I have no aversion to working wood with equipment, none whatsoever. However there are times when I walk into my shop with no agenda and I simply sit down and appreciate the quiet. After several minutes I start to look around at the wood that I have squirrelled away and a handtool project comes to light. I buy wood often times for no other reason than it inspires me with the possibilities that it represents, like a canvas coaxes a painter to pick up her brush.
One of my favourite wood purchases is briar burl. What's not to like? It's figured, exotic, shaped like a bowling ball and like a present you don't know what treasures it witholds until you saw it apart - could be socks, could be Scotch. To make it all the more intriguing I like to run one bandsaw kerf into the centre of the burl to prevent degrade, then I tuck it away in sawdust to dry until I almost forget about it -delayed gratification!
So back to my quiet shop. While I'm in these quiet moods I like to smoke a cigar and sometimes a pipe. I can't make a cigar but I should be able to make a pipe...
Over the years I've made several pipes and I'm sure that I'll make several more before I'm done. The pipe below is one that I made for my fly fishing kit. Small in size for packing into the bush
with a stem that won't easily be broken.
IMG_00000637.jpg IMG_00000638.jpg
The only drawback to this pipe is that it's short and smoke gets in my eyes. The bonus is that smoke stays close and keeps the black flies and mosquitoes at bay.
To make the pipe I square up a block of briar and draw out a pleasing shape that will suit the stem blank that I have chosen. I lay out the tobacco chamber depth and then draw another line to represent the air hole. The drill press barely make a sound as I drill these two holes. Sometimes I'll chuck the drilled blank on the lathe and rough out the shape, machine time is measured in minutes. Usually I just go to town with rasps, riflers and files as I'm in no hurry and not client is tapping toes waiting for completion. The real treat is watching the briar figure come to the surface of the pipe. I also get a lot of joy making sure that the pipe is symmetrical. Slow, quiet satisfying work.
Once the briar is shaped I blend and bend the stem to the briar. Everything gets sanded and sometimes I add colour before I immerse the briar in mineral oil for a day or so. Polish, buff and then break in the bowl. Frivolous and fun and I now have another pipe to choose from for my next quiet shop moment.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Chris Fournier
