First Attempt from a Greek eBay Pipe Kit

[toby67]

Bought a pipe kit from Alexander Pipes on eBay have a pic somewhere of the origional kit but after 3 hours with the Dremel this is the result. I didn't worry too much about the finish because of hidden cracks that I had to cut out by sanding a trench around the pipe but that added to the finished pipe. I didn't dye it mainly because the finish was dark enough and also because I didn't have any dye. The only finish is a buff. Hope you like, it smokes like a dream.

 

[newbroom]

I like it. Another member gets his pipe maker on. 3 hours to shape it? How long to buff it? I like the color.

The kit came with THAT stem and banding? Nice.

 

[toby67]

Yes the kit came with the stem and banding, a similar item is here
eBay Pipe Kit by Alexander
Also using the dremel and a heavy hand on medium (or a bit higher) it slightly burnt the outer layer and gave me that result. The whole project took 3 hours, only gave it a quick buff using White Dialux and a felt buff wheel on the Dremel. As yet I don't have any briar polish, only have stem polish / wax.
I'm going to buy a couple more kits in the next few weeks now that I have learnt a couple of basic techniques, I guess the best way to learn is by doing....

 

[mephistopheles]

Wow, good job! :clap:

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

very cool, Toby! It seems a lot of us on the forums have gotten the "make your own pipe" bug. I'm having a blast with mine. It's been a lot of fun. But as I've only been using hand tools and no power what so ever (and it was a huge chunk of briar) it's taking me a lot longer than 3 hours lol. I love it though, it's great therapy after a hard day at work.

 

[ivapewithfire]

I love seeing all these pic's of people's efforts that were inspired by the MYOP post.
...and the best part "it smokes like a dream".
So toby67, did that pipe wet your appetite for making another one?
I know I've already started on my next one. I'm muuuuuch slower though. I've probably put about 8 hours into the one I'm working on now and I'm still just working on the basic shape.

 

[toby67]

So toby67, did that pipe wet your appetite for making another one

Very much so, I'm moving at the end of next week so after then I will be buying a few more kits from the same eBay seller (his kits are $20-35 USD with free postage) I want to keep doing this because as Anthony mentioned, it's great therapy when you need to de-stress and you get satisfaction at the end of it all. I'm going to start engraving the base of them with "Toby #1, #2 etc.). I have definitely gotten the bug.
Nothing like smoking a pipe that smokes well that is your own production.

 

[papipeguy]

Great first effort. It looks like an easy pipe to hold and the color looks very nice. Congrats on your first creation.

 

[toby67]

The briar block had a big crack beneath the surface, that's why I only spent 3 hours. Since having a few bowls from it I have decided to spend a bit more time with both the Dremel and the mini files and firstly make it a sitter and secondly to fix a couple of imperfections in the design. I'll post another picture when I'm done, I'll do it sometime this week.

 

[mojoe]

Nice Work! BTW, I love that "pipe stand"
Joe

 

[rthbaum]

Nice job Toby. The fact that you did that in 3 hours makes me wonder what you could do if you spent twice that time,impressive.