Homemade Pipe

My brother heard about me making a wooden pipe for myself and he asked me if I could make him one as well. Of course I obliged. 

Designing a pipe like this is not my idea. I saw it somewhere else on the internet a few years ago. I've been making them like this for awhile now and they work really well.

Tools and supplies

1) Dried Tree limbs

2) bandsaw

3) Belt sander

4) sandpaper

4) Drill with large drill bit

5) Piece of wire.

6) Vise

I stared with a blank, basically cut out of a tree limb. This is wood that I've had lying around for at least 6 months so that I know that the wood has dried. Use your imagination here and find a piece of wood that you think has an interesting look.

Next I sanded down the bottom of the bowl. I tried to keep this rustic and not make it too even of a job. I like seeing the different layers of the bark and the unfinished wood at the bottom. I basically just used a belt sander to get the rough shape.

Now I clamp the sanded blank in my vise (careful that you don't over-tighten it) and then drill the main hole. I Work the bit around in a wide circular motion to bore out the entire bowl, trying to keep it as even as possible.

Here you can see the finished shape of the bowl. I don't worry to much about getting the inside of the bowl perfect. I just shape it until I like the way it looks.

Okay, this is the tricky part. Take another piece of limb that you want to use as your pipe stem. Take your drill and clamp the piece of wire in where you would normally use a drill bit.

Then You really just use the wire to drill out the middle of the branch. The pith in the middle of the branch is weaker than the rest of the wood and your wire should basically follow the path of the pith right through the whole branch.

This part it touchy and you may need to experiment with the right kind of wood and the right kind of wire. To stiff and it won't follow the channel of pith in the middle. Too flexible and it just won't drill through, or if it does the hole might just be too narrow for a good pipe draw. Take your time, experiment and expect to ruin a few branches.

Alright now drill a hole in the side of the bole. Try and make this hole meet at the bottom of your bowl as best as possible.

Alright, now you need to sand both sides of your stem, one side to fit into the bowl and the other so that you have a comfortable place for your mouth.

The one picture I forgot to add was slicing the stem at an angle where it goes into the bowl. Basically, you want to cut your stem so that it sits flush at the bottom of the bowl. Using an sharp x-acto knife from the end of your stem, cut a small wedge so that you are exposing a little bit of the channel in the middle of your stem. This will help with the pipe draw. It's a nice extra step but is really not necessary.

Alright, here is the finished pipe on a stand I made for my brother. He was very excited with the gift.

Later I will post up about a pipe rack that I made to hold my pipes. On this post you will be able to see a few more of the pipes I have made. I really enjoy making these because each pipe is unique in shape and feel.

Feel free to post any questions or comments that you might have.

Thanks for reading.