe making kit
• Graph paper
• Pencil
• Craft knife
• Rubber cement
• Indelible marker
• Bench vise
• Rags
• Rasp
• Wood file
• Coarse, medium and fine grit sandpaper
• Wood carving knives
• Tissue or toilet paper
• Wood stain
• Spray varnish
• Steel wool

Instructions

1. Remove the stem from prebored pipe making kit. Place the pipe block with the bowl side down on a sheet of graph paper and trace the exterior dimensions of the pipe block on the paper using a pencil.

2. Turn the block on its right and left sides and on its bottom and trace the shape of the pipe block on all those sides onto graph paper using a pencil.

3. Draw the finished shape of your pipe bowl and stem within the confines of the four rough block shapes you transferred to the graph paper.

4. Cut the finished dimensions of your design from the graph paper using a craft knife. Attach these four finished patterns to your rough pipe block with rubber cement.

5. Darken all areas of the rough pipe block that lie outside the patterns with an indelible marker then remove the patterns.

6. Insert the stem into the pipe shank and darken all areas of the shank that lie outside the circumference of the stem with an indelible marker. Remove the stem.

7. Line the jaws of a bench vise with rags and immobilize the pipe block in the vise. Clamp the block in the vise in such a way that all of the bowl or all of the shank will be exposed. Reorient the block in the vise as needed.

8. Using the dark marks as a guide, roughly shape the pipe with a rasp using the dark marks as a guide. (A rasp is a coarse file used to smooth and quickly remove unwanted wood.) Continue to shape the bowl and stem with a wood file until the rough block resembles the pipe you want to make. Insert the prefitted pipe stem into the shank frequently to ensure that the outer dimension of the stem and the shank will match.

9. Sand all outside surfaces of the pipe with successive sandings using coarse, medium and fine grit sandpaper until the bowl and stem approximate the shape you want and the wood is smooth to the touch.

10. Carve decorative designs that you like into the outside of the pipe bowl using wood-carving knives. These knives have very short, one-edged blades and long wooden handles. Lightly resand the exterior of the bowl with fine sandpaper after carving.

11. Stuff the interior of the bowl and shank with tissue or toilet paper. Tissue is soft, fine paper into which many people blow their noses. Some people use tissue to clean their eyeglasses. The shank is the wooden portion of a tobacco pipe into which a removable stem can be inserted. Pipe smokers insert the stem into their mouths. The interior of the shank should not be sprayed with varnish. Varnishing the interior of either the bowl or shank would make the pipe tobacco taste bad.

12. Coat the outside of all surfaces of the bowl and shank with a wood stain of your choosing using a rag. Repeat as necessary and allow the stain to dry for at least six hours between coats.

13. Spray at least three coats of spray varnish on all exterior surfaces of the bowl and shank. Allow each coat to dry for at least 12 hours and lightly sand the varnished surfaces with steel wool between coats.

References

• Pipedia; Pipe Carving For the Rank Amateur; Robert Evereitt
• The Secret Art Of Pipe Smoking; Briar Wood Secrets; 2011
• Pipedia; Pipe Making; Aug, 2011