How to Carve a Wood Pipe

Hand carving a wood pipe is a simple and fun hobby.

Carving pipes is a fun pastime with a rich history and hand carving your own pipe allows you to add embellishments and personal touches that you will not find on mass-produced tobacco pipes. Use the wood from a cherry or hard maple tree to carve your pipe. These woods offer a combination of sturdiness and fire-resistance that makes them optimal for a hand-carved wooden pipe. When carving your pipe, focus all of your attention on the process and you will not only have more fun but also minimize the chance of making a mistake that would force you to start over.

Things You'll Need

• Block of cherry or hard maple wood (2 inch by 2 inch by 5 inch)
• Wood carving knives
• Sandpaper
• Tobacco screen
• Drill
• Drill bit (1/16")

Instructions

1. Carve out the basic shape of the pipe. Mark off a 2-inch cubed area at the end of the block of wood; this will serve as the bowl of the pipe, which you will carve last. Make a mark on the opposite end of the block 3/4 inch above the base and 1 inch from each side. Use the drill and 1/16-inch bit to drill a hole 3.5 inches in length at this mark. Use care to ensure that this is straight; it will be used as the shaft through which you smoke.

2. Whittle away the area around the hole that you drilled, creating a cylinder approximately 3/4 inch in diameter with the breathing hole centered, as if you were making a straw with thick walls. Leave more space if it seems you are getting to close to the hole; accidentally whittling away a portion of the shaft and exposing the hole will result in an unusable pipe. Once you have the shaft whittled, use sandpaper to smooth it out.

3. Carve into the center of the 2-inch cubed block making a bowl shape. The bowl will have to be at least 1.5 inches deep for it to align with the hole in the shaft. Check by trying to blow air through the shaft of the pipe; once you are able to do that, you can stop carving out the bowl.

4. Whittle away any corners on the outside of the bowl. Sandpaper the inside and outside until smooth. Blow out any wood shavings and run water through the pipe to completely clear it out. Place a tobacco screen (available at tobacco shops) in the bottom of the bowl, making sure to cover the hole that leads to the shaft. Fill with tobacco and enjoy a smoke from your hand carved wood pipe.

Tips & Warnings

• Always exercise safety when whittling away the wood as you form the pipe. Wood carving knives are very sharp and can easily cause serious cuts.

• Make sure that you have completely cleared any wood shavings from the pipe before you smoke out of it for the first time. Wood shavings that are lodged in the shaft may get sucked into your mouth and cause tiny cuts on the back of your throat.

References

• Cat Scratch: Pipe Making Tips
• Rustic Girls: Make a Wooden Pipe
• IQIO: How to Carve a Wooden Pipe